Just wondering, after the last one's made—whenever that is—how total U.S. sales will compare to other interesting, limited-appeal cars like the Studebaker Avanti (not the non-Studebaker Avanti), DeLorean and the Acura NSX. (I know we've already passed the Tucker Torpedo.)

 

Isn't the Tucker Torpedo the one in the Smithsonian or am I thinking of a Tucker something else?

 

It might be. It's the one in that movie "Tucker: The Man And His Dream" with Jeff Bridges. (If you love cars, a must-see movie!) There were only 51 made—apparently 47 survive. It's actually a pretty cool car. When I saw the movie it reminded me of the 8 a little: the shape of the rear passenger windows, the bulbous fenders, the suicide doors, the (curiously) rotary-shaped hood and, well, just the fact that it was "different". Wish I had a picture to show you.

(Check out the "Tucker website": http://www.tuckerclub.org/index.php and this cool page in the Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tucker_automobile)

 

I don't know if this post is serious, but the RX-8 is a mass produced car that's meant to sell well and do so at a fair price. It's not meant to be rare and it isn't. The NSX has only sold about 10k total in the last 15 years in North America, the RX-8 eclipsed that mark within 6 months.

 

Whoa ... just as I clicked on this link, my TiVo automatically changed channels to record the Tucker episode on Automobiles on the History Channel. Something mysterious must be happening in the universe today.

 

I found part of the answer to my question…
Avanti: Studebaker built 4,643 cars from June 1962 to December 1963. That was all.

 

Info from Wikipedia:

• In 1975, its first year of production, the Pacer sold well, with 145,528 units. Unfortunately for AMC, Pacer sales fell rapidly after the first two years and production ceased in 1980 with a total of 280,000 cars built. Improved competition and resistance to the Pacer's unusual styling are often cited as the reasons for this outcome.

• The original design featured a Wankel rotary engine which would be purchased from General Motors, who were at the time seriously intending wide-scale use of rotaries in production cars. The fuel crisis and up-coming emissions legislation in the US killed off the GM rotary. GM cancelled development in 1974, unable to make their version meet upcoming late 70s emissions levels in an acceptable period of time (others were having trouble with emissions too, but Mazda finally solved the problem). Fuel efficiency of the rotary was no better than existing engines of the same power level. While the rotary was more compact and lighter than contemporary piston engines, and potentially cheaper to build, GM felt there was no compelling reason to spend the money required to tool up for producing an engine that needed to have a car designed around it for any significant advantage over existing engines. Although power output of the Wankel design is rather high for displacment (there is some dispute over how rotary displacement is calculated), power output is at high RPMs. Americans, who were used to low-revving, high torque engines, would have to get used to a totally different way of driving with rotary powered vehicles.

• Wayne's "Mirth Mobile"

• GM's rather sudden cancellation of the rotary left the Pacer, which was designed around the rotary, without an engine. AMC had sunk too much money and effort into the design to scrap it, so the Pacer was hastily reconfigured to accept AMC's existing I-6 engine, necessitating a complete redesign of the firewall to keep the long engine within the sleek envelope of the body.

• The Pacer's drawbacks, aside from controversial looks, included a lack of cargo space when carrying a full load of passengers and a lack of power; the Pacer was rather heavy and the AMC straight six quite old and underpowered. In 1976, a 4.2 L High Output engine was offered, which helped the performance at the then-unacceptable cost of much higher fuel consumption. A 5.0 L V8 was offered in 1978, but by then the Pacer was thought outmoded, and it did little for sales.

 

I tend to agree with Ike on this one. I don't see how a comparison between limited production vehicles like the Tucker Torpedo or the NSX makes sense.

 

I understand what you're saying, though I don't believe the Studebaker Avanti, AMC Pacer or even the Tucker Torpedo were meant to be limited production vehicles. The first two just "ended up" that way when they failed to find a market. (And I mentioned the Tucker partly in jest just to say that the RX-8 had already outsold it.) I guess I feel the thing these cars have in common is that they were a) more or less unusual in design and b) that they had what some consider disappointing sales. Whatever.

 

My mom used to own two Pacers. Ugly cars!!!!

 

Well, it's impressive that Studebaker managed to sell 4643 cars of *any* variety by that point in time...