The footage isn’t that great, but it works…or, in other words, you will see the car that has the pressurized six cylinder blast by the camera clearly enough to know what you’re seeing. It moves nicely. It does what looks like a block-long burnout towards the camera. And it just might be one of the most underrated cars of the 1980s ever made.
The company that designed this car pretty much ran on the genius of one designer who knew how to get every last cent out of a design. The car’s design might have dated back to 1970, but the layout predicted what Subaru and every SUV/CUV that came afterwards would need. The engine was a tried-and-true design, the drivetrain could handle whatever was thrown at it, and styling-wise…well, it wasn’t the weirdest thing that ever came out of their studios.
This video was posted up in January and so far, we don’t know anything about this car. If anybody knows anything about our mystery barn burner here, please bring us up to speed!
AMC Eagle with a Roadkill “Hood on Roof” package. Very rare option.
The video’s heading gave it away, but even then I recognized a childhood favorite: the eagle Wagon. One of my Uncles had had one for many years, it was just a great piece of machinery.
No mistaking that carbureted I6 bark!
“Turdocharged” AMC Eagle… anyone…. Bueller…Bueller. :/
Says right on the video . Turbo Eagle .
Jeeze ! Talk about missed opportunities ! AMC had it all in the palm of their hand with the Eagle and its variations . Had they continued to evolve it they’d be where Subaru is today .. and Subaru would be but a blip on the radar
Damn ! Ever notice how many times .. again and again the damn US automakers are on the verge of finally getting it right …. only to abandon it mid stream for some other Pie in the Sky bulls*** venture ?
So what is it ? And why is it we’ve become so damned stupid over the last 60 years or so …. going from number one … to barely in the mix ?
My guess ? Too damn many MBA’s with heads full of Ivory Tower theories and unfounded optimism ..not having a modicum of common sense … listening too much to their fellow MBA marketing mavens … and in reality not giving a damn about what it is they’re manufacturing
I know, right? The Eagle and the XJ Cherokee were literally ahead of their time, and the Gremmy/Spirit had the potential to be a serious Corolla killer but it was too little, too late. AMC’s identity crisis of the 70s, failed “radical” cars, and the big three putting the squeeze on them did it in. I remember reading that GM (AMC’s main supplier of automatic transmissions) would jock them around on pricing and availability in an effort to drive up AMC’s production costs. Mopar did similar with New Process Gear as well. It’s a shame, because AMC was a real innovator. We could really use that kind of maverick attitude today.
AMC was ahead of the big three in a lot of ways and IMHO floated Chrysler for a while after purchase (Wag, XJ, Neon etc.) AMC is why I was/am a big supporter of the much hated auto bail out. When a country looses it’s automotive heritage it is a huge indicator of a loss of national power and pride. Just look at Great Britain. It is my dream that one day Richard Branson and Jay Leno will get a wild hair to open “Obsolete Motor Cars” OMC would manufacture AMC, Pontiac, Plymouth, and Oldsmobile branded cars using shared running gear from the big three. A fella can dream.
The problem with those much hated ‘ Bailouts ‘ .. isn’t the bailouts themselves … but rather what the companies being bailed out do with the bailout time after time and without fail
Which is … they keep doing the same exact crap that got them into the position of needing the damn bailout all over again . Not learning one single solitary damn thing from their previous mistakes
So while in theory I’m on board with you when it come to ‘ Bailouts ‘ .. otherwise known as government handouts .. in practice .. well … not so much
Fact is … in practice I despise bailouts for the way they are continually abused.. and without penalty… by the companies being bailed out
To be fair to the US automakers though ? The EU/UK auto manufactures have been just as bad [ if not worse ] when it comes to being bailed out . e.g. FIAT … FIAT SpA .. Alfa Romeo .. Maserati .. Lancia [ which is why the Italians now refuse to bail out FCA any further ] Ferrari ( yes .. Ferrari .. on multiple occasions .. all their so called ‘ profits’ being part of the ‘ myth ‘ ) … British Leyland , Renault .. PCA etc
So the fact is … the ONLY way I’d ever get behind a bailout ever again is if the demands , rules and restrictions of the bailout as well as the penalties if you screw up were so high they’d be fools not to follow the rules
And oh yeah …. unlike ObamaClaus /GWB’s most recent round of bailouts … those damn rules actually be enforced … to the fullest extent [ its amazing how many and how strict a rules were in place .. that in fact were never enforced and still aren’t being enforced to this day ] Otherwise I say let them die !
As to AMC ? Yeah … they had it all in the bag on more than one front . Their biggest single mistake was joining forces with Renault …. their second thinking they could ever bank on a fair deal from the likes of GM etc as suppliers .
Looks like a SX/4 body but only rear wheels doing burnout? Car was turning some RPM’s for a 258!
Let us not forget how Barry Navarro turbo’d the AMC I6 for Indy.