Rare car - with the 360 V8 and at no reserve. http://www.ebay.com/itm/MATADOR-BAR...GS-GT-LX-/181633832325?_trksid=p2054897.l4275
The padded landau roof junk on this Matador makes it look horrible. Had a thought on AMC while I was looking at this one. At the time they were developing their new large car, they were not in the best financial shape. Why did they prepare the 2-door car first, if they only had enough money for stampings for one body. Why not the 4-door first?
One rare car, and in what looks to be very nice shape. I would certainly love to have it in my driveway, that's for sure, especially with the 360 under the hood.
Krash, I agree with the padded roofmaking the car look bad! As for why the 2-door 1st? My thininking is that you have to remember what was the hot selling car segment in the 70's. Mid Size 2-door personel Luxory cars. Like the Monte Carlo, Grand prix, Cutlass Supreme, T-bird, Cougar, and of course the Cordoba. I can almost understand the thinking. It was AMC's last Big Mistake to have so many Chassis designs, and with the MPG wars starting in 73 nothaving a 4 cylinder for the Gremlin Hurt also. Not to mention the GM Rotory Powered pacer Fiasco!! The 2-door Matador's can be good looking cars , just not with this option package. I do like the looks of some of the Matador X's.
From Wikipedia: The distinctive look of the '74 Matador coupe was intentional; the sedan and wagon did not follow through due to lack of $$$ by AMC. The Matador coupe was designed to be more aerodynamic for NASCAR and of course turned into the (in)famous flying car in the 1974 Bond film "The Man with the Golden Gun." Matador Coupe[edit] 1974 AMC Matador X Coupe 1976 AMC Matador Brougham Coupe American Motors' executives saw an opportunity to replace the "uninspired" Matador two-door hardtop with a new design to capture people looking for exciting, sporty styling in a market segment that was outpacing the rest of the automobile market; and were looking to answer the demand for plush mid-size coupes after the end of the muscle car era.[20] 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 under the direction of AMC's Vice President of Styling, Richard A. Teague, with input from Mark Donohue, the famous race car driver. AMC's Styling Department had greater freedom because of a decision to design the new Matador strictly as a coupe, without the constraints of attempting to have the sedan and station wagon versions fit the same body lines.[20] Reportedly Teague designed the coupe's front as an homage to one of the first AMCs he designed, the 1964 Rambler American.[17] Many were amazed that AMC came up with the fast, stylish Matador, considering the automaker's size and limited resources.[21] The coupe's wind-shaped look was enhanced by a very long hood and a short rear deck. The Matador coupe stands out as one of the more distinctive and controversial designs of the 1970s after the AMC Pacer and was named "Best Styled Car of 1974" by the editors of Car and Driver magazine.[22] In contrast to all the other mid-sized and personal luxury two-door competition during the mid- to late-1970s, the Matador coupe did not share the requisite styling hallmarks of the era that included an upright grille, a notchback roof, and imitation "landau bars" or opera lights. A Popular Mechanics survey indicated "luscious looks of Matador coupe swept most owners off their feet" with a "specific like" listed by 63.7% of them for "styling".[23] 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.[24] 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. After it outsold the four-door Matadors by nearly 25,000 units in 1974, sales dropped to less than 10,000 in 1977, and then down to just 2,006 in the coupe's final year.[17] Nearly 100,000 Matador Coupes in total were produced from 1974 through 1978. American Motors executives, including Vice President of Design Richard A. Teague, described design plans for a four-door sedan and station wagon based on the coupe's styling themes that did not reach production.[25] James Bond movie[edit] As part of a significant product placement strategy, an AMC Matador coupe played a starring role in a James Bond film that was released in 1974.[26] The Man with the Golden Gun features the newly introduced coupe - along with Matador 4-door police cars (painted in the black and white livery used by the Los Angeles Police Department) and a Hornet X hatchback. This was Roger Moore's second appearance as the British secret agent.[27][28] The Matador is the car of Francisco Scaramanga, and along with Nick Nack, they use the "flying" AMC Matador to kidnap Mary Goodnight and make their escape. "Bond is foiled by perhaps the best trick a getaway car has ever performed" as the Matador transforms into a plane to fly from Bangkok to an island in the China Sea.