“AMC ’78. The quality Americans want…The size America needs” so proclaimed American Motors’ publicity material from 45 years ago. And AMC had a lot of bases covered that year, especially with their new Concord compact. Hardly ever seen today, here’s a 41K original mile 1978 Concord D/L station wagon that still shows well and runs great. Located in Uniontown, Ohio, this product from Kenosha, Wisconsin is available, here on craigslist where it can be yours for $4,500, OBO. T.J. gets the credit for this find!
Introduced in ’78, the Concord was offered in a two-door sedan and hatchback, as well as a four-door sedan and wagon. It seems that the first year was the best with almost 120K hitting the streets, and 23K of those were station wagons. By model conclusion in ’83, over 400K Concords had found first-time owners. This example, which is finished in Golden Ginger (looks a bit more like faded “Peanut Butter” these days) shows to be surprisingly straight and sound – except for that rear bumper. My guess is that some Ohio road salt got kicked up in the rear corners and has worked its magic on the rear rammer. Even the faux veneer, other than the passenger side quarter panel, has survived the test of time – no mean feat! The wheel covers are curious, they don’t look like original D/L equipment but that’s a minor matter. Anyway, there are underside images included and “no worries” would seem to best describe this car’s structural condition.
With the assistance of an automatic transmission, a 120 net HP, 258 CI, in-line six-cylinder engine puts the go to the rear wheels of this compact wagon. Upgrades include a new Holley two-barrel carburetor and a replacement fuel tank. The seller mentions a slight transmission pan gasket leak but claims that the gearbox shifts smoothly.
There really aren’t any images of the front seat or dash/instrument panel, just the rear seat and the cargo area – seems like a less-than-optimal way to feature the interior. The beige vinyl upholstery covering the seat bottom of the rear seat is a bit discolored but mostly looks OK, then again, a back seat is hardly a good indicator of overall interior condition – at least that’s been my observational experience. The cargo area is showing signs of hard plastic degradation – something that happens with age and sun exposure, but it would seem that it has experienced little of the knockin’ around effects that often plague the way back section of a station wagon.
This Concord wagon is a nice find. Station wagons are a staple of BF, and we cover Fords and Chevies out the wazoo, but an AMC station wagon? Hardly, if ever. AMC fans are a loyal and dedicated bunch and I have no doubt, at this asking price with its OBO flexibility, this Concord will get steered to a new garage soon, wouldn’t you agree?
Great Find! A nice styled AMC, great powertrain and one you wouldn’t be afraid to park in tight boxstore parking lot…All for about the same money as you spend on a 70 Chevelle hood and door
Stay clear of a car with a vise grips holding it together and that hitch looks a bit optimistic. AMC was going down, we knew it, the world knew it, and the workers knew it. In the midst of that, this was a very successful car for AMC, all the Concords were. A last gasp effort before the Alliance and everything we held dear. I read, an owners survey showed, more people listed problems as “none” than any other American car, an industry record. Yeah and here it comes, if it wasn’t for foreign cars, what was wrong with this? Really, it had stout, proven mechanicals, great heat a/c, decent mileage, cushy seats and room for a family, what was so darn desirable about an Asian tin can with room for 3, crappy heat and seats and heaven help you in a crash? You wonder why I’m bitter, that’s the way it crumbled, and I was there when it did. Talk to people from Janesville, Lansing, Lordstown, and now Belvidere, and of course, the biggie, Deeeetroit, and I guarantee, you’ll get a similar response.
Can anyone tell me, what was the attraction in foreign cars? Was it un-American? Or American to buy what we want. Regardless, you have to under be a rock not to see what foreign cars did to our economy, the cities above, especially hard hit.
I hated to see that too,but American carmakers (upper management) deserve most of the blame,as they didn’t build the cars that mos t buyers
really wanted,or strive for better quality.
Do you remember when Roger Smith was in charge of GM?Or when
Ross Perot,who was a major stockholder in GM tried to call them out for
that? They didn’t want to hear the truth.
That said,I think that the Concords with the 4 headlights looked
so much nicer,as well as the taillights.
To be clear, I thought I’d have gotten a lot more hate mail on that. I’m not totally against imports, the world is a different place now, but back then, it was a big deal. I agree, part of the reason for imports success was, people were sick and tired of US automakers baloney, and the imports finally offered an alternative. I think a lot of it WAS a giant middle finger to the industry, not that the cars were that much better. I’m convinced, people that bought imports, simply didn’t realize how much our auto business meant to the country. And it wasn’t just the factories themselves, but all the related industries that took a hit as well. The material suppliers, the uniform person, the dirty mat person( same person?), the food service, the tools guy, and schmoes like me, that picked up and delivered to those plants, that harshly impacted our society.
Not to worry, my views are probably the last you’ll hear of them, as my kids, in their 30s, have no interest whatsoever about Ramblers or AMC.
An apology to the author, I know he loves imports, and has made peace with the fact I don’t, I hope, and knows full well any AMC/Rambler post is going to hit a nerve with me. A nerve that will no doubt die with me.
Finding anything with that low mileage at that price is a find. With that being said the 4.2 liter engine which was shared with jeep has a tenancy to burn oil at around 100k. I had an 82 Concord and the single serpentine belt was very was not well designed and had to be adjusted by moving the alternator which is at the bottom of the car. I also had an 1987 Eagle Wagon. There was a definite drop in the quality of the vehicle from 1982 to 1987 which was the last year for the Eagle with that body style. By then AMC had gone back to v belts that were much easier to adjust and the oil burning problem was much worse on the 1987 than on the 1982. On the 1982 I was able to put Bardahl and pull a boat with it for over 60 k miles without significant oil burning til the Bardahl started clogging the oil pump. With the 1987 it was not burning oil when I first got and when it did start burning oil it was much more serious and the Barnahl did not work.
