The Curbside Classic world is constantly changing, and includes subtle links tying one Curbside Classic to another. In fact, the more I look around, the more links I find.
For example, in October of 2013, I took a picture at this exact location. However, instead of a Duster and a Matador, that posting included this Duster and a Dart.
While this appears to be the same Duster I photographed in October, someone has added the sport stripes, a rear spoiler, and the 340 badge. I’d be surprised if this car actually packs a 340 under the hood, as Chrysler only built that engine for their performance models (sorry, no station wagons), and there just aren’t many 340 blocks floating around in the ether.
On the other hand, this Matador Coupe has never appeared at Curbside Classic. Still, I’ve seen this car before: last month during AMC week, I spotted photos of this car on Craigslist (by the way, it’s packing a 258 straight six). Hoping to post the car here, I called the owner. He declined the photo session, and his listing did not include an address, so no joy.
However, it seems our Duster owner acquired the car, and it’s now available for pictures throughout the day (I’m sure it sold–the car moved a couple of towns over from the Craigslist posting).
I’m guessing this owner is a classic car “flipper,” and after the appropriate upgrades, these cars will be sold. I’ll have to keep my eye on this stretch of Avalon Boulevard and see what develops.
Argh .
Typical jerkoff curbstoner ~ wants to sell the cars but also wants to be secretive about it….
Luckily Los Angeles is still fairly full of nice old vehicles and Motos like these , I see them daily everywhere .
-Nate
Bring on the Matador!!! More pics please!
I know I am in the minority, but I am rather fond of the Matador coupes. Especially in the brighter colors with period correct aftermarket wheels.
A highly underated car – especially the 401s
Don’t forget the AMC 401 CID V-8 was famous for blowing bottom ends routinely ~ in their day the classifieds were always jam packed with cheap AMC’s & Jeeps with knocking 401’s .
A thirsty bugger too , not my idea of a good V-8 choice .
-Nate
Blech. Hideous car. Yet this one, at this angle, looks OK.
I still want one. Late ’60s-’70s AMC is a guilty pleasure of mine.
I like Matador coupes, but can’t look at this one without thinking it was painted with red primer and is awaiting its final colour coat.
Whether it actually has a 340 or not, I think the Duster looks good with the stripes. They emphasize the contours of the car and stand out against the plain beige paint.
I can imagine how that Matador drives with a 258. My mother had a ’76 with a 304 and it was a slug.
My buddy stopwatched my dad’s ’75 Cherokee 258 3-speed. 0-60 in a blistering 22 seconds.
My parents had an AMC Matador two door, it looked similar to the one in the picture. It wasn’t very attractive, and my dad wasn’t very good about taking care of his cars, and unfortunately, the Matador was one of the cars that was neglected by him.
All this love for a six cylinder Matador coupe. Sheesh. Give me the Duster all day, every day. Even if it has the slanty, it would be a thoroughly pleasant car to own and drive. With a 318, that thing would be a stormer. I’m betting against the 340, but if it has one, its owner can probably not afford to drive it because of all the tickets.
Never knew about the weak nature of the AMC 401. Sort of goes along with everything AMC ever did – they built a lot of decent cars, but very few (if any) great ones.
+1 on the Duster not sure about the beige colour though
+2 on the Duster FTW. I have a soft spot for AMCs but that should be read as “I love Javelins/AMXs”. That said, Keystone mags can make damn near ANYTHING look pretty tight!
340 Duster…um…not likely. Don’t advertise what you don’t have, but Dusters definitely look theyre best flashing some racing stripes. The lower level versions in blah colors and pedestrian rolling stock just look incomplete. Those big ole haunches need to be filled up with some fat wide meats to look their best. Even if the ’73-up ones don’t have the same square jawed lean and mean face as the earlier ones its still a good looking car. MUCH better than that beak-like prow that ’73-up Darts and Demons got stuck with.
Javelin fan here also,I had a 69 6 cylinder Javelin which was a great car,it went on to be my big brother and little sister’s first American car.
Never knew about the weak nature of the AMC 401. Sort of goes along with everything AMC ever did – they built a lot of decent cars, but very few (if any) great ones.
I have seen mention that all the second gen AMC V8s had an oil feed problem. Only one I noticed as a bad knocker was the 343. I had heard so many knocking AMCs, and every one a 343, that one day in 72 I was sitting at a light, when a car pulled up beside me, knocking and thrashing like crazy. I said to myself “another AMC 343?”. I turned and looked at the badge on the car’s front fender….yup, another 343.
It has been almost 4 years now since I started looking for a Duster 340. But then the American Connection came across a 1969 Barracuda at a classic car dealer in Lenoir City TN. With a 340. In a superb condition.
And now I’m feeding it with ethanol-free high-octane fuel. Lil’ boy Carter seems to like it, as it starts and runs like a dream.
Flipping a Matador. That’s like a red rag to a bull for me.
While I like the engineering behind the Plymouth, I like the torsion bar suspension and slant six engine of the Plymouth, I like the individuality and independent thinking of the AMC Matador.
Prefer the Plymouth I’m sure a hemi 6 would go in I know a guy with a shed full of Valiants and parts hes selling so the transplant bits are available
I’ve always had a weird attraction to the last series Matadors, I’ve never been able to understand why.
OTOH, I’ve owned and helped race A-bodies. I (briefly) owned a 1975 Dodge Dart Sport with 360 and Torqueflight, it was great while I had it (I totaled it). I helped a couple of my brother’s friends campaign a Valiant and two Dusters on 1/8 mile dragstrips in NE Ohio and Western Pennsylvania. Great cars, both on and off the track.
I’d have a hard time deciding between the two, actually…
I love the style of the Matador sedan and station wagon.
The only time I’ve seen a Matador coupe was 20 years ago in Niagara Falls, Ontario. It was painted in a bunch of rainbow colors.
All these years, and every time I see a Matador, it still generates a feeling of disgust. There are a lot of ugly cars, but that one just gets to me, even after 40+ years. The Duster is another thing entirely, with the exception of the horrible paint color, it still looks great. There used to be a Petty Blue 340 near where I live that was for sale for about a year, and I wanted to buy it so much, but it was about the time that the prices on old Mopars were on the way up, big time, and I couldn’t do it. But I was able to drive it once.
My buddy in high school used to drive 1973-75 examples of these Dusters, usually with the Slant 6 but one did have the 318. They drove so much better than the 232-258 AMC matador coupes, especially when the valves wee properly adjusted and the carb was in good tune. Those Slant 6 engines purred like a kitten and make pretty decent power for the time. The 318 would turn the rear tires into smoke on command. In comparison the 232-258 felt sluggish and even the 304 didn’t compare to the 318.
My experience on the Dusters echos yours. A friend had a 73 Duster with a 318 and a 3 on the floor and that thing was FAST. The only problem was getting it started, but once you finally got it to catch, it was a lot of fun to thrash.