American Motors was never one to shy away from taking chances with styling. Some of the most unusual styling choices of the 1970s included the Gremlin, Pacer, and the Matador coupe. While the Matador had been around since 1971, the coupe version was totally redesigned and became a full-size vehicle in 1974. The unusual appearance of the cars was likely a “love it or leave it” choice because it didn’t appeal to everyone. The seller has a field find in the form of a 1974 Matador X, a one-year-only model. Apparently, in parts car condition, this AMC can be found in Tacoma, Washington, and here on craigslist for $1,008. “Curvette” gets a nod for this tip!
AMC spent big bucks for vehicle promotion with an assortment of their automobiles appearing in the 1974 James Bond flick, The Man With The Golden Gun. One was a flashy Hornet coupe driven by Roger Moore, the other a Matador coupe driven/flown by the movie’s villain (played by Christopher Lee). One of AMC’s ‘74 Matador coupes had the honor of being the six millionth vehicle that the company had produced since the Nash/Hudson merger 20 years earlier.
The Matador X added body striping to the car’s already long body, which made it look even bigger. And a 304 cubic inch V8 was standard in the “X,” though the seller’s car has the optional 360. The special edition found 10,000 buyers in ’74 before becoming a $200 option the following year. The engine and automatic transmission here were rebuilt some time ago, but the vehicle has been deteriorating in a field, probably due to some rear-end damage that the photos don’t display. The status of the title is salvage, so it’s a parts car now. The condition of the interior is unknown, as is the completeness of the machine.
If the sub’s aint rotted out and majority of the body is sound,that’s a thousand bucks well spent.When ugly is beautiful.Someone save it!
Well, on one hand, it’s a shame to see this with dilapidated surroundings, but on the other hand, it makes the surroundings look good. Again, “good” is highly subjective, and if you didn’t grow up in Wisconsin with a kindred connection to AMC, you might think their designs were too far off the wall, but you know, I almost dare any other car maker to try and sell a car like this, or the Pacer, or the Gremlin. We were known for kooky designs, and there was merit in that, I figure. Like the Pacer and Gremlin, okay, not the Gremlin, but people that bought these and the Pacer, actually liked them. They were good cars. Roomy, comfy, great heat/ac. Good enough for Pete Malloy, who had a yellow X in the Adam 12 episode “Krash”. It should be noted, the car in Reeds driveway, was an X with a 401,( Reed made note of that like what was in the cruisers) but the car involved in the crash, was not. That’s Hollywood,,,I see very little interest here, maybe parts, but for who?
Love Adam12, AMC, and Pete Malloy…I miss ’em ALL!
I remember Malloy telling Reed how good the gas mileage was, and it was something like 17 mpg.
It’s a Matador!
Restore it!! Not many around anymore!!
Reeds car is pretty cool looking!! Different color for sure!!
And its in Washington,,Too far away from Wi. transportation would cost more than the car,,I had a 74 gold one but it had a six and I think it was too heavy of a car for the 6 (258) If closer I would be interested but where’s the interior, engine,& trunk pics,,I am guessing that with the V8 and the striping it had buckets
The Craigslist ad isn’t written very coherently.
would have been nice to have a picture of the rear end damage. The driver side shows just where it starts behind the door but leaves out the real damage for why it has a salvage title.
worth it if you have 1. looks like it could be chock full of parts for 1k