I had the total opposite experience with all of my sub $500 AMCs. Over a few years in the mid 80s (we were broke as hell then) we had a Gremlin, Concord, SX and a Pacer. The lowest mileage when we got them was probably 300,000 miles and they only went up from there. Every one of them was still very strong body wise but the mechanicals were just plain worn out. The Concord and Gremlin died from engine failure which could have been repaired but would have cost more than just buying another $250 beater. The Pacer body and engine were fine but it blew both the rear shocks. We kept driving it. Both the springs broke. I jacked it up and bolted some 4 by 4 wooden bocks between the body and the axle and then we kept driving it. Eventually the drive shaft flew out. We left it on the side of the road and walked away. I didn't have the SX long since I got offered a price for it that I just could not turn down but it was still all very good even at 300,000+ miles.

Looks pretty good actually. I doubt there are many almost 40 year old vehicles that were actually used that look much better. Mechanical parts should still be very easy to get and the body looks like it just needs some clean up and paint. Nice score.

AMC six cylinders just keep going and going and going. It's not unusual to get 300K out of a 4.2 or 4.0. Usually the 4.2s stop because of the carburetor long before the engine itself takes a dump. When you get into the fuel injected 4.0L, some of the Jeeps have 400K miles on them.

AMC V8s, though. Not so much. They become a lot more reliable with a modern TBI on them.

The rest of the mechanicals tend to be somewhat overbuilt. Rust is what kills them. The Spirit/Concord/SX4/Wagon/Gremlin have a bad rust spot where the front subframe ties in, but mine shows no sign of cancer there at all.

This one is going to get some engine upgrades. In the near future I plan to swap in a '97-'99 4.0L head and fuel injection on the existing 4.2L block to bring the engine management more current. Later on I'll probably build a 4.7L stroker for it and bump the power up from about 130 HP to around 275 HP and 325 ft lbs of torque. If I build the stroker, it'll probably get a manual transmission swap along with it.

Lots of possibilities. For now I'm just going to enjoy driving it as it is.

The great thing about these old AMCs is that AMC was scrounging so hard to come up with new models that they shared a bunch of common parts to keep expenses down. So while there are not many SX/4s around, there are plenty of Spirits, Concords and Gremlins when all taken together. That means a decent supply of used parts and decent aftermarket support. Most of the hard to get parts specific to my car are already there, and it even came with a few spares.

Dang you people love ya some AMC...the vehicle before my FR-S was a 2008 Mazda 6 that needed a Main Seal at 277k miles...I felt the automatic transmission was starting to become wonky too. It was a 4cyl, practically the same weight, 23hp and a just a few ftlb's of torque less than the twins...no it didn't corner like the twins...



Other than that I drove that car like I stole it and loved very minute of it...still it's in the junkyard now...

Although not technically an "AMC" it was an Eagle that converted me from a diehard full size muscle car fan to preferring something a bit smaller and with some semblance of actually handling.


https://i.ytimg.com/vi/dZlsPEKYu0E/maxresdefault.jpg

Loved my '92 Plymouth Laser Turbo, which I believed was the lightest of all the DSM cars (even had crank windows lol).

When I started college in the early 2000's I sold my IROC-Z and picked up a Plymouth laser for college commute/fun. Loved that car! I always seem to bounce back and forth between v8's and imports.

Really? Where do you live? I haven't seen an AMC anything here in NorCal in decades.

That's because you haven't been looking. There are more than a dozen of them listed on Craigslist in the SF Bay area right now, including an Eagle.

Ok, I'm on the hunt now.

Sorry guys, where I came from, any AMC vehicle was frowned upon - :iono:


humfrz

The wife's first AWD Turbo was a Race Red Plymouth Laser RS AWD Turbo exactly like this one.


http://consumerguide.com/wp-content/...8291990401.jpg


It was only rated at 190 h.p. if I remember correctly but it kicked you in the backside when you put your foot into it. Plus, NO torque dip!

Same here. But up is now down, and expectations exist only to be subverted. I think the guys in my motoring club go out of their way to find the weirdest, most awful cars/bikes just to tell everyone that they were wrong about this vehicle.