Classics, Motoring Memories

AMC Eagle, 1980 to 1987

November 8, 2004

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Story and photo by Bill Vance

Four-wheel drive passenger cars are rapidly increasing in popularity and are now so well engineered that there are few if any external clues that the power is reaching the road at all four corners. Companies have to badge their 4wd cars to advertise its presence.

Such vehicles are a relatively recent development. Back in the 1970s, 4wd was pretty well confined to trucks and off-roaders like Jeeps and other sport-utility vehicles, with a few exceptions like the then slightly offbeat Japanese Subaru.

Jensen Motors of England had offered 4wd in the mid-60s in its powerful, and expensive, FF (Ferguson Formula) model, a version of the Jensen Interceptor, but it was out of the mainstream of the auto world.

It fell to the smallest American manufacturer, American Motors, to offer a 4wd passenger vehicle that had ample size, the luxury of a regular car, and looked reasonably normal. This was the AMC Eagle that appeared for 1980, presented as the first production 4wd automobile from a North American manufacturer.

AMC, which had been formed through the amalgamation of Nash and Hudson in 1954, was almost perennially short of money. It was therefore anxious to explore any market niche it could exploit that wouldn’t cost too much.

As the producer of the Jeep, undoubtedly the world’s most famous 4wd nameplate, it was a natural to capitalize on this reputation in passenger cars. The Eagle was not a rugged, off-roading Jeep-type vehicle, however, but a car with the superior traction of all-wheel drive.

The Eagle’s body, a modified AMC Concord, could trace its origins back to the Hornet introduced 10 years earlier. To accommodate the 15-inch wheels that would be used instead of the Concord’s 14s, and to try masking the fact that the car sat 76 mm (3 in.) higher, the lower body panels were modified, and fitted
with plastic fender flares. The result was a car that looked like a tall Concord.

To preserve the car-like ride, the Eagle had an independent front suspension. It used slightly stiffer springs than the Concord, and mounted the front coils above the upper control arms in normal AMC fashion, which simplified accommodating the front drive axles. Leaf springs were used at the rear, and front and rear anti-roll bars were fitted.

Power came from AMC’s reliable if unexciting 4.2 litre (258 cu in.) overhead valve, inline six. And although the body and engine were prosaic AMC parts bin fare, the running gear was a clever engineering exercise which used an advanced version of the 4wd Quadra-Trac system first introduced on Jeeps in 1973.

As with normal 4wds, the power took two routes. The first was straight through the transmission to the rear axle. The second was to a chain-driven transfer case beside the transmission, which fed the drive forward to the front axle.

What made the Eagle’s system more advanced was the use of a liquid silicone viscous coupling in the transfer case to achieve limited slip action front to rear. This silicone, about the consistency of honey, allowed the front and rear drive shafts to turn at different speeds during normal driving, but immediately solidified to lock up the drive when the two drive shafts rotated at rapidly different rates.

The magic of silicone, therefore, eliminated the normal, and potentially troublesome, mechanical limited slip mechanism with its clutch plates, springs, etc.

Because the Eagle was not meant for off-road applications, the transfer case had one speed only. The 4wd was engaged full-time, and this, plus the fact that the only transmission available was a three-speed Chrysler-built automatic, made the 4wd feature transparent to the driver.

The Eagle came in two- and four-door sedans as well as a four-door wagon, and in three trim levels: standard, sport and Limited. Its performance could be called adequate for this class of vehicle. Car and Driver magazine (2/80) reported a modest zero to 96 km/h (60 mph) time of 13.2 seconds, and a top speed of 140 km/h (87 mph). But high performance was not what this vehicle was about, and the test crew was impressed with its ride, handling, and go-anywhere capability.

Initial demand for Eagles was so strong, particularly in mountainous areas, that AMC discontinued the turtle-shaped Pacer to free production capacity for the Eagle. They produced the Eagle until 1987, by which time the model lineup had shrunk to a wagon only. This was also the year in which AMC was bought by the Chrysler Corporation, and became Chrysler’s Jeep-Eagle Division.

The Eagle had been a good pioneering effort. It married the size and comfort of an American car with the security and traction of a sophisticated four-wheel drive system. And it did all of this while requiring no special effort or attention from the driver.