Plucky old American Motors entered the 1981 model year with only three car models on their books: the Concord, the Eagle, and the Spirit. None of them were big sellers, so you can be forgiven if you had forgotten about the above pictured Spirit. Replacing the Gremlin for 1979, the Spirit even kept a slow-selling “sedan” variant that maintained the Gremlin’s unique profile, but the buying public had apparently tired of its quirkiness. The “liftback” pictured above (in DL trim) was arguably more stylish, sharing its body with the rugged Eagle SX/4, a car with a bit of a cult following today. With original paint and “NO rust,” according to the seller, this offbeat little hatchback is for sale on eBay in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and with a high bid of $3,000, it has not yet met its reserve.
Only two engines were offered in the AMC car lines for 1981, the most powerful being this 258-cubic-inch six with 110 horsepower and a two-barrel carburetor. Since it was 1981, 258 automatics such as our feature car came standard with a 2.53:1 axle ratio, and if you think that’s bad, four speeds had a 2.37! Those leggy ratios allowed the Spirit to achieve respectable fuel mileage ratings (at a 55-mph speed limit, of course): the automatic earned an EPA rating of 19 city/26 highway. Compared to most collector cars, that’s miserly. The advertisement is also stingy with its information, but everything is claimed to work except the heater, and a new core comes with the car. I have no experience replacing the heater core on AMC products, but it’s rarely the kind of job that one looks forward to.
The interior looks completely original (aside from a carpeted dash pad cover), and even the upholstery matches the 1981 brochure. Considering the Southwest’s reputation as an interior-killer, it’s nice to see such a nice presentation, especially for a car with 124,000 miles on it. With a floor-shifted automatic, air conditioning, bucket seats, and console, the original owner must have wanted the spiffiest Spirit they could find.
I like quirky period-correct cars like this AMC Spirit. The color is perfect (although not very creatively named: Medium Blue Metallic), the stripes are perfect, the wheels are perfect. Aside from the heater core’s clocking out from duty, eBay mentions that there is a “minor [title] issue.” It may be worth a message to the seller if you’re interested in bidding on this fun little hatchback from the waning days of Kenosha’s independent. Only 44,599 Spirits were sold in 1981, and most of them are long gone, so if you long for an inexpensive collector car with some practicality built in, this one might be a winner.
I often wonder, as others among us may do, if a modern interpretation of cars from this era would be well received? Compact and midsized cars with recognizeable styling with doors and roofline that would accommodate entry and exit. Technology for drivetrain management would provide lively performance and respectable fuel economy. Hatchback utility and 2 door style for the modern consumer.
This model isn’t one of them but you can say AMC was ahead of the game when it offered these cars in a 4WD option. With the wagon you could claim they had the first SUV that are so popular now these were dependable cars its kinda a shame the American public just wasn’t ready for them then Dodge pitched them and destroyed the brand
AMC was already parsed out by Renault by the time Iaococca got ahold of it. Jeep was the prize then and now. People weren’t enthused with French cars then either. The Mitsubishi fellowship was barely holding on, too. It’s a shame but probably would have happened anyway.
Amc was ahead of everyone at the time. Today’s closet car would be the subie cross trek.
One of my high school buddies was heavily into these cars as he worked after school part time at an AMC dealer.
Cool cars with a pretty simple bulletproof drive train. Good luck to buyer and seller😎
Lovely looking car. I’ve always loved the grille of the 1981 and later AMC Spirit. I’m surprised it wasn’t used for the Eagle as well.
These cars equipped with a strangled 304 V8, were about as much fun as you could get for the money in 1979. I still have a copy of the Monroney from a ’79 blue GT – $6061. With tilt, am/fm, rear defog, Turbine wheels and white letter tires. The wife du jour looked great driving it around while I swelled with pride at her proficiency with a four speed. Great memories
The only thing working against this car, is that it’s an AMC. The condition more than makes up for that, if the winning bid is reasonable.
Sorry, I take offense to that comment. To many, the AMC is a plus.
Bought a used Spirit with 30k+ miles. Cinnamon brown with saddle color interior, had a 4 spd. Was a blast to drive, received lots of compliments. Only sold it back to the dealer after the timing belt blew and did damage to the engine. Hated to see it go, this one looks nice, good luck to the new owner.
Good write up Toth. Rear end ratios and all. 🤝 Handsome offering from the folks at AMC
Well, not particularly big sellers, the Spirit was another of the Hornet knockoffs, and was AMCs most popular car. Kind of the Falcon for AMC. If AMC had any problems, it was coming from overseas( oh here we go), and a car like this was horribly old fashioned. Only long time holdouts against foreign cars bought these, and that dried up pretty quick. Like Nelson sez, I wonder too if cars like this could, or should make a comeback? Not bloody likely, you can never go home,,,
I’ve always thought that these were good looking cars for their day. During that time, at least in MA and NH, I never saw many of them.
Maybe people in this area had gone to Subaru by then?