Today I received a text message from a good friend and mentor of mine reminding me that a year ago today, we were in Hollywood together for the College Emmy Awards. My documentary film, The Unfortunate History of the AMC Pacer, had been (to my disbelief) one of three national finalists. What seems even harder to believe is that exactly a year before that, I was pitching my film to a panel of judges to see if they deemed it worthy for production. Now, with a 3rd Place in the College Emmys, multiple airings on local PBS stations, and over 270,000 YouTube views as of this writing, I'm still amazed at how far this crazy little car has taken me.
One of the questions I was (and still am) asked most often was, "Why the Pacer?" People assume that I must have some kind of affection or even fanaticism for it, to dedicate so much time and effort into documenting its history. However, I always reply that the Pacer is not my favorite car. In fact, it's not even in the Top 10 list of my favorite cars. While I will admit that I have a soft spot in my heart for American Motors Corporation, I like Javelins, Eagles, Rebels, Ambassadors, and AMXs. Before this film, the Pacer never meant much to me.
I chose to produce a film about the Pacer because it had a good story.
From its development to its demise, the Pacer's history is filled with ups and downs. One moment, it's a wild success and the hottest new car on the market; the next moment, it's dragging down the whole company and threatening to bankrupt it. Rather than relay the whole story here, I would encourage you to watch the film for yourself.
I remember searching for a car to use as the subject for my film, but wanting to pick something different. Countless books, magazine articles, films, and TV shows, have been produced about the Mustang and the Corvette, but not very many people told stories about the Pacer. In my opinion, the Pacer's history is just as interesting as that of those cars, and it deserved to be shared. Granted, the audience for American Muscle is significantly larger than the for Pacer fans, but the popularity of the film proved that people love a good story no matter what it is about.
There are so many people I have to thank for the success of the film, and with their encouragement, I decided to parlay this style of movie-making into shorter videos for my AutoMoments YouTube channel. Along the way, I've learned that every car has a story--Imperials to Imprezas; Packards to Pacers. There are so many great cars out there with even better stories, just waiting to be told. The goal of AutoMoments is to share those stories in creative, imaginative ways.
Now when people ask my "Why the Pacer?" I reply, "It was too good of a story to not be told."
-Joe Ligo
One of the questions I was (and still am) asked most often was, "Why the Pacer?" People assume that I must have some kind of affection or even fanaticism for it, to dedicate so much time and effort into documenting its history. However, I always reply that the Pacer is not my favorite car. In fact, it's not even in the Top 10 list of my favorite cars. While I will admit that I have a soft spot in my heart for American Motors Corporation, I like Javelins, Eagles, Rebels, Ambassadors, and AMXs. Before this film, the Pacer never meant much to me.
I chose to produce a film about the Pacer because it had a good story.
From its development to its demise, the Pacer's history is filled with ups and downs. One moment, it's a wild success and the hottest new car on the market; the next moment, it's dragging down the whole company and threatening to bankrupt it. Rather than relay the whole story here, I would encourage you to watch the film for yourself.
I remember searching for a car to use as the subject for my film, but wanting to pick something different. Countless books, magazine articles, films, and TV shows, have been produced about the Mustang and the Corvette, but not very many people told stories about the Pacer. In my opinion, the Pacer's history is just as interesting as that of those cars, and it deserved to be shared. Granted, the audience for American Muscle is significantly larger than the for Pacer fans, but the popularity of the film proved that people love a good story no matter what it is about.
There are so many people I have to thank for the success of the film, and with their encouragement, I decided to parlay this style of movie-making into shorter videos for my AutoMoments YouTube channel. Along the way, I've learned that every car has a story--Imperials to Imprezas; Packards to Pacers. There are so many great cars out there with even better stories, just waiting to be told. The goal of AutoMoments is to share those stories in creative, imaginative ways.
Now when people ask my "Why the Pacer?" I reply, "It was too good of a story to not be told."
-Joe Ligo
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