(By Eric Rood) – Few remember American Motors’ Concord–although the two-door hatch served as the basis for the final AMX–but along with the compact Spirit and the proto-CUV Eagle, the Concord was the last of AMC’s own passenger car designs. Unfortunately, AMC’s money troubles meant that the Concord’s debut in 1978 saw it overshadowed by the Fox-based Ford Fairmont and Mercury Zephyr. That final era of AMC design is remarkable for the numerous curiosities (including the use of a badge-engineered, carbureted Porsche 924 engine), but by the time Concord production wound down in 1983, the rear-wheel-drive cars were considered relics and replaced with French cars as part of Renault’s bailout.
Like most things in automotive history, these cars reemerge as curiosities to a new generation of gearheads and this final-year model for sale in Kenosha (of course) is very much a car of its time. It comes in a reasonably nice brown-over-beige finish with appropriate Malaise Era-brown interior. Like all of the ‘83s, this sedan gets its modest power from AMC’s ubiquitous 258-cubic-inch straight six engine and channels that through a three-speed Torqueflite automatic transmission. It looks reasonably clean for a 33-year-old car though with a few rust spots on the original paint, but with 63,000 miles on the clock, the 258 is probably just starting to get comfy.
Hopefully, some merciful soul will see this and attempt a daring and heroic Concord rescue in their own particular idiom.
(Brian note: The car I rode around in as a kid was an AMC Concord wagon which was white with wood grain down the sides. My parents had the car until 1986 when they traded it in on a brand new Taurus wagon which was a revolutionary car that all but saved Ford at that time. The AMC had a red/white/blue logo on the steering wheel which my dad convinced us was an ejector button and when we got lippy he threatened to send us into orbit. It worked way too long on us.)
Click the link below the photos to score this hunk of Kenosha AMC Concord Gold
Does it have to be so beige?
In the UK that is the colour of old age, hearing aids and other signs of decrepitude. So I think that I would put in a twin turbo 401 and worked suspension and then donate it to a retirement home to use as shared transport.
Without telling them of the transplant…
I’d swap in a stroker 401, 727 Torqueflite, and a 8 3/4 or Ford 9″ , leave the outside just the way it is, then go to Drag Week 2016.
Yup!
Throw an injected Jeep 4.0 in that and use it for a cruiser.
I wonder if the drivetrain would fit in a Gremlin or better yet Pacer! Stick in a 401 instead of the 258 and hang on!
Actually this car was built at the Kennedy Road AMC plant in Brampton, Ontario. I know, I built them sweethearts, along with the wagon and AWD versions, and the hatchback Spirit and SX/4 😉
Greetings from Colorado. Hats off to you, Crusty, from a life-long AMC and Chrysler nut!
how much