I had honestly forgotten what an AMC Concord was until I stumbled across this discovery submitted by Chicago Mikie. The provided images aren’t very good and that was part of the problem (I’ll try to select the best ones) but this 69K mile example is notable for its stellar condition. I’ll call it a survivor based on its appearance. This high zoot-suit decked-out Concord DL is located in Elgin, Illinois and is available, here on Facebook Marketplace for $7,500, OBO.
Besides the stilted images, there is virtually no description and that’s unfortunate for a 39-year-old car, a model rarely seen anymore, and one that appears to be very original – an unfortunate, common trait for Facebook Marketplace auto listings. Anyway, off of the soapbox now, AMC’s days were numbered by ’82. They were under Renault’s control but continued to try to swim in a market not only dominated by the Detroit Three but going up against Japan’s big three (Toyota, Honda, Nissan) with some VW thrown in for good measure. But they had models like this Concord, the go-anywhere Eagle, the compact Spirit, and of course, Jeep. It’s surprising that AMC was able to maintain the creativity that they did. AMC’s independence ended when Chrysler Corporation took over in the summer of ’87.
The first thing that caught my attention with this Concord is the padded landau roof and its opera windows. That Luxo-styling treatment was fading by ’82 but AMC kept their hand in it anyway. The vinyl top, body panels, and light brown/gold finish of this Concord show no sign of wear, weather, damage, etc. – it’s a safe bet that this coupe has been carefully stored. Another item that caught my attention are the wheels, they look like Vector’s, or something very similar if I’m not mistaken. The only real exterior detraction is the poorly integrated 5 MPH Federal bumpers. They’re not damaged, and every manufacturer had to deal with the requirement, they’re just in this case, not that well integrated.
No idea what’s under the hood except that we know there were two engine choices, an 82 HP, 2.5 liter, in-line four, and a 110 HP, 4.2 liter, in-line six-cylinder motor. I’d guess the six, but it’s just a guess on my part. The seller does state, “nothing wrong drives excellent“. The drives excellent part is enhanced by a three-speed automatic transmission.
The cinnamon-hued, power cloth seats look comfy! Interestingly, it’s a bucket seat arrangement but there is no center console, the shift selector is steering column mounted. There appear to be lower dash-mounted A/C vents so that feature is a possibility but they could just be there just to circulate fresh air too.
This is a nice looking coupe, that body style that is so often encountered here on Barn Finds but pretty much fallen out of favor from current production. And the fact that this Concord was produced by a fallen flag adds to its attraction too. AMC fans are known for their devotion to all things Kenosha and I bet this Concord gets snapped up in a heartbeat (after an inquiry or two), wouldn’t you agree?
The Kenosha Kadillak! The top looks padded, it’s not (if I remember correctly). Good, economical car trying to be a personal luxury car. It failed at that, but was still decent transportation. You never find them in this condition, especially in suburban Chicago. Neat find!
I think I can remember seeing footage of these on the assembly line with these 2-doors having that clunky square opera window stamped into the roof panel.
I know the full vinyl top was mandatory on the 4-doors, and the few of those built for fleets without them had the old four-window Hornet look which makes me think the extra windows were hand-cut into the 4-doors.
This is what the Hornet should have been in the first place – decent interior with noise insulation, comfortable seats, suspension tuned for better ride. I’m pretty sure that if there was no AC the under-dash shelf wouldn’t have vent outlets. (Or there would be no shelf.) Hopefully this car has the six! Hard to see what else this car has but I do see a lever for adjustment of a tilt steering wheel.
Notice misalignment of the headlights. Headlight buckets are plastic and of course turn brittle and break over the years.
Nice car but the price seems a bit crack pipe-ish.
You’re correct on the A/C vents on the shelf. All D/Ls had the shelf but those vents are strictly A/C. My Dad bout a 79 Concord sedan new w/o the A/C. It was a decent auto and the straight 6 was reliable and easy to work on, but with AMC coming to the end of its fiscal life there weren’t too many updated design queues (only moderate tweeks from 78 on).
AMC could have beat the Maverick LDO and compact luxury market to the punch with the Hornet starting in 1970.
The Hornet was promoted as the “Little Rich Car”. AMC could have been first out of the box with an luxe offering instead of being wayyy behind the curve with the Concord in 1978. By then the luxury compact was no longer a novel idea.
A shame. Another missed opportunity.
