American Motors redesigned its Matador product line in 1974 and in the process moved it from an intermediate to a full-size car. They went one step further by giving the 2-door hardtop completely different styling from the sedans and wagons. To many, the look of the 1974-78 Matador coupe is an acquired taste as it resembled nothing else on the market (but neither did the Gremlin or the Pacer). This 1978 edition comes with Barcelona II trim, selected by only about 2,000 buyers that year. In Plymouth, Indiana, this “elegant” AMC is available here on eBay where the bidding has reached $13,600.
Without the deep pockets of General Motors, Ford, or Chrysler, new product development at AMC was largely done on a shoestring budget. In 1971, AMC restyled the Rebel mid-size and rebranded it the Matador. The sedan version of the car would be popular with police departments and was featured prominently as a cop car on the TV show Adam-12. Then, in 1974 when the market was beginning to focus more on smaller cars, the Matador grew in size to proportions similar to the Ambassador. The coupe version of the ’74 Matador had a “starring” role in the James Bond flick, The Man With The Golden Gun (remember the flying car scene?)
The company’s marketing gurus came up with two upscale versions of the Matador to compete in the personal luxury car space. The Oleg Cassini Edition (1974-75) and the Barcelona II (1977-78). Neither were big sellers nor are seldom seen these days. Both cars had trim levels that far exceeded anything else that AMC was selling at the time. Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous? Not quite. The seller has a ’78 edition of the Barcelona II (what happened to Barcelona I?) which is finished in Autumn Red Metallic on Claret Metallic, one of only two paint schemes offered.
Parked next to a regular Matador coupe, the Barcelona II was easy to pick out. It came with a thickly padded Landau roof with opera windows, two-tone paint, crushed velveteen fabric on the seats, special 15” slotted wheels, body-colored bumpers, and a host of other finishing touches. The seller’s car appears to be in great shape, although the closer you get some scratches and other wear will become apparent. While rust is not an issue (not sure about one photo of the undercarriage), the vinyl top may require some attention as it’s separating from some of the chrome trim.
The owner has had this Matador for 15 years and uses it mainly on the weekends (car shows?). That might explain why the odometer has yet to cross the 60,000-mile mark. It’s a well-equipped auto, as you would expect, and has the largest engine available at the time, a 360 cubic inch V8. The exhaust and catalytic converter (remember those things?) have been replaced. When new, this Barcelona didn’t venture far from its AMC birthplace in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Apparently, the seller has too many vintage cars and this one has been selected to help thin the herd. Would you like to take a trip to Barcelona?
Holey Kow – ashtrays in the back! Remember when jet airliners had ’em?
I know, what were they on? How does a hideous design like this ever get past the draring table? Well, it did and the crazy thing is, enough people liked it to be a relative hit. Besides, Most car buyers were well aware of AMC wackiness. Some actually embraced it, Pacer/Gremlin buyers, mostly. These were actually very nice cars, if you got past the styling, that is. Adam-12 references always liked, but, it seems the series is most known for the AMC cruisers, when, in fact, they only used the AMC for 2 years, and was mostly Plymouth.
While I dislike common catchy sayings, lipstick on a pig sure fits here. Schmaltz it up with some Italian designer, bound to sell cars,,,it didn’t. Still a nice find, and will still be the talk of the town. Grandpa, what is it, a UFO? And no, I have absolutely no reason to leave the good ol’ USA!!!
Adam-12 followed the lead of the LAPD..When they switched to AMC, so did the show. Jack be Webb was always accurate.
That’s true, in fact, L.A. used Mercury Montegos for a while then too. Pete and Jim never drove one, but they did show up on the show. It should be noted, in the episode “Krash”,( Feb. 5, 1974) Pete brings a brand new Matador X to Jims house. Jim noticed it has a “401”, and they take a ride, Jim driving, which was unusual, and they get in a minor accident ( with a non-X Matador). If you notice, Webb had his own “supply” of cars that were used in the filming usually in the background.
