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The year is 1979, a failing AMC needs a swift kick in the ass. So what does
the great American Motors Corporation do?
They produce the Eagle; an All
Wheel Drive derivative of the AMC Hornet/ Concord platform with a one inch
longer wheelbase (109" from 108") and a full time all-wheel drive system.
The AMC came standard with a 4.2L (258 cubic inch) I6 engine with a 2-barrel
Carter Carburetor, this engine produced 112hp at around 4000rpm and 210-lb/ft
torque at around 1500rpm.
The engine had 7 main bearings and was cast iron from
1971-1980, it was aluminum from 1981 until it was canceled in 1990.
The
Eagle itself was produced for eight years; 1979-1987, some may say it was
built for seven years, some may say nine but I say eight because it went on
sale in late 1979 as a 1980 model and the last Eagle (the last Eagle was
also the last AMC) was built on december 15th 1987 but the last of them were
sold in 1988 so you can see where the seven, eight, and nine opinions
come from.
The AMC Eagle was offered in all kinds of different packages, in 1980 three
models were offered; wagon, sedan, 2door, the wagon lasted until the end
while the 4door sedan was cut in '87 and the 2 door was cut early in '83,
these cars all had 109 inch wheelbases and were classified the Eagle 30
Series.
In 1981 the "new" Eagle 50 series cars were presented, they were
basically AWD AMC sports which were essentially deritives of the original
AMC Hornet 2 and 4 door of 1970.
In the last 17 years of American Motors, 50
percent or more of their cars were based on the AMC Hornet, The Eagle had
the same body as the Hornet except for the following differences: Front end
and headlights (or nose), Hood (or bonnet), Tail-lights (the Eagle featured
separate lights for braking and turning).
The interior featured wider seats
and a flat dashboard, the Hornet's dashboard had a hump in the middle, most
Eagles had vinyl covered roofs while most Hornets did not, the Eagle was an
all wheel drive with 15 inch tires, the Hornet was rear wheel drive with
14-inch tires, the Eagle had I6 and I4 engines standard of some models, every
AMC Hornet had a standard I6 and an option of many different V-8s. anyway
the Eagle 50s had shorter 98inch wheelbases, all Eagle 50 and 30 series cars
had a width of 72 inches.
- Bill MacRoberts
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