With its quirky, marine-life styling, the 1974-1978 Matador coupe is one of the more polarizing cars of the 1970s: Folks tend to love or hate the design. Either way, it’s worth a look.
True, American Motors was the smallest of the Detroit Four, but it was often the most fun to watch. With only a fraction of the production volume of Ford or General Motors, the little automaker relied on its wits and agility to survive, carving out its own market segments and zigging when the others zagged. Lacking the engineering resources of the competition, AMC often used offbeat styling and clever packaging to stand apart. One good example among many is the 1974-1978 Matador coupe.
The Matador coupe was conceived when Richard Teague, AMC’s vice president of design, and Robert Nixon, director of passenger car styling, and their small but talented design crew were given the green light to spin off a two-door with its own distinct sheet metal, separate from the intermediate sedan and wagon models. Among other things, this would give AMC an entry in the profitable personal luxury class then dominated by the Pontiac Grand Prix and Chevrolet Monte Carlo.
The dramatic look they crafted for the coupe—a fish-like teardrop shape with a fall-away beltline and frog-eyed headlamp nacelles—was distinctive, to say the least. To this day, critics howl and gouge their eyes over the unusual styling. But then, there are many other observers who call the look fresh and original. Truly, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. We could note that none other than Car and Driver magazine, featuring the Matador on the cover of its November 1973 issue, proclaimed it “1974’s Best Styled Car.” So there’s that.
Under the unconventional sheet metal, the two-door was typical American Motors intermediate fare, with a 114-inch wheelbase (four inches shorter than the Matador sedan and wagon) and coil spring suspension at each corner. Initially, the full catalog of AMC engines was offered: 232 and 258 CID straight sixes and 304, 360, and 401 CID V8s. Transmission choices included manual three-on-the-tree (sixes only) and a three-speed automatic; there was no four-speed available. One noteworthy feature was the 24.5-gallon fuel tank—no doubt handy back in the fuel-rationing era.
American Motors found numerous marketing theaters for the two-door Matador. Roger Penske’s AMC NASCAR operation switched to the new body style for ’74, turning in respectable but hardly dominating performances. Pilots included Penske contract drivers Mark Donohue, Gary Bettenhausen, and others, but the most successful was NASCAR veteran Bobby Allison, who claimed three victories in 1975.
The automaker pulled off a minor PR coup in 1974 when it scored the product placement honors for the James Bond movie, The Man With the Golden Gun. AMC vehicles are featured throughout, but in one memorable moment, bad guy Scaramanga (played by Christopher Lee) and his henchman Nick Nack make a dramatic escape in the Matador/aircraft hybrid pictured below. No, the Bond-villain Matador couldn’t really fly. The takeoff was filmed with a mocked-up stunt car, while the flight scenes were done with radio-controlled scale model.
Three trim flavors were initially offered at the launch in September of 1973: base model, sporty X, and premium Brougham. An optional Oleg Cassini package added flair to the cockpit, while exterior decor groups included the D/L and Barcelona with varying stripe, two-tone, and vinyl top combinations.
The Matador coupe’s best sales year was the first year, 1974, with more than 62,000 deliveries. But as often happens with cars of unconventional styling, the sales arc then took a sharp turn down, and only 22,000 units were sold the following year. By 1978, sales eroded to barely 2,000 cars. For ’79 the Matador coupe was discontinued, along with all the intermediate and full-size models, as the company turned back to compact cars and launched a partnership with French carmaker Renault.
Pete Malloy ( the late Martin MIlner) in Adam-12 drove a new Matador ( X in some scenes, a regular Matador in others) for his personal car late in the shows run, as American Motors supplied all the cars for the show. Brought to us by same folks that gave us the Pacer. To be honest, I don’t recall seeing many outside of Wisconsin.
Typical article about the Matador with the same typical mistakes which get repeated and repeated again and again. This car never ever was intended to compete against the Grand Prix, Monte Carlo or Cordoba. This error is repeated over and over regurgitated from one hack internet report after another. This car was priced in the low intermediate sporty coupe market, Chevy Chevelle, Ford Torino and Plymouth Satellite. Those were the cars AMC was marketing against. in the 3,000 price range, not the 5,000 price range of the personal luxury cars you mentioned. Again, as far as NASCAR is concerned, again, you’re spewing incorrect information. What helped the Matador in it’s first two years was the fact that it had 13 top three wins in NASCAR 1974 and 1975 season. On the sales numbers, you’re comparing Apples and Oranges. the sales for the two years were very close to each other, 75 was down but not by much, the 1974 Model year for AMC was 15 months vs. 9 months for 1975, the Feds allowed AMC 74 year go till the end of the year at 12/31/74…..Even 1974 Javelins were produced until December of 74. Additionally, the drop in sales after 76 is no different than the other manufactures, due to the economy and move to smaller cars. AMC had sold large cars ever since 1954 but also focused primarily on the smaller car market, 80% of AMC sales in the early 70’s were for smaller cars, that didn’t mean they weren’t in the larger car market. They sold Rebels, Matadors and Ambassadors. the end we near for the large cars not because of design but because of buyers preferences for smaller cars and fuel economy. AMC wasn’t that small. In 1975 excluding Jeep Sales, AMC had 5% of the car market in the USA, 5%. Even with reduced sales due to the economy, they still had 5% of sales. That’s not a small number.
Great article; thanks !!