Take the bumpers off and these are great looking cars
I have to agree with you.
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/78/1c/ee/781ceed64ea6f486941c2c885b93185a.png
These also look far better without the absurd vinyl roof so many of them were fitted with — not just the padded and opera-windowed Barcelona version like this one, but the others with flush vinyl and standard rear quarter windows, too.
I sometimes get the feeling that Dick Teague hated vinyl roofs and deliberately designed the Matador coupe to be as challenging as possible to apply vinyl to in any reasonably harmonious-looking manner… only to see the old-fashioned AMC brass and/or dealers commission it as an option anyway, much to his chagrin.
Only AMC could come up with “Barcelona” for a polka version of one ugly car.
Howard–styling is beauty in the eye of the beholder. My eye likes the Matador Coupe.
Wonderfully garish!
Unfortunately AMC blowing its scarce development capital on this car and the Pacer, both of which only sold well briefly then quickly became duds, ultimately led to the Company being taken over by Renault.
The Barcelona treatment manages to make it even uglier. The only person I ever knew that owned one was the accountant for the restaurant I worked at as a kid. I always thought he was a little different. GLWTS
White letter tires lol wtf are these people on. I guess pretend it’s a mustang or a firebird.
I had a 1975 Oleg Cassini Edition with a 304 engine, the ride was nice,the 304 needed a lot of help,my wife hated it.
I wish I had my 74 Matador X with a 401 back. For a large car it handled great and was fairly fast. Surprised a few muscle cars.
Oh yeah. Like a 1978 Firebird with a 301 or a 130 horse 305 was a rocketship. Dont get me started on a 1978 Ford Mustang II. I agree that whitewall would be more appropriate.
Would be neat to have since it’s probably the only one left. With a 360, it probably has decent enough power to get on a highway.
You’d be surprised…at how little power it has, lol. All that whopping performance and about 8 mpg to boot!
In stock form, yes, that’s about it mainly due to the crude engine-strangling emission controls in use at that time. Today’s tech makes it possible to wake up the engine considerably.
The Man With The Golden Gun, would appreciate this.
The car in James Bond was a Hornet.
Yes the hornet was there but the bad guy had a matador that flew
Parked next to a hot rodded Hornet last night car club. Highlight was all the gassers straight from the track. Talk about power, huge blowers and 2 4 barrels. The engine itself not exhaust loud from the power alone. Worth the drive down.
The body overhang in relation to the wheels was always a killer on these. Fill out those wheel wells.
It’s hard to imagine a bunch of executives looking over this monstrosity with a garish, two-toned, color-keyed appearance, an overstuffed and out-of-place padded vinyl roof, woodgrain gauges, and every other 70’s personal coupe cliche piled on, and saying “Yes! That’s what we want!” Unless, of course, the executives were all wearing plaid leisure suits, gold chains, and white belts and shoes.
It’s tough to imagine this today as being anything viable, but the engineers were just people being paid to try and figure out what customers might want. In case you weren’t there, this fit the perfect theme of the time. Unlike today, where nobody wants to be noticed and hide in black and silver jellybeans, people were generally happy, and WANTED others to know, they didn’t follow the crowd. Many folks actually looked up to AMC for just that reason. Can you imagine the designs that didn’t make it? Considering some of the other attempts, ( the Aztec, Pacer/Gremlin, PT Cruiser/ SSR) I think the designers were trying to mimic the Chrysler Turbine car, the then most advanced car we’d seen, and being weird myself, AMC was a natural.
Nobody wants to be noticed? Strange you should say that considering the “instant popularity” to be had on YouTube,TicTok, Facebook and ect. As to the car. I will always prefer the dated styling of it’s predecessor. My grandmother had a rebel and always talked as if it was the car that got away. Replaced it with a 76 nova and was disappointed. Which was replaced by an 86 Le Baron. Fluffy interior, crappy exterior. The passenger side door literally fell off the k car. But I digress. Matadors were the car no one wanted to take a date in. A shadow of what came before. Unique styles and interestingly fast like the AMX, this is a drive it only at night so no one else can see who owns it, type car. I like some amc products just not that one!
