The AMC Matador is a series of American automobiles that were manufactured and marketed by American Motors Corporation (AMC) across two generations, 1971–1973 (mid-size) and 1974–1978 (full-size), in two-door hardtop (first generation) and coupe (second generation) versions, as well as in four-door sedan and station wagon body styles.
The first generation Matador was focused on the "family" market segment and was also offered in performance versions as highlighted in the NASCAR racing series with factory support from 1972 through 1975. With its second generation, the Matador became AMC's largest automobile after the Ambassador, which shared the same platform, was discontinued after the 1974 model year. Premium trim levels of the second generation Matador coupe were marketed as the Barcelona and Oleg Cassini (after the noted fashion designer) positioning the coupe in the personal luxury segment. The Matador was fairly popular as a police car in the United States, and several television series featured Matadors in prominent roles.
Abroad, Matadors were also marketed under the Rambler marque and were assembled under license in Costa Rica, Mexico by Vehículos Automotores Mexicanos (VAM), and Australia by Australian Motor Industries (AMI). Matadors were also marketed in overseas markets that included exports of right-hand drive versions to the UK.
Background
The 1971 Matador replaced the AMC Rebel, which had been marketed since 1967. With a facelift and a new name, the AMC Matadors were available as a two-door hardtop, four-door sedan, and station wagon body styles. The Matador shared a modified platform with the full-size Ambassador line with a shorter wheelbase. Although related directly to the previous Rebel models, AMC began promoting the Matador as more than a change in name with a slight facelift, to reposition the line in the highly competitive intermediate-car segment among consumers. The advertising campaign was built around the question "What's a Matador?"
Sedan and wagon models "offered excellent value and were fairly popular" cars. Matadors were also offered to fleet buyers with various police, taxicab, and other heavy-duty packages. They outperformed most other cars and "was adopted as the official police car." Matadors became popular with government agencies and military units as well as police departments in the U.S. and the sedans and wagons were typically equipped with or V8 engines. Matadors with heavy-duty police equipment were produced from 1971 through 1975. They continued to be in service longer than normal because of favorable field reports.
The Matador received a redesign in 1974, in part to meet new safety and crash requirements. The most significant change was to the two-door version. The hardtop was the slowest-selling body style in the Matador line although it was in a market segment where two-door models were typically the most popular - and also most profitable. As a result, the boxy two-door hardtop body design was replaced with a completely different and sleeker coupe model "to contend with the bull market for plush mid-size coupes that sprang up after the end of the muscle car era". It also featured a design that was praised by owners along with their complaints about its low roofline. The design of the Matador coupe has been described as "polarizing" as well as being "an evocative, swoopy coupe that perfectly captured the design ethos of the era."
Factory-backed first-generation hardtops and second-generation coupes competed in NASCAR stock car racing from 1972 through 1975. Drivers included Mark Donohue and Bobby Allison winning several races including the 1975 Southern 500 at Darlington. The AMC Matador captured five first-place wins.
Matadors in police livery were featured in television shows and movies during the 1970s. The Matador coupe was a featured car and also a scale model of it was used as a flying car in The Man with the Golden Gun, a James Bond film released in 1974.
First generation
1971
Matadors for 1971 received a revised front styling for all body styles, sharing its body design from the firewall rearward with the Ambassador and the same platform. Revisions included a longer wheelbase and updated front styling, grille, and chrome trim. The new Matador was available in four-door sedan, two-door hardtop (no B pillar), and four-door station wagon body styles.
The 1971 model retained the same trunk lid chrome strip and rear-corner chrome garnishes as on the 1970 models. New was a rear bumper with revised rounded-square lenses; interior dash, instrument cluster, steering wheel, and armrests; and the 1967–1970 Rebel "Weather Eye" fan-heat control unit.