Sometimes, a project car isn’t a barn find. Sometimes, they are stored in a climate-controlled cow pasture like this pair of AMC Eagle wagon projects here on craigslist. The seller is looking for only $500 for the pair, which seems like a good deal even if used just to keep another Eagle on the road. You can find these pasture-bound wagons in Oregon on the Columbia Gorge craigslist.
Now, I don’t for a minute think these AMCs are returning to the road anytime soon. This is the more stripped of the two, which could just be because the front fascia is missing. Who knows? Maybe it’s practically complete with the exception for the front end cosmetics. It looks reasonably solid from this angle.
Here’s the other side, and the lack of corrosion is evident on the driver’s side as well. Usually, those fender flares can be a source of rust problems where they meet the lower fenders, but this one’s either been very well Rustoleum’d or it actually is a solid example. The countryside around the AMC looks fairly dry and dead, so here’s hoping it hasn’t been ravaged by rust underneath.
The car featured up top, with its headlights, grill and bumpers intact, looks like it hasn’t been pillaged for parts yet. Or perhaps this one was the daily driver that the parts car gave up some bits for. They’re the same color, so the current owner was at least logical in his approach to buying a spare vehicle. Storing them in a climate controlled pasture, however (read the ad), may not have made the most sense. For $500, could you go wrong?
The closest thing I had to a “New” car was a 4 year old Eagle it was also the worst car I’ve ever owned!!! My friend had two of them the first one went 100k almost trouble free, the second he got rid of after 25k.
I think I hear a “crusher” winding up. When new, these were actually nice cars. The US mail used them for a while on rural delivery. Nothing more than parts here, as nice ones do come out of estate sales from time to time. They were a hit with the “older folks” crowd. I had a friend with an Eagle SX-4, and was plagued by transmission problems (5 speed) from day one. The dealer had it 3 times, and he sold it. Certainly worth it for the drive system, which rarely failed, the automatics, anyway. You see these all the time next to barns and garages with weeds growing around them. They were very popular for a while where it snowed.
At the asking price of $100 over scrap value for both, it’s an extra $100 for steaks on the grille along with some sweet corn. I think the metal in my grille is thicker than what these were built with. Decent mechanicals but the bodies weren’t worth scrap metal prices when they were built.
This is a great deal no matter what you did with them. All the amc’s i’ve ever been around were tough reliable cars. Have always thought the eagle wagons were really cool.
Just a little different than the beautiful 85 red Eagle that was featured here in early January.
Let the Eagles soar!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woLQI8X2R6Y
No matter what,,you can build a nice one out of most everything here. Had one when new put 200k on it . New owner put on another 55thousand on it before first rebuild, but rust was a conversation even when new I had “Rusty Jones under it and never saw any major rust.Might be fun to build for a nice cool weather driver.
Used to test drive these for EPA certification at MIS. The only car(s) allowed on the oval when the plows couldn’t clear it fast enough. The original “Ur Quattro”!
People talk about AZ and CA cars like they’re thE the best rust free gems out there. Wrong. The best rust free cars in the world are in Oregon. Why? Because the sun never comes out and so the paint stays good forever! Not only us Oregon sheet metal good, but Oregon interiors are amazing!