Car of the Day-AMC Eagle (1980-1988)

American Motors Corporation was always the underdog of car-makers.  They never had as many resources to update their cars as frequently as the Big Three, nor were their cars as advanced as the competition.  Despite these shortcomings, AMC did manage to pull together some very interesting cars using what limited resources they had.

One of my favorite AMC cars was the Eagle.  The Eagle debuted at a time when American Motors was teetering on the edge of going belly up.  AMC was suffering some long-term setbacks from the Pacer/Matador Coupe disaster.  Using what resources they had, AMC took the body of a Hornet sedan (which debuted in 1970) and placed it atop of a 4x4 Jeep chassis.  The result was the Eagle.

The Eagle was offered as a sedan, wagon, coupe, hatchback, and (pictured above) a sportback.  The Eagle was way ahead of the times.   It was the first vehicle to feature a "shift on the fly" transfer case, which eliminated the need to exit the car when shifting into four wheel drive.  Under the hood, you will find AMC's bulletproof 4.2 liter straight 6 engine, making this a very durable car!  Lastly, this car is often cited as the very first crossover vehicle, a concept that all other automakers would adopt thirty years later.

The car wasn't a HUGE success, but it sold enough cars to keep AMC going for eight more years.  Eventually, AMC would shut down and be sold off to Chrysler in 1987.  Due to it's substantial reliability,  there are still quite a few Eagles driving around today.  Where I live in south-eastern Wisconsin, I come across an Eagle every once in a while, mostly due to it being assembled here.

The Eagle is on my shortlist of cars I want to own someday.  As obscure as it is, parts are relatively cheap and common.  In fact, after Chrysler bought AMC's assets, Chrysler would continue making the straight six engine fun in the Eagle all the way up until 2006.  Also, because it was built in my home state, I see it as a sense of Wisconsin pride, an example of the cool cars that came out of the Badger state (along with the Gremlin, Pacer, AMX, and Javelin...but I'll save those for another time.)

The photo above was taken by myself at an all AMC show in Kenosha.  There were hundreds of AMC cars that lined the beach at Lake Michigan.  Everyone there treated each other like family, so thats another reason why I'd like to get an Eagle, or any other AMC car.