Nine-passenger wagons are an awesome alternative to having a large SUV or four-door pickup truck. Since they have full frames, they can tow, they can pack around people, and the stigma against wagons is mostly gone. Most people remember the gems: Chrysler Town and Country, Pontiac Safari, Ford Country Squire, but few people remember that AMC churned out big wagons in the 1970s as well. This coffin-nosed 1976 Matador Brougham 9-passenger wagon is one of maybe a handful left in any kind of condition, let alone running, driving and cruise-worthy.

In 1974 the full-size AMCs got the huge square-beak “coffin nose treatment, which didn’t do them any  real favors in the looks department, and in 1975 the 401ci V8 was axed. This wagon has the 360/Torque-Command combination, which would still hustle it along well enough, especially if the engine has been tweaked with any, which we are willing to bet has happened. Inside shows a perfect place to sit, relax and kill a few hundred miles a day, and somehow appears to have been unaffected by time. When they were new, Matadors were considered great cars, but AMC was so thrifty at this point that they couldn’t really market the car against the other full-sizers.

The price tag on this well-optioned A/C equipped car is $11,900 and while you might balk at that at first, think about it: when was the last time you ever saw one of these? Seeing an AMC anything from this era outside of a car show is like seeing a unicorn nibbling the grass of a highway median, but seeing a Matador wagon that looks this sweet is nearly impossible.

eBay Link: 1976 AMC Matador 9-passenger wagon