THE 1974 AMC MATADOR…WHEN BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO HOMELY CARS

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American Motors was an interesting car company, mainly because it was able to survive through many decades in the shark-infested waters of the domestic automotive industry.

The car company marriage was a shotgun special created out of necessity to help the newly minted AMC compete with the big dogs in Detroit. The game plan was simple: build a quality car and suck the pretty right out of its design. American Motors appeared to believe a car could not have both features, so they chose function over beauty.

Some of our MyStarCollectorCar readers will correctly assume that AMC built a few beauties during their 34-year post-merger production run.

The AMC Javelin and AMX models come to mind, along with the company’s muscular versions of its Rebel and American models which were also good-looking cars, but the company seemed to thrive on homely vehicles that drew attention but were not Hollywood handsome by any means.

The 1970s marked AMC’s steep descent into radically designed cars that did indeed draw the spotlight, but not always for the right reasons. American Motors’ four-wheeled ugly stepsister list included the Gremlin, Hornet and Pacer models, each of which drew attention to the little car-builder, along with a spate of jokes about the cars’ unusual designs.

However, our attention is focused on the 1974 AMC Matador, the middle child in the model’s production run from 1971 until 1978. The ’74 Matador was offered in two completely different sub-models, the sedan and two-door coupe versions.

The sedan models were a carryover style that evolved into a prominent nose section rivaling Pinocchio during the height of his compulsive liar affliction. The result was a car that served a useful purpose as a taxi or police car in sedan form but gained some style points with its two-door hardtop version. Until the 1974 two-door Matador hit the showroom.

The two-door coupe version of the 1974 AMC Matador bore no resemblance to its sedan counterpart that year. Sadly, the 1974 AMC two-door coupe looked like a mutant version of Chevy’s Monte Carlo.

The car’s rear roofline imitated rival GM’s Colonnade roof design, although the ’74 Matador Coupe model had a unique upswing on its bottom window section that gave it a fastback vibe. The C-pillar design was arguably the car’s best feature.

The same sentiment could not be applied to the front end of the 1974 AMC Matador 2-door coupe because the layout resembled an enlarged version of the Chevy Monte Carlo and looked out of place on the Matador. Throw in the mandated 5 mph rubber bumpers for that extra homely touch and AMC put one seriously ugly front end on the cars.

The rear end of a 1974 AMC Matador two-door coupe was no day at the beach either because it was their vision of the 1973 Chevelle’s hind quarters. Once again, the result was not a home run in the style department for AMC designers from that era and helped build the 1974 Matador Coupe’s ugly ducking image in the eyes of the public.

BY: Jim Sutherland

Jim Sutherland is a veteran automotive writer whose work has been published by many major print and online publications. The list includes Calgary Herald, The Truth About Cars, Red Deer Advocate, RPM Magazine, Edmonton Journal, Montreal Gazette, Windsor Star, Vancouver Province, and Post Media Wheels Section. 

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