AMC Eagle

AMC Eagle
1987 AMC Eagle Wagon Limited
Overview
Manufacturer	American Motors: August 1979–1987 Chrysler: August–December 1987
Also called	Eagle Wagon American Eagle
Production	August 1979– December 14, 1987
Model years	1980–1988
Assembly	United States: Kenosha, Wisconsin (1980–1983) Canada: Brampton, Ontario (1984–1988)
Body and chassis
Class	Compact / crossover SUV
Body style	2-door coupé 2-door liftback 2-door hatchback 4-door sedan 4-door station wagon 2-door convertible
Layout	Front engine, rear-wheel drive / four-wheel drive
Related	AMC Concord AMC Gremlin AMC Hornet AMC Spirit
Powertrain
Engine	150 cu in (2.5 L) AMC I4 151 cu in (2.5 L) GM Iron Duke I4 258 cu in (4.2 L) AMC I6 219 cu in (3.6 L) VM I6 turbodiesel
Transmission	4-speed manual 5-speed manual 3-speed TorqueFlite automatic Overdrive (diesel only)
Dimensions
Wheelbase	97.2 in (2,469 mm) liftback/kammback 109.3 in (2,776 mm) coupe/sedan/wagon
Length	166.6 in (4,232 mm) liftback/kammback 186.2 in (4,729 mm) coupe/sedan/wagon
Width	73.0 in (1,854 mm) liftback/kammback 72.3 in (1,836 mm) coupe/sedan/wagon
Height	55.2 in (1,402 mm) liftback/kammback 54.4 in (1,382 mm) coupe/sedan 54.6 in (1,387 mm) wagon
Chronology
Successor	Eagle Vista Wagon

The AMC Eagle is a compact-sized four-wheel drive passenger vehicle that was produced by American Motors Corporation (AMC) from 1979 to 1987.

Introduced in August 1979 for the 1980 model year, the coupe, sedan, and station wagon body styles were based on the AMC Concord.

The AMC Eagles were the only four-wheel-drive passenger cars produced in the U.S. at the time. They were affordable cars offering a comfortable ride and handling on pavement together with superior traction in light off road use through AMC's innovative engineering and packaging. Although the definition is not precise, the AMC Eagle is "today known as the first crossover vehicle."

In 1981, the two-door subcompact-sized AMC Spirit-based models, the SX/4 and Kammback, joined the Eagle line. The Sundancer convertible conversion was available during 1981 and 1982.

In March 1987, Chrysler Corporation reached an agreement to acquire AMC. Production of the Eagle continued (retaining the AMC badging) until December 14, 1987.

The initial proposal for production of what would become the AMC Eagle came from Roy Lunn, the chief design engineer for AMC Jeep. "Project 8001 plus Four" was Lunn's code name for a new "line of four-wheel-drive vehicles with the ride and handling conventions of a standard rear wheel drive car" built on a unit-body platform. In February 1977, AMC contracted FF Developments to build a prototype vehicle based on a production V8 powered AMC Hornet with drive torque split 33% front and 66% rear. Testing and further development proved the feasibility of a vehicle with greater ground clearance, larger 15-inch wheels, as well as a torque split closer to 50% - 50%, with Lunn recommending using the AMC straight-6 engine coupled to an automatic transmission.

Thus, the AMC Eagle came about when Jeep's chief engineer joined a Concord body with a four-wheel-drive system. Such a vehicle was a logical step for AMC, according to then CEO Gerald C. Meyers, as a second energy crisis had hit in 1979, and sales of AMC's highly profitable truck-based Jeep line dropped, due in part to their low fuel efficiency, leaving AMC in a precarious financial position. The Eagle provided a low-cost way of bridging the gap between AMC's solid and economical, but aging, passenger car line and its well-regarded, but decidedly off-road-focused, Jeep line, as the Eagle used the existing Concord (and later, Spirit) automobile platform.