Here’s one from my archives, courtesy of many of my weekends spent perusing eBay and craigslist, looking for interesting vehicles. Today’s car was seen on the electronic bay back in 2013, and it was such a lovable oddball that I had to write it up for the old site. Recently, a Wisconsin-based buddy of mine, Drew Beck, reminded me of that car. I decided there and then to rewrite the original post and share it right here on RG. So, what has a straight six, a four-speed manual, four-wheel drive and…opera windows? Nothing, you say? Well, if you were out new-car shopping in the early 1980s, it was the AMC Eagle two-door coupe. Arguably, the first crossover.
Well, realistically, who else but AMC could take so many dissimilar parts and turn it into a fully functional vehicle. Whitewalls, opera windows, stand-up hood ornament, two-tone paint, landau vinyl top…and so on.

1978 Concord, spotted at the annual car show in Bishop Hill, IL, July 2014.
The entire car itself was built in much the same way, at its core a 1970 AMC Hornet with a four-wheel drive system. In 1978, the venerable Kenosha-built compact went upscale and was renamed the Concord, with available color-keyed wheel covers, landau top, and opera windows.