The American-badged compact was getting stale at American Motors by the end of the 1960s. So, they developed a new car and resurrected the Hornet nameplate to attach to it. It was in production from 1970 to 1977, after which the Hornet became the Concord. This 1974 edition is a running project that recently had a small fire, yet it seems to keep on keeping on. Located in Kent, Ohio, this rusty coupe is available here on Facebook Marketplace for the cheap wheels price of $750. Thumbs up to JDC for the tip!
AMC was busy developing the upcoming Pacer (you know, the egg-shaped car), so the Hornet was largely unchanged in 1974. The bumpers were bigger than before, and the company had an upper hand when the OPEC oil embargo sent gasoline prices spiraling. And buyers heading to smaller autos. A 232 cubic inch inline-6 was standard fare and helped with the fuel consumption game. The seller’s car has an automatic transmission, although a “3-on-the-tree” manual was standard.
This Hornet was inactive so far this year until last week. That’s when the seller drove it, and a fire erupted from the dashboard. That sounds bad, and it was perhaps caused by the blower motor (mouse nest?). Yet the car still starts and drives. The fire cracked the windshield, and the heater ductwork is toast. The fact that it still runs does sound amazing (and you also have to wonder what hidden damage may have occurred).
The body on this AMC is rough, especially the driver’s side rear quarter panel, which may have more corrosion than would permit saving that piece. The interior also looks well-used with an indicated mileage in the 100k range. We’re told the underside is pretty clean except one frame rail, which has a sizeable chunk rusted out. The key switch needs changing, and a new one comes with the car. The seller’s price is right, whether you decide to restore the Hornet or use it as a parts car. Or enter it in the local demolition derby!
Local demo derby, oh Russ, how could you? Not that we have to, but to illustrate just what kind of site this is, to go from that cool Dart, that has every gee-gaw known to man,,,to a humble AMC Hornet with not so much, is clearly unique. Oh sure, we had a trickle of fame with the Machine, the SC/Rambler, AMX and the SC360, but for the most part,,,,right here. Not a bad thing, the Hornet was the basis for a bunch of AMC cars, not unlike the Falcon/Ford, but practically all were just like this, $100 beaters in the back row. We usually finished them off, so it’s unusual to even see one. Probably has the appeal of a head cold today, but in the 70s, a Hornet was the mainstay of the downtrodden that still needed to get around.
A great find, and once again, a tip of the hat to the staff, who are featuring much more plausible finds, that someone might actually buy.
I had one of these back in the day. Drove it for years, it was a good, trouble-free car, if not too exciting. Mine was an old C&P Telephone car, had a positive traction rear end. Very practical. I liked the shelf under the dashboard. Eventually, the driver’s side floor rusted out. I sold it to a guy who patched it and drove it for more years.
A fire killed my Hornet. I was picking up a pizza and it backfired through the carb behind the pizza shop. They called the FD and next thing I knew, the FD was punching holes in the hood with their fire axes and flooding the engine compartment with water. I might have been able to fix the fire damage but with the axe damage too I decided to just give up on it and junked it.