1984 AMC Eagle station wagon

Sales of traditional sedans have plummeted; now it's all about crossover SUVs. Love it or hate it, the AMC Eagle was the car that popularized the crossover.

There's a good article on curbsideclassic.com about the 1970 AMC Hornet titled, "Today Is the First Day of the Rest of Your Life." The title speaks to the fact that AMC, unable to invest the capital needed to create new car bodies, re-envisioned the Hornet compact first as a "luxury compact" called the Concord in the late 70s, then again as the Jeep-like 4x4 Eagle sedan and wagon in the 80s. The wagon pictured below carried AMC all the way to its demise at the end of 1987.

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1969 Ford Mustang Mach 1 - 428 Cobra Jet

Ford came late to the muscle car game. While Pontiac GTOs and and Plymouth Satellites with big block engines were tearing up the streets in the mid 60s, Ford's only comparable models were the Fairlane and the Mustang. But few Fairlanes were sold with Ford's 390 c.i. V-8, and the Mustang was based on the old lightweight Falcon chassis and was not really a suitable platform for a performance car.

The 1969 Mustang was a bigger car with serious muscle options. The Mach 1 package made the Mustang a contender on the drag track, while the Boss 429 was engineered for NASCAR.

 

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1964 Mercury Comet Caliente convertible

In 1964, the Comet still looked significantly different than the Ford Fairlane. By 1966, they were different in name only. Mercury just wasn't selling enough cars for Ford to continue creating a distinctive brand.

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