AMC Eagle Was a ‘Crossover’ Before SUVs Made it Cool: Wicked Wednesday
This 1982 AMC Eagle is a rare bird that is not often seen in the wild any longer. But it helped usher in the modern crossover SUV craze.
Typically, the vehicles we feature on “Wicked Wednesday” pack more than a measly 112 horsepower. However, this 1982 AMC Eagle is not featured here due a powerful engine or blistering quarter mile times. The AMC Eagle is wicked because it is a vehicle that was ahead of its time in many ways. The idea of a slightly lifted sedan with power going to all four wheels can describe any number of popular vehicles. But in 1982 this was a novel concept. Chrysler is generally created with inventing the minivan segment. And while AMC may not have invented the crossover SUV segment, the Eagle was certainly one of the first.
This week’s “Wicked Wednesday” is all about this 1982 AMC Eagle. It is an incredibly clean and original example with less than 40,000 original miles on the odometer. A video was posted on the Rare Classic Cars & Automotive History YouTube channel showing all the interesting quirks of the AMC Eagle. There are certainly plenty to cover. And while the AMC Eagle was only made from 1980 through 1988 it left an impression on the automotive landscape. It is fun to take a look back from time to time at some of the vehicles that pioneered a trend. Let’s do that now with this wonderful 1982 AMC Eagle.
AMC Eagle
The AMC Eagle was based on the AMC Concord. The main difference is that the Eagle was given some additional ground clearance and a four-wheel-drive system. The Eagle was the handsome and rugged vehicle that could handle whatever conditions you were faced with. But it was able to tackle these conditions in a vehicle that was more comfortable and efficient than a truck or SUV of the time. AMC invented a new transfer-case shifter it called “Select Drive” for the Eagle. It takes two hands to operate but you don’t have to get out of the vehicle to manually lock or unluck hubs. From a dash-mounted control switch you can select the car to run as two-wheel-drive for better fuel economy.
Build ‘Quality’
This probably will not come as a surprise but the build quality on this 1982 AMC Eagle is atrocious. Engineers must have used the Mariana Trench as the benchmark for setting the panel gaps on this car. Trim is misaligned, sheet metal is wavy. The whole car just looks like it was screwed together on the Monday morning after Super Bowl XVI. And this is on a car that has only 37,000 miles on it. If you want to know why many of these are no longer on the road this shoddy build quality is probably a key reason.
The Crossover
While many automotive enthusiasts scoff at the crossover there is no denying that they are incredibly popular with the general public. There are dozens of them on the market right now. And just the Toyota RAV4 and Honda CR-V combine for well over half a million sales a year. It was the AMC Eagle that helped to usher in this class of vehicle. And any vehicle that is at least partially responsible for inventing a whole new segment of automobile must be considered wicked. At least in our eyes.
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