BangShift.com Unhinged: An Unhealthy Fixation On An AMC Harmony Sedan

On the planet of automotive packaging, the place type, efficiency, and utility are supposed to satisfy within the center to create one thing shoppers will purchase, American Motors was an oddball. They began out in an ideal area of interest market: American-made compact vehicles that labored nicely. Then they bought sporty with vehicles just like the Javelin and AMX. And bought full-size vehicles within the type of the Insurgent/Matador and Ambassador. And bought extraordinarily funky within the types of the Gremlin and the Pacer. They virtually even bought to the purpose of a supercar with the AMX/3 and are thought of the genesis of the crossover with the AMC Eagle. AMC had distinctive expertise within the type of Dick Teague, whose designs, cherished or loathed, took American Motors’ super-thin funds and made one of the best of it. New-car magazines have been often fairly optimistic to AMC’s vehicles. But, none of that may preserve the corporate alive previous 1987. Those that bear in mind AMC dealerships as an precise factor are actively being courted by AARP now, in the event that they aren’t receiving retirement checks.

Disregarding Jeep merchandise, most AMC merchandise are in that “too uncommon or too useful” area for me. I’d love a Javelin, AMX, Insurgent/Matador “Machine”. My high choose would really be a Hornet SC/360, with a 1971-74 Javelin in second place. A 1980 Harmony DL sedan ought to be proper there with a Pacer lined in twenty years’ value of grime and an Ambassador that hasn’t been pushed since 1984. However there’s something about this specific gem that has my consideration.

1980 is a crap 12 months for brand new vehicles. The Fairmont, Malibu and their siblings are common with hot-rodders now, however that’s after they outlived their authentic functions. Mopars of this time interval have been nonetheless shaking off the catastrophe that was the Aspen/Volare recall. And regardless of AMC’s greatest facelifting efforts, there was no hiding the truth that the Harmony was only a plushed-up 1970 Hornet sedan. It was an outdated platform. However did that imply unhealthy? Put frankly, in comparison with the tin-can Fairmont and the Spartan-trimmed Malibu, the AMC was a stable alternative.

Possibly I’m used to seeing these as Eagles as an alternative of Concords. Not seeing wooden stickers on the edges and seeing it decrease helps. Buff up the suspension and the brakes. This could be the automotive the place I counsel skipping the stroker six and leaping straight to the Gen III Hemi swap. Re-stance the automotive so it sits like an SC/360. No fender flares. No Eagle or Spirit AMX grille. Go away the appears to be like alone, simply make it carry out. No person is bothering to revive these anyhow, so why not take this very clear instance and construct a correct machine out of it? Oh, yeah…cash. That’s proper.

eBay Link: 1980 American Motors Concord DL