The Eagle (Series 50) Kammback is a rare bird; only some 6k were ever made in 1981 and 1982. I’ve found and written up the SX-4 version here, and just saw that one near my house the other day. And suddenly here’s an elusive Kammback in front of me, as we were heading off on Sunday morning for a long drive over the mountains into South-Central Oregon. Now it’s not that I couldn’t actually catch the Kammback, as I was driving the quite capable TSX.
This was on the outskirts of Cottage Grove, and after following it for several miles into the boonies, it turned up a tiny little rough road or driveway. I was hoping it would pull into a nice little driveway on the side of the highway, where it would feel ok to pull over and ask for a few shots. But trying to follow him up where he was heading seemed a wee bit less than ideal, even for me, the carstalker. Anyway, we had a long way to go.
But then I remembered that last year we did a Cohort Outtake that included a number of AMC and Eagle oddballs, including this Eagle Kammback. It looks a lot like the one I was following, also on rather skinny and tall tires.
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Pity you didnt catch it, Ive never seen one woulda been something “new”.
Call it what you want it’s still a Gremlin to me.
…with a Jeep drivetrain. What could be better?
Definitely a Gremlin but one I’d own. They aren’t quite Jeep mechanicals with it isn’t hard to swap the Jeep stuff in. Perfect candidate for a HO 4.0, 5sp and 2sp transfer case from a Cherokee, a pretty common swap in the various AMC Eagles.
Or better yet, a 4.6 stroker and unibody frame rail connectors. I used to take my old Eagle wagon off-road, it was pretty flexy. Definitely hampered by not having a low range too. I did see one of these Kammbacks advertised with a reasonable price about a year ago but the usual problem, no time/$/space.
Yeah a stroker would be nice if you have the money but then you need to start strengthening the other things. Bashed Cherokee donors are relatively cheap and the HO 4.0 gives a big boost in power and assuming you don’t go crazy with the loud pedal it should give a decent boost in MPG too.
Ive never seen one of these in the flesh…and I have an eye for AMCs. Looks like this one is being enjoyed proper though. Those wheels are the same design you’d find on base model Jeep X/Y/MJ’s from ’84 up to about ’95, although they were usually silver. Eagles wearing pilfered Jeep wheels are nothing new. Nice find!
Nice looking car. I’ve always liked the AMC Eagle. I’ve seen pictures of the Kammback style of the Eagle, but I’ve never seen any in person.
Yep, it’s a jacked-up Gremlin-cum-Spirit. But who cares, it’s still neat looking and AMC was so desperate during those last days it was willing to take chances the Big Three never would. That certainly makes it worthy. Always had a soft spot for the larger Eagle wagons, too.
There was one of the Kammbacks sitting on the street and then off to the side of the driveway not far from my old house. Sat there for over a decade and at one point it seems as if it was driven from time to time. Unfortunately it was probably the victim of the city and their ever increasing Code Enforcement that does not allow unlicensed nor vehicles they deem inop to be outside. A flat tire can be enough for them to consider it inop let alone the growth that one had near the end of the time I last remember seeing it.
I do wonder if those two are the same Kammback. Can’t be many left, though I doubt Wonder where the second was photographed?
AMC/Eagle certainly have to be recognized for getting a LOT of models out of the same car. Hornet (coupe, hatchback, sedan, wagon), Gremlin, Concord (coupe, hatchback, sedan, wagon), AMX, Eagle (coupe, hatchback, kammback, sedan, wagon). All on the same platform with minimal styling modifications. Kind of what Studebaker did in its declining years, though AMC stretched it out over a rather longer period!
No. The other one was shot up in Washington state, by one of the Cohort.
Only 6,123 produced over two years. You’re right, there can’t be many left.
What is Brad’s Cottage Grove Chevrolet-GMC thanking passers by for?
For noticing their sign. Which you have. Now you won’t be able to shake the name Brad’s Cottage Grove from your head and you’ll want to go all the way there for your Chevrolet-GMC needs!
Also, how bizarre it is a Chevrolet-GMC dealer. I can’t imagine there are too many of those.
Strangely, I now have the desire to buy a Chevrolet or GMC product from Brad’s Cottege Grove Chevrolet/GMC.
I’ll admit that I haven’t seen many Chevrolet/GMC dealers. The closest we have is a Chevrolet/Buick/GMC dealer.
GMC has sort of replaced Oldsmobile for low-mid-luxury, but (more importantly) it forms the other half of Buicks “incomplete” lineup (SUVs/CUVs/pickups vs. cars with only one model overlapping), so Buick and GMC are kind of joined at the hip now for dealerships. Cadillac, as always, is expected to stand on its own (sometimes).
Don’t bother. When we first started looking to buy a TSX Sportswagon, they had a two-year old one for sale. But their price was way too high, and they wouldn’t budge, except maybe a little. We ended up buying a new one for less than what they wanted. No thanks, Brad!
[rant] That sort of thing is not the right way of going about establishing a solid customer base. I’m about to go to my GM dealer (well, Kandl Opel in Vienna is the nearest to a GM dealer) to look at an Insignia and already noticed that on used 2015 models there is a kind of penalty of €2500 if you don’t use GMAC leasing and/or have no older car to trade (I don’t need/want the first, don’t have the second)! This means that the car I’m looking at (6sp 2,0 CDTI ecoflex Edition – no idea whether there is a Buick Regal equivalent) will cost almost like a brand new one… We’ll see whether this stupidity is cast in stone but it already makes one wonder. Some times I think the bad old ways are still around.
But then there is Alfa Romeo (two different dealers) who cannot provide a test vehicle of a model listed in Austria anywhere in the country. I could try a “not quite the same” model (well, it’s actually totally different) if I’m prepared to go to the dealership at… Innsbruck (I’m not making this up). [end rant]
The dealer was thinking “we have a live one here, lets get them to pay!” Good that you walked away.
A Chevrolet/GMC dealership is an odd concept indeed. Say a customer is looking at a Silverado, but inquires about a Sierra they see on the lot. Asks the salesperson what the difference between the two trucks is.
“The GMC costs more”.
and?
“That’s all.”
The arrangement might have made more sense in 1981-88 when GMC had a full range of light, medium, and heavy-duty trucks and Chevrolet did not. Of course, that time is long gone by now.
There are still some brand loyalists who insist on a GMC vs. a ‘lowly’ Chevy truck.
Finding any of these near your hose would be, umm, interesting.
These are such fascinating little cars. Interesting that you can buy a jacked-up hatchback nowadays (not just a crossover with hatch-esque styling, like a Honda Crosstour). That would be the Mercedes GLA, which is basically an all-wheel-drive version of the A-Class hatch. I really love the look of them. I loathe a lot of modern crossovers for their ungainly proportions (BMW X6, Mercedes GLE Coupe) but that Eagle-esque concept of a normal car on stilts can be appealing. See the Volvo S60 Cross Country sedan or the old Subaru Outback sedan.
Fiat has this 500X. And of course the good old Panda 4×4. Jacked-up wagons seem to be more common though, especially in the D- and E-segment.
There was a bright green one of these around here about 15 years ago
I am lucky enough to have one in the garage. Here is a picture from the day I drove it home from Seattle.
It looks pretty good in the picture. What kind of shape is it in and do you use it?
I have always liked these in all models and even considered buying one back in the ’80’s. To me they look like an angry Gremlin. But, then I have always liked the Gremlin too.
Where in the Seattle area did you find that one? Looks pretty much exactly like the one I mentioned above that used to park in Renton.