Funny Lookin' Cars: 1977 Datsun 200SX vs 1978 AMC Pacer Wagon - The Autopian (2024)

Welcome to another sh*tbox Showdown! Today’s cars are about the same age, and are both, well, funny-lookin’. Not ugly, exactly, just a little weird. But we like weird, don’t we?

But before we get there, let’s finish up with Friday’s four-way shootout. It’s only Saturday afternoon as I’m writing this, a little early to call it, but the results seem pretty conclusive: You all want to road-trip that little red Mercedes, premium fuel be damned. I applaud your courage, and I hope nothing goes wrong anywhere outside of a big city.

For me, among these, I think the choice is the Cadillac, even though it’s a distant third place in the votes. It’s comfy, it has a dirt-common Chevy V8 under the hood, and you can sleep in it in a pinch. And to the thirty-seven of you who chose the truck, my hat’s off to you. You’ll make it, I have no doubt, but it will be an arduous journey.

Did you ever have a line from a movie that just lives in your head, and pops out once in a while? Happens to me all the time, and more often than not, they’re lines from either Quentin Tarantino or Coen brothers movies. As soon as I saw the photos of today’s choices, a bit of dialogue from the 1996 classic Fargo came to mind, a description of Steve Buscemi’s character Carl: “Like I say, he was funny-lookin’. More n’ most people, even.”

Today’s cars are funny-lookin’. More n’ most cars, even. Let’s check them out.

1977 Datsun 200SX – $3,500

Engine/drivetrain: 2.0-liter overhead cam inline 4, three-speed automatic, RWD

Location: Pasadena, CA

Odometer reading: 39,000 miles

Operational status: Runs and drives great

When Nissan entered the US auto market, it wasn’t content to simply use a different name for the whole company – Datsun – but it created alphanumeric names for models that already had names back in Japan. This car is known as the Nissan Silvia in its home country, but here in the US, it’s the Datsun 200SX. We also got massive battering-ram 5 MPH bumpers, of course, and a whole slew of emissions control devices bolted to its L20B four-cylinder engine.

Disappointingly, this example is Americanized in another way as well: it has an automatic transmission. Camaros and Mustangs had been rocking automatics for ages by this point, so two pedals in a sporty coupe was not unusual. But there is no question that this car would be better served by Datsun’s slick-shifting four or five speed manuals of the time. But there aren’t many first-generation 200SXs left, so you have to take what you can get.

It runs and drives great, according to the seller, and is an original one-owner car. The odometer shows only 39,000 miles, but I believe these have five-digit odometers, so it may have rolled over. Probably not more than once, however, from the look of it; it’s mighty clean inside.

Outside, it’s nice and straight, but it does have some rust. Southern California cars don’t generally rust, but ’70s Datsuns are apparently the exception. To be fair, however, in the Midwest, these cars looked worse than this by the timeThe Amityville Horror was in theaters.

1978 AMC Pacer Wagon – $2,850

Engine/drivetrain: 232 or 258 cubic inch overhead valve inline 6, three-speed automatic, RWD

Location: Peoria, AZ

Odometer reading: 100,000 miles

Operational status: Runs and drives, but needs brakes work

Perpetual underdog AMC threw everything it had into the development of the Pacer. Unfortunately, everything AMC had never amounted to much. Originally intended to be a technological masterpiece, the Pacer ended up just being wide, weird, and pretty ordinary under the skin. Instead of a Wankel rotary, it made do with the same old inline six as the rest of AMC’s lineup.

I mean, that’s not a bad thing; it’s a good engine, but it dates all the way back to 1964 – hardly state-of-the-art by the Carter years. It’s smooth and powerful enough for the time, but it got mediocre gas mileage at a time when EPA estimates were printed in great big numbers in every ad. This one runs fine, according to the seller, and the car is drivable, but it needs the brakes redone before being put into regular service.

The seller also says this Pacer needs some interior work but doesn’t include any decent overall photos to show what needs work. In fact, none of the photos in this ad are great. Ordinarily, I’d probably skip over an ad like this, but how often do you find a Pacer for sale, let alone a wagon? From what I can see, it’s in presentable condition outside, at least.

It’s not uncommon for project-y cars like this to come with some spare parts, but I’m not sure I’ve ever seen five spare taillights included with a car before – three rights and two lefts, it looks like. Why so many, I wonder? Are they expecting a buyer to just back into stuff with wild abandon?

Yes, they’re both a little weird, but the more I look at them, the more I like them both. I can’t remember the last time I saw either one of them in person, and I know either one would turn my head. And isn’t that kind of the point? Why drive the same thing as everyone else? Get yourself a funny-lookin’ car, and live a little. Which one will it be?

Image credits: Craigslist sellers