[29] The whole automobile is turned into a light airplane when wings and a flight tail unit are attached to the actual Matador coupe (that served as the fuselage and landing gear).[28] The idea was based on the Taylor Aerocar design of a roadable aircraft.[28] The machine for this Bond movie was 9.15 metres (30 ft) long, 12.80 metres (42 ft) wide, and 3.08 metres (10 ft) high.[30] A stuntman drove the "car plane" to a runway.[28] The machine was not airworthy and could only make a 500-metre (1,640 ft) flight, so a meter-long (39-inch) model was used for the film's aerial sequences.[30] The scenes show the remote controlled scale model built by John Stears.[28] According to some critics, the movie "didn't offer much to recommend it other than the clever use of cars" such as the conversion of car into an airplane.[31] The "flying AMC Matador" machine was exhibited at auto shows. It was part of AMC's marketing efforts for the aerodynamically designed coupe, as well as publicity exposure for the concept of unique flying machines.[32] Oleg Cassini[edit] Cassini showing off 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.[33] Cassini himself helped promote the car in AMC's advertising.[34] The special Oleg Cassini Matador was positioned in the popular and highly competitive "personal luxury car" market segment at that time.[35] The Cassini Coupe was unlike all the other personal luxury competitors. The new Matador did not have the typical vintage styling cues of formal upright grille and squared-off roof, though the rear quarter windows were restyled to resemble small opera window openings. The new "smooth and slippery" two-door featured "marks of haute couture" with the "upholstery, panels and headliner done in jet black, with carpets and vinyl roof in a copper accent color. Outside, striping, rub rails, wheel covers and a crest mark the Matador as Cassini's."[36] The Cassini Coupes were limited to black, white, or copper metallic exterior paints, and all came with the vinyl-covered roof. They also featured copper-colored trim in the grille, headlamp bezels, in turbine-type full wheel covers, and within the rear license plate recess.[37] The interior was a Cassini hallmark featuring a special black fabric with copper metal buttons on the individual adjustable and reclining front seats and on the padded door panels, that 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, trunk lid, front fender, and hood featured Cassini's signature.[37] Barcelona[edit] 1977 Barcelona Coupe 1978 Barcelona sedan 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.[38] For 1977 and 1978, the "Barcelona II" 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. For the 1978 model year, the Barcelona came in a second color scheme: an Autumn Red Metallic on Claret Metallic combination. For its final production in 1978, the Barcelona model was also available on the four-door sedan body style. 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. Motor Trend magazine road tested a 1977 Barcelona II coupe and found it to be equal to all in the objective areas, as well as one of the most distinctive vehicles on the road that "makes a good deal of sense... if you're not put off by the Matador's unique lines."[39] NASCAR racing[edit] #12 NASCAR Matador during a pit stop #16 NASCAR Matador tribute car in Sweden Penske Racing prepared factory-backed Matador hardtops and coupes were used in NASCARstock car tracks. Drivers included Indy winner Mark Donohue and Bobby Allison, and they won a number of races. The company's effort "raised eyebrows" for many NASCAR veterans because AMC was not known for cultivating a racing image.[40] Racing pundits "initially scoffed at the notion of an AMC entry" on the circuit, but "the Matador acquired a fan following of its own."[41] Holman-Moody built a pair of 1972 2-door hardtop "Bull Fighters" for Penske as the marque's first attempt at NASCAR in 1973.[42] The Matador was one of the first oval stock car to use disc brakes.[40] After Donohue won the Western 500 with the first generation Matador hardtop with four wheel discs, other teams soon followed with the upgrade.[43] The new 1974 coupe replaced the previous "flying brick" two-door hardtop design.[44] 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 straightaways. Donohue did not survive to drive the new aerodynamically designed fastback coupe, that many believe was aimed at NASCAR racing. The five wins for the AMC 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 Daytona 125 qualifying race on 13 February 1975, and finished second in the Daytona 500 three days later.
