A Dream Come True

Francis Fay of Augusta, Maine tells how his dream of owning a Pacer finally came true after 25 years. (25 March 2000)


Frank Fay's 1979 AMC Pacer, with only 34,000 miles, originating from far Northern Maine, near the Canadian border.	The Pacer alongside his '82 AMC Concord (41,000 miles) and '76 Impala Landau (55,000).

25 years ago, the Pacer was introduced to the public. On March 1st 1975, my brother and I convinced my Dad to take us to the local AMC Dealer to see the new car. My Mom wanted to come along which was unusual but I thought at the time, great.

As we were approaching the dealer, we were stopped at a traffic light and making a sweeping turn in front of us as a new Pacer, white and red with a basket weave interior. My brother and I screamed, "There's one!!!" and my Mom turned and said to my Dad. "That's the car?...this is what you dragged me out to see?....That's the ugliest car I have ever seen?"

You can only imagine how my brother and I felt.

We went to the dealer and my Mom hated the car. I did not know this at the time but my parents had decided that day that it was time to replace our 1965 Buick Special Wagon. Every part of the Buick had a dent and my Mom still professes this day of never having an accident.

AMC was offering rebates on all models during the month of February 1975, but nothing in March, Our salemen, Vic Terracono of Golden Cirle AMC in Framingham, MA said he could back date the papers and give us an additional $250 rebate. That's all it took, we purchased our first AMC, a light green Hornet 2 door for a net of $3,200.

My brother and I washed and waxed and babied this car because it was our first new car in about 3 years and we also knew we would be driving it when we got our licenses in 1 year.

Still, I always loved the Pacer. On our frequent visits to the dealer for service, Vic would give us, brochures and old Posters that were going to be thrown away. I still have a set of 3 Pacer Poster framed on my wall in my office.

25 years had gone by and I still never owned a Pacer. I had my chances but it just never happened.

Several weeks ago, a Pacer was on Ebay. It was located in Northern Maine. It did not receive a single bid. Since I have bought and sold things on Ebay, I sent the seller an email with some suggestions on comment on why he did not get a bid. Frankly, the starting bid was way to high.

We began talking and he asked me come up and take a look. I actually did not go up with the idea of buying the car just to look. I had business in the area and said I could stop buy to check it out.

To make a long story short, I bought the car and I bought it on March 1st, 2000, 25 years to the exact day that I saw my first Pacer.

Yesterday, I drove it home. Maine is a big state and the car was located 6 hours away from me right on the Canadian border. The car was located in the French speaking section of Maine. All the radio station buttons were programed on the French stations. I hope the car understands my vocal commands.

The car has it's original tires. It had not been driven more than 6 miles in the last 3 years. I drove it yesterday without a problem or care. It was owned by a bodyman/mechanic. He was fanatical about cleaning and mantenance. I think it will easily be a trophy winner.

Well, who ever has taken the time to read this, thanks. My dream has finally come true and I can't wait to bring this 34K mile car to Conn this Summer for the AMO show. I guess I should become a member.

Francis Gerard Fay
Augusta, ME

37 Checker
57 Borgward
58 Packard
63 Studebaker Avanti
64 Studebaker Pursuit Marshall
64 Checker A11 Taxi
68 Chevy Impala
72 Checker Marathon Wagon
76 Chevy Impala
79 AMC Pacer
81 Checker A11 Winkoff
82 AMC Concord
89 Eagle Premier