On eBay Motors: AMC’s Ill-Fated 1977 Pacer-Like Minivan Concept
Culture
Oddities
Concept Cars
Most people who wanted an AMC Pacer - opens in new window or tab. bought one soon after the airy two-door hatchback was introduced in 1975. When sales of the original model (and the subsequent Pacer Wagon) flagged, AMC developed a similarly bubble-shaped prototype minivan in an attempt to attract more customers. The one-off 1977 AMC Concept 80 AM Van was recently listed on eBay Motors.
The AM Van, designed by Richard Teague’s team, has some Pacer cues, but with more utility.
The van, which was to feature a turbo motor and the four-wheel-drive that AMC eventually put into production on the Eagle, was never built. What’s offered is the non-working three-quarters scale “styling buck” that was shown off on the Concept 80 tour in 1977, with invitation-only stops in Detroit, New York, Washington, Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Toronto.
The finished van looks a lot like this drawing, but it lost the porthole window—later a feature on many minivans.
Designed by AMC’s Richard Teague—who also penned the Pacer, Gremlin, and Hornet—was to have had three-abreast seating. It would have been sold in various guises to families and commercial buyers. The show car was meant to emphasize the performance possibilities of that theoretical turbo motor, with a front spoiler, side pipes, and big wheel flares.
AMC said at the time that the van was “conceived as a go-anywhere four-wheel-drive vehicle with excellent potential for recreational and utility use in addition to family transportation.”
The styling buck lacks a motor and rolling wheels and only has a partial interior. But the original paint is still shiny. The Van has been on display at the History Center - opens in new window or tab. in Kenosha, Wisc., where AMC vehicles were built.
A Mini Minivan
The van has been on display at the Kenosha History Center. Wisconsin was once a carmaking center.
The little minivan was in the company of other concepts on tour, including a downsized Jeep and a tiny battery-powered Concept Electron. AMC Chairman Roy Chapin introduced the show, pointing out that the energy shortage was likely to become permanent, and cars would have to get smaller. The AM Van was the most popular of the concepts.
Auto scribe Pat Foster, an expert on AMC and the author of several books on the company, attended the Concept 80 festivities at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York. He remembers Teague, who gave him a personal tour of the exhibit, telling him that the AM Van “could really pull the company out of its hole.” According to Foster, “AMC hadn’t had a new car in two years, so Concept 80 was all about showing people that the company really did have a vision for the future.” He added that the van was a way of signaling that four-wheel drive would be increasingly important in passenger cars, not just Jeeps. The company turned out to be right about that, but it wasn’t ready to make a big production gamble. “They’d taken a big risk with the Pacer,” he said. “And it was the hottest thing on the market—but only in the first model year.”
The AM Concept 80 Van has the same basic shape as the Pacer, but Foster doesn’t think it would have been built on that platform. It’s hard to say what would have happened because the planning simply didn’t get that far.
In promotions for Concept 80, AMC said the futuristic vehicles showed “that the future holds abundant opportunities for a company responsive to a national need for efficient cars.” Alas, the public went back to thirstier vehicles when the price of fuel came down in the 1980s. And the AMC Van that was on eBay Motors became a nearly forgotten part of automotive history.
About the author
Share your feedback
This article is meant to provide general guidance only. Automotive maintenance, repair, upgrade, and installation may depend on vehicle-specifics such as make and model. Always consult your owner's manual, repair guide for specific information for your particular vehicle and consider a licensed auto-care professional's help as well, particularly for advance repairs.