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Automotive History
The AMC Matador
The AMC Matador is an intermediate car that was built and
sold by American Motors Corporation (AMC) from 1971 to 1978. These models were
also assembled in Mexico by Vehículos Automotores Mexicanos (VAM) and in
Australia by Australian Motor Industries (AMI) with modifications for their
markets including continuing the use of the Rambler marque.
History
The Matador replaced the AMC Rebel, which had been marketed since 1967. Like the
Rebel, the Matador was based on the full-size AMC Ambassador.
First Generation
AMC advertising assured that the Matador was not just a name change and
facelift, but in reality, it was the 1970 Rebel restyled with a longer front
clip and a new interior. From the firewall back, the Matador shared its body
with the Ambassador, which had a longer wheelbase and front end sheetmetal, a
formal grille and luxurious trim, as well as more standard equipment that
included air conditioning. While "Matador" may have been a move away from
connotations of the Confederacy inspired by the rise of the Civil Rights
Movement, it did not help solve the obscurity problem, as AMC adopted a "What's
a Matador" advertising campaign.
The Matador came with straight-6 or a number of V8 engines and it was available
with 2-door hardtop, 4-door sedan and station wagon body styles. The wagon
design was essentially unchanged from the Rebel. A rear facing third row bench
seat was available. All wagons included a roof rack and a two-way tailgate that
opened down or to the side when the rear window was down.
Matador Machine
1975 Matador
The Matador still participated in the muscle car trend. The Machine trim package
was carried forward from the Rebel to the Matador as an option on 1971 model
two-door hardtops. Far lesser known than its 1970 predecessor, less than 50
Matador Machines were produced. The package featured a set of dual exhaust
pipes, a heavy-duty handling package, and a choice of either a 360 cu in (5.9 L)
or 401 cu in (6.6 L) V8 engine. Unlike the Rebel Machine, the Matador Machine
did not have the bold red-white-blue striping. Only one Matador Machine is known
to still exist.
Second Generation
1978 Matador
A major design change was introduced with the 1974 models for both the sedan and
wagon, while the two-door became a separate and radically styled coupe. These
could be considered the "second generation" Matadors. New passenger car
requirements called for five-mile an hour (8 km) impact protection that was
accomplished with massive bumpers. The four-door and wagons received a new front
fascia with a hood and grille featuring a prominent central protrusion that
followed the front bumper design. Matadors with this front fascia are sometimes
nicknamed "coffin noses" - perhaps a reference to the styling of the classic
Cord 810/812.
During this time the automobile market was moving to smaller cars. The
large-sized Matador was no longer attractive to customers demanding more
economical cars as fuel and money became increasingly worrisome problems after
the 1973 oil crisis and the continuing double digit inflation. Lacking the
financial resources for a full redesign (partly because of the expensive tooling
costs of the coupe), AMC dropped the large Ambassador after 1974, while the
Matador was discontinued after 1978, around the same time as Ford moved their
full-size nameplates to a smaller platform. The downsized 1977 Chevrolet Impala
also spelled doom for large intermediates from AMC and Chrysler. AMC would be
left with Jeep, Hornet/Gremlin derivatives, and Renault cars. American Motors
did not have another large car until the Eagle Premier that was developed with
Renault's partnership and introduced right after AMC was purchased by Chrysler.
Police
Though the Ambassador was also offered as a police car, the Matador would prove
to be very popular. The largest user of Matador patrol cars was the Los Angeles
Police Department, primarily from 1972 to 1974, with some staying in service
until the mid 1980's. It was also used by other agencies, including the Los
Angeles Sheriffs Department and many other law enforcement agencies across the
U.S. and Canada, as well as by military police units.
While V8 power was down for many domestic sedans, AMC used a 401 cu in (6.6 L)
V8 engine that outpowered most other police vehicles. Zero to 60 miles per hour
(97 km/h) times were within 7 seconds, comparable to a 2006 Hemi Charger police
car. Top speed was about 125 miles per hour (201 km/h), which took only 43
seconds, much faster than the previous Plymouth Satellite. However, 1974 would
be the last year for the LAPD's purchase of the Matador. The longer-nosed
restyle added weight which affected handling and performance, and was less
reliable. The model would soon fade in police fleets as downsized Ford's,
Chevrolet's and Dodge Diplomat-based cars became adopted in the late 1970s.
Matador police cars would appear in many television shows and movies during the
1970s, most famously,
Adam-12 from 1972 until the show's end in 1975, and also in
The Rockford Files
beginning in 1974. The 1974 AMC Matador
was one of many different Hazzard County police cars used on the
Dukes of Hazzard, mostly in the first season; they had
light bars and working radios. Most of the Matadors were former LAPD cars, and
until the mid-70s, LAPD cruisers were ordered with manual steering.
Consequently, the stuntmen didn't like driving the Matadors, and they were
retrofitted with power steering.
Matador coupe
1974 AMC Matador X Coupe
The 1974 model year introduced an aerodynamically styled fastback coupe with
pronounced "tunneled" headlight surrounds. The Matador coupe was the only
all-new model in the popular mid-size car segment. The coupe was designed by
AMC's Vice President of Styling, Richard A. Teague, with input from Mark
Donohue, the famous race car driver. Many were amazed that AMC came up with the
fast, stylish Matador, considering the automaker's size and limited resources.
The coupe's wind-shaped look was enhanced by a very long hood and a short rear
deck. The four-door and station wagon models did not share the complete redesign
of the coupe. The Matador coupe stands out as one of the more distinctive and
controversial designs of the 1970s after the AMC Pacer. The Matador coupe was
named "Best Styled Car of 1974" by the editors of Car and Driver magazine.
