What, you have more to say about the turbocharged 300 HP 2020 86?

You're kidding me. The doors still work on that thing? I had a Spirit back in the day and neither door would open. Had to climb in through the window. I had a POS Gremlin before that (paid $200 for it) and the doors didn't work on that either. And any time there was a gust of wind, the rear window would fall out and hang by a hinge. Good luck with a 37 year old AMC.

Well...Lets just say AMC Eagle's have strayed a bit off the beaten path...


;)

Yep. The story I was told is that it was originally purchased new 37 years ago by a NASA engineer who used it to commute from Orlando to the cape. It has some pretty good UV burn on the hood and roof from the Florida sun, but otherwise he maintained it well and kept it in mostly good working order until six months ago, when he traded to the guy I bought it from for some equipment. Owner #2 was going to fix it up but had too many other projects, so it basically sat until he sold it to me.

More pics below. Cosmetically it's rough, but it's mechanically sound and doesn't have any serious rust issues.

https://i.imgur.com/R0TDWYN.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/Ejtvim9.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/LuoUAjZ.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/Q64G0hs.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/ZZLk5Fa.jpg

Well to paraphase Helmuth van Moltke:

"No FT86 thread ever survives past the first five pages when contributed to by forum regulars"

A phrase I have never heard in a conversation about an AMC Eagle.

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.

Now I so want to find an AMC and enter the 24 hours of Lemons.

Weren't those Mitsbishi's? I'm sure a world of different build quality than a true AMC.

Interesting theory. Here all along, I thought some of the folks were just yanking ma chain - :confused0068:

In that case, I'm off in search of the car of my dreams - :thumbsup:


humfrz

Diamond Star Motors. Much input from Chrysler but yes mostly Mitsubishi. Sort of a Twins predecessor if Toyota nd Subaru had made a third company between them. Mitsubishi bought out Chryslers share at some point in the early 90s though so eventually it just became Mitsubishi of America.

It was actually triplets since it was the Mitsu Eclipse, Plymouth Laser and the Merc Talon. The true twins in that generation were the Dodge Stealth and the Mitsu 3000GT (GTO in Japan). A case could be made about the Chevy/Toyota Cavalier but since Toyota never actually sold the Cav here I dont count it. But yeah it actually goes further back with the Piazza and Starion.

Three models but only two companies. Eagle was just a badge from Chrysler by then. So sort of like the Scion = Toyota thing with the twins.
Ya the history was much more extensive that my two lines would indicate but I was keeping it to the DSM sports cars. Chrysler designed the platform used by most of the Mitsubishi models for several years.

Among my group, AMC Eagles are sincerely highly desired.

fun fact, Toyota actually did sell the Cavalier in Japan for a short while.
I believe it was just badge engineered and converted to RHD.

Theres also the Nummi plant that GM and Toyota shared where they built the Toyota Matrix/Pontiac Vibe. I think that plant started with the Corolla/Prism in the 90's (badge engineered though).
Funny thing about that was that those twins were engineered by Toyota, The Matrix was designed by Toyota, the Vibe was designed by Pontiac, and Toyota sold the Vibe (but not the Matrix) in Japan as the Toyota Voltz.

There also exists Triplets in Europe: Toyota Aygo, Peugot 107/108, and Citroen C1.

Even Jeeps?

AMC made some weird design and engineering choices and had some quality issues over the years, especially toward the end when they were out of money and the roof on the Kenosha plant was leaking on the assembly line. What makes the cars attractive now is that they were the underdog giving its all against overwhelming odds, the little guys pitted against the corporate giants. They were willing to take risks and break the "rules" a little to survive.

I didn't buy the Eagle because it's fast or handles well, or because it's a particularly attractive design. It's none of those things. I bought it because it represents a completely different way of thinking at that time, something nobody else was doing. I think that's pretty neat. Decades later it's interesting to see other manufacturers finally producing crossover vehicles that serve the same market niche and pretending that they're doing something new.

BTW, where I come from, Toyotas were always frowned upon as dumpy econoboxes. They were considered throw-away cars you only drove until you could afford a decent American car.

Yet here we are.

Yep, even jeeps. Jeeps were wanna be country vehicles for city slickers.

Any Japanese made car was throw away.

If you wanted a "real" vehicle it was either a Ford or Chevy, preferably a pickup truck.

So, there it was - :D


humfrz

Remember the old Dodge Turbo Colt...they would fly past you and two miles farther would be sighted smoking on the side of the road.


[IMG]https://i.pinimg.com/originals/5e/f8/bd/5ef8bd2e2a835922ccdaf***f5b67617.jpg[/IMG]

Never heard of em looks like they have a lot of potential

There were a couple of smoking hot sisters in my high school who had a turbo Colt they would take out on the Parkway on Friday and Saturday nights and race people red light to red light. It was hilarious. There would be a couple of Mustangs or Camaros going at it full throttle, and then here would come this little Colt up from behind zipping right past them in the third lane. They'd be laughing their cute little asses off at the next red light.

Boys would try to get them to pull over. They'd flirt at the lights, then laugh and run when the light changed.

They have probably all rotted away into piles of brownish red dust by now.

That's grade-A wifey material right there.

Well now, THAT reminds me of this girl back in HS that drove this 1957 Studebaker Golden Hawk, powered by a 289 cu in, 275 HP supercharged V-8.

She would taunt the guys that if their stock car could beat her in a 1/4 mile race, they could "have" her. Well, she was no prize, so nobody took her up on that - why? - cause nobody could beat her. Her car had an automatic transmission, so she didn't spend a lot of time "spinning her wheels" off the line. Her father was a "car guy" which may have had something to do with it's tune. By the time the Fords and Chevys got traction and their dual four barrels kicked in, her supercharger got wound up and they couldn't catch her.

It was almost embarrassing to watch the guys with their Fords and Chevys meekly return to Hollon's garage (our hangout place) after she would consistently smoke them.

THE END


humfrz

That's a beautiful car, but I'd actually be more interested in what's sitting next to it. That's a Studebaker Wagonaire, the forgotten stepsister of the original Jeep Wagoneer, designed by the same guy and carrying some of the same styling cues. It had a retractable roof in the back for surfboards and cargo and a fold-down step on the tailgate so you could step right up into the back of it.

https://cdn.bringatrailer.com/wp-con...15/04/3176.jpg


In 2004 GM brought out a retractable roof version of the Envoy and claimed it was the "First Ever!" What's old is new.

It also looks like ass in person. I saw one in Japan. Awful.


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