01
Origins
In 1979, with money short and the model line ageing, AMC combined the two things it actually had: the Concord passenger car and Jeep's four-wheel-drive expertise. The Eagle, launched for 1980, was a normal-looking saloon, coupé or estate riding higher on a full-time four-wheel-drive system with a viscous-coupled centre differential — a configuration no mainstream maker offered. Subaru sold small 4wd cars and the Audi Quattro arrived the same year at three times the price; the Eagle stood alone in the middle, and snowbelt America bought it gratefully. It is now routinely cited as the first modern crossover, a category that would eventually swallow the entire industry. The Eagle outlived AMC's independence, staying in production under Chrysler ownership until 1988 — the last car to carry the AMC lineage.
1982 AMC Eagle · AutoPhoto · CC BY 3.0
