For 1978, American Motors moved the compact Hornet platform upmarket, gave it a new exterior look, and created the more luxurious Concord.

By 1978, the American Motors Hornet was overdue for a replacement in the hotly contested compact category. But as usual, the smallest of the Motor City automakers didn’t have the resources to develop new product. After all, AMC’s entire annual production was less than one good month at Chevrolet, while its market share was shrinking every year. As sales slumped, the company reported $26 million in losses in 1975 and another $46 million in 1976. A less expensive makeover for the Hornet would have to do.

Meanwhile, the compact car market in the USA was moving upstream. As traditional car buyers of the ’70s were migrating to smaller cars, they still preferred them fully equipped, with velour living rooms and premium appointments. The terms “precision-size” and “luxury compact” entered the ad writers’ vocabularies. So the Hornet would be moved upmarket as well to follow the trend, AMC decided, with more equipment, a fancier interior, new exterior sheet metal, and a new name: Concord. The top line in AMC’s messaging was “the luxury Americans want—-the size America needs.”

Under the skin, the Concord was essentially the Hornet, with the same unit-construction platform with independent coil springs at the front, leaf springs at the rear, and 108-in wheelbase. Available engines: 232 CID and 258 cubic-inch inline sixes, a 304 CID V8, and a Volkswagen-Audi 2.0-liter (12 CID) four with 80 hp that was introduced on the Gremlin the year before. Extra effort was invested in isolating road noise and reducing cabin sound levels to suit the former Hornet’s new role.

Styling chief Richard A. Teague and his team created the Concord’s exterior look by borrowing the front fenders and hood from the restyled 1977 Gremlin and adding a more elegant grille. The rear-end treatment was reworked as well, but the Hornet doors remained. As did the available body styles: two-door and four-door sedans, a three-door hatchback, and a four-door wagon.

Inside is where the Concord claimed its status as a luxury compact. “The front seats would make Cadillac proud,” Popular Science magazine declared, also praising the classy interior fabrics and retrimmed Hornet instrument panel. However, the Car and Driver editors were disappointed with the fit and finish, and with the vague road feel as well. “You have the eerie feeling, in steering the little Concord down the road, that something isn’t quite right, isn’t quite integrated,” executive editor Steve Thompson wrote.

To illustrate how the Hornet was pushed upmarket to become the Concord, we could always compare their price schedules. While the ’77 Hornet was priced from $2,449 to $3,863, the Concord started at $3,849 and topped out at $4,299. (The Great Inflation of the ’70s took a bite of the increase.) Car and Driver reckoned that buyers were getting what they paid for in the Concord, and sales did improve in ’78 to nearly 118,000 cars, a 50 percent increase.

While it was technically billed not as a Concord but a stand-alone model, there was an AMX in 1978, a Concord in all but name (below). Standard features included a front air dam, blacked-out grille, slotted wheels, a rally instrument cluster, and an enormous hood decal, as was the fashion at the time. The Concord-based AMX was a one-year deal as the AMX was moved over to the Spirit line in ’79. However, the Concord remained in the AMC lineup through 1983, where in 1980 it spun off a four-wheel drive variant, the Eagle.