IT’S MINE VF PACER
BILL SKYRM’S Thar She Blue VF Pacer is, for many Pacer fans, the perfect combination of model, body-style and colour. The 225cube slant-six has an army of admirers, the four-door Pacer body is seen by many as the tougher looker and that shade of blue just screams good times.
Bill bought the car about 12 years ago from Cairns and, although the old girl was in pretty sharp nick back then, Bill admits the car has had plenty of time and money put into it since then.
“It had 70,000 miles on it when I got it,” he told us “and it’s now just clicked over 100,000 miles, so it gets used.”
“It’s a genuine car; all stamped and still running the original motor, gearbox and diff. I’ve put new seals in the axles, but the 225 slant has only really been inspected. It’s certainly never been rebuilt. It has been painted, and the colour now is a little bit darker than original because we used two-pack. I want it to look good for 30 years, not three weeks.” “When I bought it, I was pretty happy with it, but I decided I’d just give the engine bay a tidy-up…And that was the start of it all.” Now there’s a theme we hear a lot at UniqueCars.
“Now, as well as the paint, it has a new headliner and new carpets but, believe it or not, the seats are the original ones. They’ve never been recovered. The wheels are period correct alloys, but I’ve also still got the original hub-caps. The exhaust is a slightly bigger single system, but that’s it.”
So tell us about that too-coolfor-school radio-delete sticker, Bill. “Ah, that was given to me by a gentleman who used to be a Chrysler dealer. He reckons they put the bright red sticker where the radio should have been to remind people that a radio was optional and that they really wanted one. This car does have a radio now, but it’s hidden in the glove-box.” “I used to work on the car myself, but I’ve got two crook shoulders these days, so I outsource the heavy stuff. But I’ve also got two pretty handy sons. In any case, apart from a wash and polish, I haven’t had to touch it for years. And we drive it. It’s been to Bathurst a few years ago and to Chryslers on the Murray about seven times. That’s why the exhaust is a bit bigger but has a hot-dog or two to shut it up. My wife said she was happy to go away in it, but not if it droned on the freeway. So it doesn’t.”