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Revision as of 07:08, 17 May 2006 by Wiarthurhu (talk | contribs)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff) Motor vehicle| AMC Matador | |
|---|---|
| 1972 AMC Matador | |
| Overview | |
| Manufacturer | American Motors Corporation |
| Production | 1971–1978 |
| Body and chassis | |
| Class | Mid-size |
| Related | AMC Rebel |
The AMC Matador was an either plain looking or radically styled intermediate size car built and sold by the American Motors Corporation (AMC) from 1971 to 1978.
The Name
The Matador succeeded the Rebel nameplate which had been in use since 1967. Since Rebel had connotations of the confederacy during the rise of the Civil Rights Era, Matador was probably more politically correct, but it did not save the nameplate from obscurity as an ad campaign proclaimed "What's a Matador", and it translated poorly in Spanish as "killer".
Rebel and Ambassador
The Matador was essentially the 1970 Rebel restyled with a longer front clip and a new interior. From the cowl back, the Matador shared its unit body with the AMC Ambassador, which had a longer wheelbase and front end sheetmetal. Advertising at the time boasted that it was a redesign and not simply a new name and facelift, but that's essentially what it was. The Rebel / Matador and Ambassador were originally created as mainstream and luxury midsize cars, but they had nearly as much room as other full sized sedans. The one-piece flush door latches were distinctive. Some seats featured front head restraints which were flush with the seat back when lowered.
The Matador initially came with a choice of an automatic or manual transmissions, in 2-door hardtop, 4-door sedan and station wagon bodystyles. Starting in 1974, the hardtop was replaced by an unusually styled coupé (see below). AMC's entire stable of 6-cylinder and V8 engines were available at various times. The "Machine" package which was a separate Rebel model was on option package in 1971.
Police Cruiser
The four-door sedan was adopted by the Los Angeles Police Department in 1972, and became familiar through its use on the Adam-12 TV show. It was also adopted by other civilian and military police forces.
NASCAR Racing
[Image:1974_AMC_Matador_Coupe_NASCAR_Mark_Donahue_Racer.jpg |250px|1974 NASCAR Penske Matador]
Penske prepared factory-backed Matadors were used in NASCAR racing by Mark Donahue and Bobby Allison, and won a number of races. The first generation coupe had aerodynamics best described as a "flying brick". Penske was quoted as saying they knew they had an aerodynamically challenged box, but did what they could, and it did better on tracks with more curves and fewer straight ways. The fastback second generation coupe was said to be aimed at NASCAR racing, though the nose turned out to be less fast than it looked. and both are shown here.
Matador Coupe
For the 1974 model year, AMC introduced an unusually styled coupe with pronounced headlight surrounds and fastback styling, along with a less than attractive front and rear restyle of the four-door models. The coupe was one of the more controversial and memorable designs of the 1970s after the AMC Gremlin and AMC Pacer. Although mid-sized coupes were extremely popular at the time, the model was unfortunately introduced shortly before the first oil crisis of the 1970s. Sales, while initially promising, dropped along with demand for other traditional intermediate cars in the midst of the first fuel crisis, and again after downsized full sized models appeared from GM in 1977. Sketches appeared in the automotive press showing designs for the sedan and wagon based on the styling themes of the coupe, but these did not reach production.
Faced with declining sales, and lacking the financial resources for a full redesign (the car still used the basic 1967 Rebel platform), the Matador outlasted the Ambassador, but was discontinued after the 1978 model year, after which AMC concentrated its resources on its Jeep, Hornet and Renault based cars. Of interest is the extremely low production (23 units) of 6-cylinder-powered 1978 Matadors.
AMC Heritage in Daimler-Chrysler
AMC would later re-enter midsize cars with the Renault inspired Eagle Premier. This led to the successful Chrysler LH Concorde / Vision / Intrepid series of sedans, and the rebirth of the Chrysler 300 and new Dodge Charger with a Mercedes based platform.
Toys
- Aurora AFX slot cars made both the boxy stock car resembling the factory Penske car, and
the 1974 coupe.
- Cox made a gas car of the 4 door sedan.
- Cox also made a large size stock car of the 1974 coupe.
- AMT made a model of the 1974 coupe stock car driven by Allison, and one with customized body parts.
In pop culture
- In the James Bond movie The Man with the Golden Gun, the villain Francisco Scaramanga drives a Matador that could transform into an aircraft (in that movie, various American Motors vehicles were used, making it one of the first product placement movies).
- AMC Matadors were also used in the first Police Academy movie and in the Dukes of Hazzard television show.
- LA Police Department Matadors appear in the Pink Floyd The Wall movie
- Michael Jackson takes a sledgehammer to a Matador in one of his music videos.
External links
- A brief history of the Matador
- Norbert Vance's Matador Photo Sampler
- Arcticboy's Matador page, from which this page's pictures were taken
- The Coupe Coop, a page dedicated entirely to the Matador coupe
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