Sales of the coupe were brisk with 62,629 Matador Coupes delivered for its
introductory year, up sharply from the 7,067 Matador hardtops sold in 1973.[5]
This is a respectable record that went against the drop in the overall market
during 1974 and the decline in popularity of intermediate-sized coupes after the
1973 oil crisis. Nearly 100,000 Matador Coupes in total were produced from 1974
through 1978.
Design plans for a sedan and wagon based on the coupe's styling themes did not
reach production.
Oleg Cassini
Cassini showing some of the interior trim he designed
A special Oleg Cassini edition of the Matador coupe was available for the 1974
and 1975 model years. American Motors had the famous American fashion designer
develop a more elegant luxury oriented model for the new Coupe. Cassini was
renowned in Hollywood and high-society for making elegant ready-to-wear dresses,
including those worn by Jacqueline Kennedy.
The Cassini Coupe was unlike all the other personal luxury cars. The new Matador
did not have the typical vintage styling cues of formal upright grille and
squared-off roof with opera windows. The Cassini version was only available on
the Brougham two-door models that included standard features such as
individually adjustable reclining seats. Cassini Coupes could be had in only
black, copper, or white, and all came with a vinyl covered roof. It also
featured copper-colored trim in the grille, headlamp bezels, in turbine-type
full wheel covers, and within the rear license plate recess.
The interior was a Cassini hallmark featuring a comfortable and plush
environment. A special black fabric with copper metal buttons on the seats and
door panels was set off by extra thick copper carpeting. Additional copper
accents were on the steering wheel, door pulls, and on the instrument panel.
Embroidered Cassini medallions were featured on the headrests. The glove
compartment door, trunklid, front fender, and hood featured Cassini's signature.
A real life example of an Oleg Cassini Coupe can be seen in the James Bond 007
movie “The Man with the Golden Gun”, produced in 1974. The car, a copper-colored
example, with the black upholstery interior, features prominently in the movie.
It is best remembered as the 'flying' car.
Barcelona
1977 Coupe -
Barcelona version
In 1976, a "Barcelona" option offered an alternative to the personal luxury cars
offered by other automakers such as the Chrysler Cordoba and Chevrolet Monte
Carlo. For 1977 and 1978, the Barcelona coupe featured a padded Landau roof and
opera windows, styling cues that were required at that time by buyers in the
highly popular two-door "personal luxury" market segment. At first it was
available in only one distinctive two-tone paint pattern consisting of Golden
Ginger Metallic with Sand Tan. In 1978, the Barcelona came in a second color
scheme: an Autumn Red Metallic on Claret Metallic combination.
The Barcelona included numerous comfort and appearance upgrades in addition to
the extensive standard equipment that came on all Matadors. The special items
were: individual reclining seats in velveteen crush fabric with woven accent
stripes, custom door trim panels, unique headliner, headlight bezels painted
accent color, black trunk carpet, rear sway bar, GR78x15 radial whitewall tires,
color-keyed slot styled wheels, body color front and rear bumpers, two-tone
paint, landau padded vinyl roof, opera quarter windows with accents, dual remote
control mirrors painted body color, Barcelona medallion on glove box door and
fenders, 24 oz (680 g) carpeting and bumper nerfing strips. The standard
roll-down rear quarter windows were converted into fixed "opera windows" with
fiberglass covers over the stock openings that were finished with padded vinyl
inside and out.
For its final production in 1978, the Barcelona model was also available on the
Matador 4-door sedan.
NASCAR racing
Matador during a pit stop
Penske prepared factory-backed Matador hardtops and coupes were used in NASCAR
stock car racing by Indy winner Mark Donohue and Bobby Allison, and won a number
of races. The new coupe replaced the previous "flying brick" two-door hardtop
design; Penske was quoted as saying that they did what they could with the old
hardtop, and it did better on tracks with more curves and fewer straight ways.
Donohue did not survive to drive the new aerodynamically designed fastback
coupe, that many believe was aimed at NASCAR racing. The 5 wins for the Matador
are:
* Winston Western 500 - Riverside - Mark Donohue - January 21, 1973
* Los Angeles Times 500 - Ontario - Bobby Allison - November 24, 1974
* Winston Western 500 - Riverside - Bobby Allison - January 19, 1975
* Rebel 500 - Darlington - Bobby Allison - April 13, 1975
* Southern 500 - Darlington - Bobby Allison - September 1, 1975
Bobby Allison also won the non-points race Daytona 125 February 13, 1975 and
finished second in the Daytona 500 3 days later.
In pop culture
* Michael Teutul from the TV series American Chopper owns a Matador Barcelona
that was given to him by his father as a gift.
* In the James Bond movie The Man with the Golden Gun, the villain Francisco
Scaramanga drives a Matador coupe that could transform into an aircraft. Matador
sedans (2nd generation) were used as local police pursuit vehicles. In that
movie, various American Motors vehicles were used despite the fact that the
movie was set in Thailand, where AMC cars were never sold; this was a pioneering
use of product placement.
* The television series Adam-12 adopted the Matador along with the LAPD from
1972-1975
* An LAPD Matador cruiser is seen in the opening credits of TV's The Rockford
Files.
* California Highway Patrol Matador police cars appear in the movie The Wall.
* Various Matador police cars were used in the first Police Academy movie
Collectability
While well-restored examples of Matador sedans can still be purchased under
$3,000, ads have been published asking over $10,000 for restored coupes.
Hemmings Classic Car magazine listed the 1974-78 Matador Coupe as one of their
19 pieces of rolling proof that the old-car hobby need not be expensive and
described the Coupe as "possibly one of the most distinctive shapes to come out
of the 1970s, and arguably a style pinnacle for the personal luxury
movement...", the James Bond movie role, as well as its NASCAR history. |
