AMC Eagle

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1981 AMC Eagle Limited station wagon

1982 AMC Eagle convertible.

The AMC Eagle was a four-wheel drive passenger car produced by the American Motors Corporation, introduced for the 1980 model year and based on the AMC Concord. A two-door coupe, four-door sedan and a four-door station wagon were initially available. The Eagle was the last of the original AMC vehicles produced. With a platform first produced as a 1970 Hornet model, 18 years would be one of the longest production lifetimes of any platform of the 1970s era, exceeded only by the Jeep CJ5 and the Grand Wagoneer.

The vehicle utilized a full-time four-wheel drive system (similar to the one used in the Jeep Cherokee, also produced by AMC) and had a noticeably increased ground clearance compared to the Concord. At the time, the Eagle was a logical extension to the Concord range: since AMC made Jeeps it made sense to combine off-road technology with a passenger car range. It is now considered ahead of its time, and is also considered to be one of the first crossover SUVs. The Eagle was available in a four-door sedan and station wagon, as well as in a coupe bodies and came in regular, sport, or Limited trims. All had permanent automatic all-wheel drive. Shift-on-the-fly (into four-wheel deive from rear wheel drive) became standard in 1985.

From 1981 to 1983, the Eagle was available in a smaller body. These were the 'Kammback' a three-door hatchback with a nearly vertical tailgate (essentially the old AMC Gremlin body) as well as a three-door fastback with a sporty SX/4 variant. The Kammback and fastback had rear wheel drive equivalents in the AMC Spirit, which was itself a restyled Gremlin.

During 1981 and 1982 a Sundowner conversion convertible was available. The Eagle's monocoque body was reinforced and a steel targa roll bar was welded to the door pillars for passenger compartment protection. The front portion of the roof was a removable light weight fiberglass hatch, while the rear section of polyvinyl material and the back window folded down and had a boot cover when in the down position. The cars were ordered through any AMC dealer. The conversion was by the Griffith Company that was headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

The smaller Spirit-based models and the two-door coupe were dropped after 1983, after which only the station wagon remained for public sale, while the four-door sedan remained available to fleet buyers. The 2.5 L General Motors four-cylinder engine was also replaced after 1983 by AMC's own 2.5 L I4.

After Chrysler's buyout of AMC in 1987, the Eagle wagon remained in production, and then was discontinued after a short run of 1988 models. Some advertising materials used the name "American Eagle", part of a minor rebranding effort by AMC.

External links

• [AMC Eagle Nest] (Includes an active forum for Eagle enthusiasts.)
• [EagleWeb]
• [AMC Eagle specifications table]

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