A face only a mother could love…
I like it, surprising even myself!
Oh dear…
“So that’s a Matador… “
I worked as a lot boy at an AMC dealership in late 76.In the back corner of the show room was a 75 model 2 door. I worked there 6 months and when I left in late 76 the car was still there. I thought.it was ugly and I wasn’t the only one.
There is one mystery to me, about this period of the slow death of AMC. How, in the name of all that’s sacred, with all the money pouring in from their Jeep subsidiary, from 1974…how is it they were not able to design/engineer/tool for a modern small or midsized car that people wanted?
We hear about the money problems. But Jeep was bringing in the cash, back then.
For a corollary, I give you Honda. Honda had motorcycles, and in their domestic market, kei trucks. So Honda wanted to cross over to cars. They made one, with a motorcycle engine – the 600. It was a mixed bag and a niche product.
They took a stretch, engineered an automotive-suitable engine and drive train…and put out the Civic. It was a success.
The Civic gave birth to others, longer and different…and then more and more, to where Honda today is an automobile company that has a motorcycle sideline.
Or, take Hyundai. They made industrial goods. And made one Mitsubishi clone, the Pony. From that, they got enough momentum to break into the North American market with a full array.
Now I grant that Korean executives and engineers probably work cheaper than American, but not THAT much cheaper. And American Motors was, at the time, desperately learning how to do more with less. With some success.
Where did the Jeep money go? It wasn’t even absconded, that anyone can see. AMC was paying no dividends, except for one quarter in 1980…from 1973 to its takeover by Renault.
How was it that the underdogs of Kenosha and Southfield, couldn’t find a way to leverage Jeep profits into a marketable niche small car? Why did it take TEN YEARS from need to unveiling, just for a good four-cylinder engine? All they had to do was amputate two cylinders from the 233 six. Why did THAT cost so much, when Honda and Hyundai could bring an engine out from nothing, in a third the time and a cost not even worth mentioning?
AMC purchased Jeep from Kaiser in 1970, but it wasn’t the juggernaut is is today. Volume was less than 10% of current Jeep sales. Jeep was profitable, but it was barely enough to offset AMC’s losses, let alone fund new development. Besides, by the time AMC bought Jeep, it was already too late.
Your comparison to Honda is interesting, but I would assert that AMC was on the same trajectory as Honda, but in the 1960s. They had two basic models – the American and the Six/Rebel/Classic/Ambassador, and their focus was on refining and improving these models. It was only when they decided to match the big 3 head on in the mid-1960s that things started to go south. It just wasn’t possible to sustain a full lineup of cars on 300,000 units per year. Honda didn’t start expanding its lineup in the US until the late 1990s. Had AMC pursued a more conservative growth plan, the story may have ended much differently.
The comparison to Hyundai, however, is not apples-to-apples. Hyundai has the backing of an enormous industrial conglomerate, which funded its early automobile development. Like Honda, they started slowly, with the Excel and Sonata. The Elantra arrived a few years later. Poor quality and reliability nearly tanked Hyundai in the US, and without the support of the mother ship in Korea, imports likely would have stopped.
AMC deserves credit for doing as much as they did with as little as they had.
AMC’s Cartoon Car. Who did the “voice over?”
Even though I am an AMC fan, I have just 2 words to describe this Matador…”Hor rible”.
Roger Penske loved these things enough to make them into race cars. AMC’s folly was trying to be different on a shoestring. Thus wacky styling, but no real engineering feats.
Hey this works for Bobby Allison and Mark Donahue for NASCAR
Good Lord, nothing but negatives, nothing but monday morning quarter backing. There´s nothing like kicking a man when he is down right?Lighten TF up guys.