Howard, my first new car was a 74 Hornet hatchback. I took delivery and sent it back with a laundry list of problems. The two I remember were a hole in the doorjamb and non working gauges. After an accident I traded it in on a 76 Concorde with the velour upholstery. Spilled a jello mold on the front passenger seat and never could get the stain out. Traded that in on an 82 Eagle wagon. I loved that car, but I live in the slushbelt and stuff would get on the front axle boots, freeze, and tear them leading to the stub axles rusting out.
Which picture has the vice grips holding the car together?
I especially remember the Japanese rental cars. The typical Datsun rental car could not accelerate to anything near freeway speed up a typical freeway ramp. They were so bad that the company insisted we only rent American cars. The bean counters never said a word about us renting Cadillacs or Lincolns. LOL!😄
David I think the Datsun you’re talking about was the B210. My cousin owned one. It came with an automatic transmission and it was way underpowered! When we went somewhere she had me drive. It was constantly downshifting on the freeways going up the slightest hill. Always driving in the far right lane and going up Mulholland hill in LA meant 30-40 mph reving the whee out it.
She drove it for 11 trouble free years and I hated to drive it as it was not a comfortable ride
In the seventies nobody built a really good car. What the imports quickly got right was customer service followed closely by quality. Think Honda Accord or Toyota Camry. In the last six years I returned to American made cars but Dealer service is still not up the Import standards. I really like my Jeep Compass but time will tell.
The Concord D/L package included color-keyed wheel covers, but I can’t find any documentation that indicates whether the covers matched the body color or the woodgrain. I would expect them to match the body color, but AMC was very willing to make substitutions on the assembly line, so these covers could easily be original
Nearly every concord DL wagon I see on line…and in 78 &79 AMC brochures… show the car with styled wheels..There is one exception online- and oddly enough it matches the woodgrain trim piece.. just like this car. Seems kind of weird
http://www.oldcarbrochures.com/static/NA/AMC/1978_AMC/1978%20AMC%20Concord%20Brochure/index1.html
At the very least the full covers need white stripe tires, but I’d still be inclined to put styled wheels on it.
’79 added the quad headlights and wrap around tail lights were added in 80. The Eagle debuted in 80 and was essentially an all wheel drive/4wd Concord or Spirit. I learned to drive on a 79 Concord DL. The 78s had the body color on the wheel covers which was dropped in 79 for brushed steel finish with the AMC logo in the center.
We had several of these and the wheel covers definatey did match the body color.
At 40 thousand plus miles,it’s almost ready for the wrecking yard but clean.it is ugly it was when I was young but I guess it’s for someone?
The curse of the 5-digit odometer strikes again.
Everyone that has a 30 plus year old car with the 5-digit odo claims that it is “Original” miles. It’s rarely the case.
I’m not buying it on this one at all, the wear does not equal 41k miles, and that drivetrain would have no problem getting to 141k miles.
Sorry, but unless there is good documentation that the low miles are correct, it should be assumed that this is 141k miles.
The front fenders usually rotted out on these early ones until they went to the fender liners and galvinized steel. I do like the first two years the best though. My dad had a 1979 SIlver Anneversery edition and it was a great car. Got 40 mpg on long trips out west from PA.
What the imports did is upgrade quality control – my father’s new ’56 Chevy had dozens of issues, all fixed under the 30 day warranty except the rattle in the front right door which lasted until the window mechanism just fell apart and the window dropped down into the door. The VW engines lasted about 40,000 miles in the late 50’s, and then a valve job. But when you closed the door, it had such a tight body that you needed to open a window a crack. The 60’s Volvos went over 200,000 miles with ease, when US cars were deemed junk at 100,000 miles, at least in suburban/city driving. In the 80’s Toyotas and Hondas and Audi’s were going 300,000 miles or more, and, came from the factory with no defects. Consumer Reports, back in the 60’s, in each of their car reports, had at the end, a total of manufacturing defects, usually between a dozen and twenty. They do not have to do that anymore, since US manufacturers caught up. The advice in the 1960’s was not to buy a car built on a Friday or a Monday since workers were missing and whatever the job the missing guy did just did not get done – like finishing up the window mechanism in my father’s ’56 Chevy. I have owned plenty of cars, US made, Japanese, German, British, hands down the Japanese were the most trouble free, the British the worst, and repair for repair, the US cars were about half as expensive to fix.
Looks like an upgraded GM style distributor, and getting a later aluminum rear bumper shouldn’t be a problem. Mine’s an ’82 DL wagon, and had a a few Eagle wagons. Getting rid of the Carter carb and going with Holley’s a good move.
Dad had a 79 wagon. Took my driving test in it. His was white on blue. No faux wood. We loved that car. Ran for ever. My great uncle had a 78 , baby blue with a blue half vinyl top and blue velour upholstery. And yup color keyed wheel covers. Bit his were blue where these are tan
The vise grips can be seen in the photo of her on the lift. On the bottom drivers side. May have something to do with the rotted out back bumper
Its looks questionable that rust eating thru back bumper means undercarriage is rusting away
Beautiful looking car. I’d buy it if it were closer to where I live. Given its condition, I’d be willing to pay around the asking price. 1978 is my favourite year for the AMC Concord. I love the grille, I love the taillamps. I’d prefer a 6 cyl. engine over a V8.