Hey Stevieg, know your subject before you speak, the top was padded, at leasf the vinyl was, its a material similar to that which we used on limo mock tops when those were a thing…This being a D/L, loaded with that interior, those wheels, factory not vector, and with that package shelf, im gonna guess 258 6, ac definatelty, only thing keeping it from being a limited is leather, i also dont think the owner really wants to sell it…
I’ve owned these cars, along with the Eagle version. I know these cars well. So instead of acting like a condescending schmuck, maybe politely ask if I am sure of my statement.
I am sure of what I said. It was a hard, pebble grained shell they placed over the standard soft top, not padded. Thank you for attempting to make me look like a moron.
It’s a shame there isn’t a ‘thumbs down’ option. If ever one was needed it would be for Raymond.
Easy now, pal, nobody thinks you are a moron. “Raymond” has become the sites most vocal curmudgeon,( which actually takes the pressure off me) and doesn’t have a lot of good to say to anyone, so don’t be offended. I will say, the “Kenosha Kadillac” moniker came from the Rambler days. By the time the Concord came out, anything relating to Rambler was history. As if the name “Rambler” was a key to poor sales.
The current rage seems to be NOT taking an engine shot, even with high performance vehicles.
It drives me nuts when a seller can’t back up a few feet and get the entire car in a photo, not in a cropped pic like all these are.
I had a 1980 four-door D/L. Maybe not a luxury car, but handsome looking, well-appointed, comfortable, and the 258 six performed smoothly and quickly. Since not from a Big Three manufacturer, it was rather difficult to place it on the scale from “economy” to “luxury” but maybe more toward the latter, IMHO.
My aunt had one this year, with those wheels but it was a burgundy, a Limited and had Goodyear GT Radials. It was some kind of executive car. Totally loaded but seems it didn’t have A/C. It was a nice car for what it was. She took good care of it and served her well for the better part of a decade.
I bought my girl friend her 1st car, a 1978 Concord in 1983 and titled in her name. It was running great and was a basic white 4 door originally owned by a utility company with plain black vinyl bench seats. At the time I had a LeCar but before that had a 1971 Gremlin-X which is just a shortened version of that car with same 6 cylinder engine so I knew it was an economical low maintenance car. The price was low enough that in a worse case scenario it would have been my parting gift. We married in 1984 and in 1988 after our 1st child was born we traded it for a low mileage fully equipped 1981 Concord 4 door with the big split velour seats, A/C, PB, PS, vinyl top etc. We kept it until 1994 when the transmission broke. We parked it on the side of our driveway and for a couple years our daughter liked sliding down the roof across the windshield and hood to the ground when covered with snow! Then I inherited my dad’s low mileage 1982 AMC Spirit in 1993 replacing my LeCar . The drivers bucket seat was broken. Around 1995 I bolted the fancy burgundy velour Concord seats right into this small Gremlin restyle. The seats were thicker so rear legroom went down to 4 inches from 6 inches but I only rarely had adults in the back. Later I had classic tags on the spirit as our spare car until I sold it in 2005 when we got a minivan. The buyer had a Spirit AMX with too many pin holes in the unibody so his intention was to strip it just for unibody for the Spirit AMX he was rebuilding.
The Hornet, and all it’s derivatives, were without question, AMC’s most popular cars. These were the cars your Uncle Phil and Aunt Dottie would have driven. Aunt Dottie after Phil passed on, which is probably the case here. Since gas mileage was on everyones mind, especially seniors, and Americans weren’t made anymore and the Gremlin wasn’t even an option, older folks, that still wanted a shred of class, went for these. I bet it comprised 90% of their sales. It, I’d say, was the last great car to come out of Milwaukenosha. Basic Concords were the staple of many govt. fleets. Every municipal dept. in Wisconsin had fleets of these cars and drove the wheels off them. My late ex-father-in-law, was an elevator inspector for the state of Wis., and he had a basic Concord that he put a jillion miles on. They were great cars. Since most weren’t ready for the 4 cylinder, most older folks went with the 6. Great find, simply can’t go wrong here.
Being a contrarian, I opted for a Spirit GT V8 in mid-1979 when it was time for a new demonstrator. It was powder blue with these wheels and white-letter tires. The four speed was perfect accompaniment to the power band of the engine. it wasn’t much but there were limited choices at the time, and my compatriots were driving Trans-Ams and Cadillacs which didn’t fit with my self image. Why I thought a Spirit would is lost to the vaguries of time. This was AMC’s last Road Warrior – Howard is right – they were in everybodies fleet. How unhip – to support the underdog.