When you review the history of American Motors, it becomes apparent that making it to 1987 was actually nothing short of a miracle. After reaching their height about 1971 or so, AMC took a steady plunge downward. Sure, they had Jeep, and that certainly didn’t hurt anything, but with nowhere even close to the amount of capital that the Big Three had, AMC effectively ran with the genius of designer Dick Teague and prayed that something would stick. By the dawn of the 1980s, AMC was pretty much two things: everything Jeep and Eagle/Concorde/Spirit, which were refreshes of the Gremlin and the Hornet, both of which debuted at the turn of the 1970s. Mercifully, AMC was able to really bring the styling under control, morphing the odd-duck Gremlin into the rather modern and crisp Spirit.
In stock form, the Sprit was…well, underpowered, like everything was back then. But they did come with the 304 stock, which means that in the hands of a capable wrench the Sprit can become an underdog stomper. Take this black 1982 example: with 433 horsepower at the rear wheels, you had better bring something serious for most excursions, and on the street, the manual trans has to make this one hell of an E-ticket ride. We wouldn’t change a thing here…what about you?
Absolutely beautiful looking car! Too bad it’s not AMC powered, then it would have been perfect!
how original, they put a small block chevy in it. another beautiful car ruined. should have stayed with the amc engine.