Looking almost more like a Photoshop design exercise than a real vehicle, this 1976 AMC Matador Coupe has to be one of the most unique car designs of all time – at least for those that actually made it to production. The seller has this one listed here on eBay in Toledo, Oregon with a surprising opening bid price of $7,500 listed, and even then the reserve won’t be met.
For the record, Hagerty’s #2 excellent condition value is $7,500 so I’m not sure how the seller arrived at an opening bid price of $7,500 for a car that doesn’t appear to be in excellent condition, despite having what they say are low miles. They list the mileage as being just over 50,000 miles and it looks nice but I’ll let the experts and collectors decide on what condition it appears to be in from looking at the photos. Thankfully, the seller has provided quite a few good photos of almost every area so that’s nice.
The Frenched-in or tunneled headlights and somewhat similar tail lights are super interesting for a production car. Compared to the AMC Matador two-door hardtop, which I really like, the Matador Coupe looked like it was from outer space. That isn’t a bad thing in my world. They were made for the 1974 through 1978 model years. The rear bumper isn’t exactly a work of art, the designers must have thrown up their collective hands and just given in to the new 5-mph-bumper requirements after thinking outside the box for the rest of this car’s design. The front bumper appears to be missing and there’s no mention of it in the listing.
The interior looks pretty nice in this car but listing a car with an excellent-condition price, I may have done a little more detailing inside. The trunk looks good although I always worry when I see undercoating – unless that’s factory-applied? The underside also looks good other than some overspray, or could that still be factory overspray under there?
The engine is AMC’s 304 cubic-inch V8 which would have had around 120 horsepower. It could use professional detailing for sure, especially if a person is hoping to get a #2 excellent condition price. The seller bought this car last summer and put some mechanical work into it including a new fuel pump, water pump, battery, tires, oil change, rubber fuel hoses, etc. Any thoughts on this Matador Coupe: good buy or good-bye?
For that money you should get a front bumper and a steering wheel center.
The seller does nothing to instill confidence that the odometer reading is correct. Seriously, look at that carpet! And what about the bumper…any explanation given? This is one of the few times I WANT to see the 5mph bar of steel on the front. Looks naked otherwise. Those fog lamps from Pep Boys only emphasize the missing battering ram.
Repaint bubbling, vinyl top removed from what is shown in the early photos. Oh look! There’s the front bumper! Hopefully mileage is written on all the receipts for auto parts even though seller claims “so many original parts” as a conditional factor in the listing.
I like the matador , but the mustang notchback in the background has it beat.
Those are some ugly fog lamps!
I always thought these were cool, it has the looks of a 2nd gen Camaro.
If AMC was smart they should have used/sourced the windshield & side glass from the f-bodies – or did they?!
Most of the roof looks similar too!
Can you “wake up” a 304 or is it better to find a stock 360 or 401?
I seen some new cars with a worse looking front end than this.
When I saw this AMC the movie Golden Eye .. James Bond comes to mind. Towards the end of the movie when the car turns into a plane and takes off. This car is no way aero dynamic …so when I first saw it flying I had to laugh in the movies. Might as well take a rock and put wings on it. As for this vehicle I would have detailed it cleaned it up really well for the asking price to start. and I would have pulled up the trunk mat… if I had nothing to hide as for the previous comment yeah they could be something underneath that mat that he does not want people to see and since it was rust proof you have to wonder. I kind of like the front the way it looks without the bumper looks pretty radical. Well good luck to the next owner. Merry Christmas to all. 🎅🦌❄️☃️🎄
It was in “The Man with the Golden Gun” . Maybe not too aerodynamic ,but they did race a few in Nascar .
Thanks Don.. the weapon was called Golden Eye. I had a senior moment.. 😂
There may be one or two other things from Bond movies that defy explanation.
Bobby Allison. Won several times with one
“Photoshop design exercise”. Yup. That about covers it.
Better wo the bumpers…update fog lamps and its fine…
Yes call me weird but was always fascinated by these cars. Probably grom watching Bobby Allison in NASCAR. $7500 though is being a bit optimistic with the issues on the car.
Just as your comments in the intro state, NO other car, especially from the ’70s looks like this. I’d love to have one in decent condition. Hopefully whoever buys this one will give it the care and restoration it deserves.
Yeah those fog lights are ruining it for me. Well, that and everything else. (Okay, the seats are pretty decent for the period.) I suppose it could be worse: a Matador Barcelona in beige.
My Dad almost bought one of these. I’m glad we talked him out of doing so.
Is the left side of the trunk damp? The metal looks almost like it was wet,,,
I had one–great fun and far better looking without the bumpers. The stupidity of woodgraining the actual speedometer was just so . . . 1970s!
120 hp v8 how world did they down tune a v8 to 120 hp ridiculous
my factory 350 1975 Monza had 125 horsepower…. malaise era sucked!
The only way this thing could really be “complete” is it really needs to have a slant 6 instead of that full race V8!
The turn signals in the front grille in this Matador are round, which indicates (if the grille is original) that this is a ’74 or ’75 – in ’76 and ’77 the turn signals were rectangular.
Front grille? As opposed to the rear grille? Lol
I agree with everyone, the vehicle would have to be totally mint, for that price…
I had those fog lamps in high school in the 70’s..on my Pontiac Grand Lemans but because they are so ugly I mounted them behind the front grills, then at night they looked really cool for that era. I love how people want top dollar, but won’t spend a Saturday afternoon detailing the vehicle, or if you are really that lazy have it detailed professionally. A $200 detail would make all the difference in the world.
I worked for the same AMC Dealer 2 different times. First as Parts Manager, then as Service Manager.
During one of those times I walked in to find one of those in my shop with front end damage, and then the owner walks in to tell me he needs an estimate using the AMC Parts books not the collision books…
Took twice as long.
Ended up he was deciding whether to buy I j and put it on the or file insurance claim and fix it with used Parts then put it on the lot !!!
Blue dash/carpet, black door panels, white upholstery. Interior by Dr. Frankenstein?
The car likely had all blue/lilac upholstery like the dashboard , and the rest came from scouring the junkyards .
Where is Howard? He will know a lot about these.
Always thought these were weird cars.
I kind of think the missing front bumper is an improvement.
I’m bullish on the word ‘No!’
If you wanted to go fast in 1976, you needed to look at motorcycles.
The young math teacher starting out had one of these new when I was in junior high. We used to joke…asking if her Camaro had melted …ha! …makes me smile today.
I’ve always liked these. Especially without the bumpers. AMC didn’t use a bumper filler between the car and the bumper itself. Always thought that looked tacky.
What he should have done, instead of the fog lights filling in where the bumper brackets go, was to put Chrysler’s 1973 5 mph bumper guards in the place of those fog lights. You know, those big rubber “bumper guards” Chrysler products used instead of moving the bumpers further out. I think that would make the front end look more complete.
Other than that, it’s a nice car. Not $7500 nice, but a nice car
Proof that you can take any ugly car and turn it into a decent budget Muscle Car.
Auction update: this one ended up without any bids.
These were one of the ugliest cars looks better with out the front bumper should have lost the back one also