Twenty-plus years ago, the original owner of this 1981 AMC Concord quit driving it with 95,000 miles on the clock. Now, someone down the family line has decided to get it the heck out of the yard. It’s available here on craigslist for an asking price of $3200 OBO, located in Jurupa Valley, which is in the northeast corner of Riverside County, California. Thanks to Pat L. for finding this one for us.
For the younger set without firsthand recollection of the era, AMC, the American Motors Corporation, came about in the 1950s and lasted until the 1980s, serving as competition to the then-dominant “Big Three” of Ford, GM, and Chrysler and their variants. The Concord, AMC’s volume seller offered between 1978-83, could be had in various body configurations in the various years of its model run, including a convertible “Sundancer” version. This four-door has what is presumed to be its original 258-CID 6-cylinder engine backed up by an automatic transmission. The ad notes that it is “oddly optioned,” as if it’s not enough of an oddball to start with, but the seller does not specify what equipment that indicates. There does appear to be a 1990s-style aftermarket radio unit installed in the dash.
In many ways, the signs look positive for this car, if a four-door sedan is your kind of classic. The interior is super-clean and comfy looking. Under the hood is aged but original (though yikes on the number of hoses running like snakes all over the place). The exterior is decent, though it would do the prospective buyer well to know what’s going on behind the driver’s side rear door—road rash, it looks like. Probably not rot, given the desert home this one has. The tires even look good and are noted as being new.
As a California car, this Concord retains its original blue license plates (the style that came out after the famous and coveted “black plate” that was used through the sixties). Also as a California car, it is noted to have been on a “non-op,” or under planned non-operation status. Essentially, that means that the owner has agreed not to drive the car and thus not paid the normal registration fee nor insured it. With this status, the car is not even allowed to be towed on the road. And before it may be legally driven again, it would have to be registered for road use, insured, and pass a smog check. The latter may well be the obstacle that took it out of service to start with. But if all of that doesn’t warn you off, you’d be getting a California classic for sure, if a somewhat quirky one.
One option oddity I see is the lack of a vinyl top which results in it having the original four-window Hornet profile since apparently the quarterlights were hand-cut on the line. I’ve only seen pics of one other Concord so equipped which was a police car. Either this was a fleet car or a special order delete since the vinyl top was standard on all Concord and Eagle sedans.
If AMC had ever figured out a way to get the 6-window Concord four-door out the door without the padded roof the result would’ve looked five years more modern right away (maybe a chunky black plastic frame doing the work of the vinyl?)
Excellent information. Thanks for this.
Great illustration of the constant bean counting pressure at AMC. Labor on the line to cut a window opening being less expensive than left/right stamping dies given sedan sales volume
I was wondering why this car did not have the C pillar windows – you’ve just explained why it is like this. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one of these that looked exactly like a Hornet sedan.
The car can’t even be towed on California roads? Hilarious! Gotta love the land of fruits and nuts.
CA physical driver’s tests no longer include requirements to know how to parallel park nor demonstrate an ability to merge onto a freeway.
Plus you can steal just over $900 and not face any consequences.
Born there. Lived my adult life there. And left finally about 10 years ago.
Seeing these cars only makes me miss AMC more than ever.
Joke right ! Ok maybe the Javelin or the AMX. But the rest….come on. lol
All of my AMCs were more dependable than anything that the big three put out during the seventies and eighties.
It appears like this was originally a radio delete car – the center of the dash has a block off plate above the heater and a/c controls. The aftermarket radio was apparently added later to compensate for this. By “oddly optioned” it seems to indicate a car that had very few options, since it didn’t start off its life with either a radio or a vinyl top.
Had 2 of these in my life. Dad had a 79 wagon , my uncle a 78 sedan. Bullet proof fabulas cars. By the way , no vinyal top on my uncle’s sedan or the opera windows. 78 and 79 still had hornet tail lights too
This could very well be an ex “state crate” as we called them. The State of California had tons of these used as Department vehicles. Miserable cars. Handling and brakes were sore spots. If this was an ex- state car, they were maintained regularly. I wonder if it has a little brown color state issued maintenance booklet? These were eventually auctioned off by the state and anyone could bid.
For the price, one can forgive their foibles and this one looks clean. Besides what functional, non rusted vesicle can be had for this money?
Just grease the right palms (i.e. pay for a permit) and you are allowed the privilege of moving this vehicle along the broken down CA roads.