Matador

1975 AMC Matador


We've had two Subarus in this series so far, but no AMC products until now? How could such a thing have happened? Actually, the cars from Kenosha may score highest on the "shouldn't want one, but secretly do" scale; once you get past all the Wayne's World-trendy Pacers and cruise-night-popular AMXs (the early ones, not the Spirit-based Malaise Era AMX), there's this incredible cascade of Ambassador wagons, round-fendered Javelins, trucky Eagles, and other strange-yet-cool machinery. The AMC I catch myself searching for these days, however, is the 1975 Matador coupe.

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1975 AMC Matador

I've been looking for one of these things for quite some time, and the ultimate '75 Matador is, of course, the Oleg Cassini Edition. Not only do you get the weird-even-by-Kenosha-standards Matador coupe snout (which bears no resemblance whatsoever to the Matador Sedan's nose), you get an Oleg Cassini-branded, disco-wafer-grade copper-riveted interior. The '75 Matador came standard with the good ol' bulletproof 258 six, but buyers could upgrade to the 304- and 360-cube V8s. If I ever get an Oleg Cassini Matador, of course, it's getting a 401 and a 4-speed.