Undercover Speed Demon Pacer-Cadillac V8

By Arison Knapp - December 23, 2015

There have been faster and sleeker AMC Pacers modified big engines though this one with a hefty 8.2-liter Cadillac V8 dropped in takes the king sleeper crown for 2015. Found on Craigslist by autoevolution, their team is impressed too by the build, owner’s car care and selling price at $6,000. Tossing out the straight-six 3.8-liter and stuffing in a 8.2-liter V8 from Cadillac had to take some good math and energy that brings great respect to this custom Pacer. The owner is a flat-out AMC fanatic who has owned over 200 AMCs. I think autoevolution and myself somehow already trust him and this conversion. Well done!

At a curb weight of just 2600 lbs the Pacer has a decent power-to-weight ratio with now 235 horsepower and 522 Nm of torque. Over the years of owning this modified American Motors Pacer with the V8 the owner Phil says most fast cars have to get a solid jump off the line to keep up with him. I can attest over the years of driving hundreds of new test cars that any car with over 200 HP and under 3000 lbs curb weight is in the sports car category.

The Pacer starting in 1978 did offer a V8 but only turned out a weak 125 horsepower but Phil says he used the rear axle from the that model to beef up the rear end. That factory V8 from AMC only jetted the Pacer up to around 120 MPH but Phil implies this top gunner Pacer can hit speeds well above that. He also reinforced the frame with a 2+2 box tubing. Any smart tuner adds strength before or after power enhancing which creates a better driving vehicle and longer life to the chassis. Do you think this would be a fun weekend toy? Can you imagine this on the drift circuit with Ken Block sliding sideways? I sure can see that happening in the near future, using fast beaters to have a demolition derby drift event.