The Wheeler Dealer AMC Pacer

I just caught this episode today. They went way way out there with this one.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/321695154284?forcerRptr=true&item=321695154284&viewitem

That looked like a fun build.

I tried to not read the auction page in Mike's voice. I failed

Over $5,000 for the exterior wrap? And the close ups clearly showed imperfections in the application.

And all that flocking cannot possible stay good-looking for more than a week right?

I kind of like Pacers, but I can't believe that girl was asking four grand for that thing. Nor can I believe that Mike paid $3500. Those seemed like tv prices. $1200 seemed like an optimistic number to me.

Someone liked it! The winning bid was $7,857

Worst. Episode. Ever.

I couldn't believe the wrap was $5k and yeah, it didn't look good in the close ups and I agree, $3500 for a Pacer?

$3,500 is actually pretty cheap for a Pacer these days. Have you guys priced out running Gremlins lately?!?

Why all that work on the honeycomb wrap when it could have just been printed on a sheet and applied as the whole sheet. Jumping the shark came to mind.

I like it. $5k wrap is a tough sell for me if you're trying to make money.

Stampie wrote: Jumping the shark came to mind.

I swear if they start implementing "impossible deadlines" and Edd getting in "trouble" for coming in late or any other kind of manufactured drama, I'm out.

Javelin wrote: $3,500 is actually pretty cheap for a Pacer these days. Have you guys priced out running Gremlins lately?!?

No.

For $5k couldn't they have just done a really nice paint job?

Mike needed an American friend to tell him just no on the Pacer. That was an $800 car at best. Same thing, also NorCal asking $1500.

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/nby/cto/5244366464.html

I think they chose the car because the seller was a bit kooky and she worked well as a hard bargainer.

And I don't think this was manufactured drama like other shows - Mike looked completely disgusted when learning about the $5K wrap.

djsilver wrote: Someone liked it! The winning bid was $7,857

And that price was pumped up because it was a charity auction. I think in reality they lost almost $10K on that project. Has there been a bigger WD loser?

WD is still one of my favorite shows. They almost never make enough to pay for the labor involved but it is fun to watch the wrenching. At least they get into the tech details and don't spend time on fake drama or selling aftermarket products.

This one was not my favorite. I would have preferred something more like a muscle car look, or better yet, no Pacer at all. If they wanted to do an AMC, a Gremlin would probably been a better choice. And not sure what they are smoking out in CA, but around here, that would have been a sub $1k car. What they did would have been something I would have expected out of a Lemons racer.

I thought it was pretty silly, as well. Reminded me of something somebody might have done in their driveway to pimp out a worthless car-- though WD spend huge money on vinyl wrap and time on "flocking" when a shade tree pimp would have spent a few bucks on rattle cans and shag carpet.

None of that will last very long, assuming someone drives the car at all. It looked tired right out of the box and would look look even more tired after driving it a few weeks. It was not surprising that there was no market for it. It was actually more valuable when they bought it.

Kind of a throwaway and a departure from what they normally do, which may have been the point. I'd like to see them stick to their "normal" stuff, though.

Interesting to see Mike Curtis (originally from American Hot Rod etc.) on the show milling custom parts.

The guy gets around!

djsilver wrote: Someone liked it! The winning bid was $7,857

They had almost double that into it, so it was a big loss. It's the first build they've done that I didn't like anything they did to the car. Pacer's can look pretty good, but what they did to it was mo fugly.

ebonyandivory wrote: Interesting to see Mike Curtis (originally from American Hot Rod etc.) on the show milling custom parts. The guy gets around!

That guy creeps me out. His lips never come together when he is talking.

In reply to bravenrace:

Well, the fact that he's even alive and talking is amazing so I overlook that part.

In reply to ebonyandivory:

Why is that?

Mike Curtis was in a real serious car accident and had a lot of reconstructive surgery on his face.

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In reply to stuart in mn:

I didn't know that.