Fugly x 10 times infinity times beyond the universe fugly. Why do I kind of like it? I will check my HMO and see if therapy for liking such a monstrosity is covered. I obviously need help if I didn’t vomit after seeing this car.
Not nearly as ugly as the Hyundai Venue or it’s Kia platform mate talk about cartoon cars the Venue looks like something straight out of looney toons… No wait that’s an insult to bugs Bunny lol. But really I don’t like the front of this car but the side and rear end I could live with the padded roof would have to go bye bye, the interior is nice… I imagine with enough skill and or money you can change the front end to your liking and finally being that’s it’s an AMC that probably won’t go up in value and LS swap is in order with a modern transmission I don’t know which LS maybe a 1 or 3 would do.
Everyone forgets the Pontiac Aztec.
BLAKE…..Said the guy driving a 78 Malibu…….
Remember catalytic converters? As in they aren’t still in use??????
At my first job as a dishwasher , the cook would let me drive his white 2 door Matador like this. It only had thev6 but with 3 on the tree so it was good practice. It vibrated like it ran on 5 cylinders which was weird because my parent’s Rebels and Hornet ran smooth. He said it was because it had been wrecked, but I think it just needed a good tune up.
Was named “Best Styled Car of 1974” by the editors of Car and Driver magazine. A Popular Mechanics survey indicated “luscious looks of Matador coupe swept most owners off their feet” with a “specific like” listed by 63.7% of them for “styling”.
Too bad at the least you could not get a 401 & 4 speed manual in these.
The partial vinyl roof is not helping the looks, IMO.
You could at least get a 401 in ’74.
I think the design was ahead of it’s time. The Googly headlight buckets should have been either4 sealed beams. Then change over to side bus side shares in the grill. That car had a magnificent roofline without any vinyl on the top MatadorX was sporty looking. My final comment was I can’t think of another mid size car with as sexy a rear end design. Matadors had some hips and curves in them.
I like them. Dare to be different and there won’t be another one in the parking lot, lol.
Back when they were new, I’ve seen an Oleg Cassini one in copper. That was a sharp looking car that stood out without all the mock muscle car adornments that had become the bane of the big 3. This one in two tone red is definitely the better choice over the tan version.
Sadly the 401 was quickly unavailable.
I always thought of this Matador styling as a Hornet Hatchback on steroids! When it first came out I was stunned and scratching my head, but as time went by, I liked it more and more. Today, I consider it one of the “rare oddity” cars that will continue to grow in collectibility.
The full size window minus their roll down hardware reside under the fiberglass landau window treatment.
In my opinion, even though I haven’t been asked, people on here need to chill out a bit.
Someone loved this car enough to take excellent care of it.
When it comes to cars, people love them for different reasons. Perhaps this AMC will bring back fond memories for someone, as do Edsels do for someone else.
We are on this board to fondly remember autos of the past, and some of us might even be lucky enough to make a sale or purchase
Honestly understand the reasons for different styling, engines, transmissions, etc. Different piston strokes for different folks. Take care of your vehicle, roadworthy/safe, don’t hit me, all good. Being said tho…
Think this vehicle was an ugly beast, a grandmother had one, she loved it. Only drawback to her was it had “clearance issues”. Don’t know, think she was hitting RR tracks at speed or something. Had to take us kids for a ride, didn’t even want to get in the vehicle lol. Just remember her and mom talking, can’t even see out of the rear seat area. Get me outta this vehicle only thought. Fortunately only one ride in the car.
Having different tastes is fine, like to be different, just not too different usually.
I want my 73 Chrysler New Yorker Brougham triple black 2 door “ loaded “ BACK! 😂👍🏻
My moms friend had one of these, I used to help her with the maintenance, although try as I may I still can’t love this body style, that said having driven hers many times hers had bucket seats and console mounted shifter it was a very comfortable car to drive and be inside of.