Junkyard Find: 1974 Oleg Cassini Edition AMC Matador

Murilee Martin
by Murilee Martin
junkyard find 1974 oleg cassini edition amc matador

I never thought I’d ever find an Oleg Cassini Edition AMC Matador in the junkyard. Oh, sure, I’ve seen Givenchy Continentals, Mark Cross New Yorkers, a couple of Etienne Aigner VW Golfs, even a Levis Gremlin… but even with all I’ve written about the Oleg Cassini Matador I’d given up hope of actually seeing one on its way to The Crusher. That changed yesterday.

I wondered what emblem might have lived on the fender. Could it be…?

Yes! The Cassini crest is still visible on the seat backs. Such luxury!

Nice factory AM radio still in the dash. Probably totally worthless, but still a cool find.

I’m tempted to pull the clock, for my collection of 50+ car clocks, but there’s no way a 37-year-old American car clock will still work.

I think the mid-70s Matador coupes are pretty good-looking cars, and I’ll probably own one someday. Not this one, of course, but I might need to stash a few hard-to-find bits from it.








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  • Nrd515 Nrd515 on Aug 27, 2011

    One of the more hideous versions of a really hideous car. Those giant wheelwells half filled with skinny tires looked ridiculous. When this style came out, someone who lived down the street had a red one, a base car with hubcaps and tiny tires on it. It was a dog from day one, and in 3 years, it was replaced with a Pontiac J2000. Well, at least it looked better...

  • And003 And003 on Apr 06, 2012

    With Chrysler having bought AMC in 1987, this could be an engine swap project involving the 3G Hemi currently being produced. Oleg Cassini SRT-8 anyone?

  • ToolGuy CXXVIII comments?!?
  • ToolGuy I did truck things with my truck this past week, twenty-odd miles from home (farther than usual). Recall that the interior bed space of my (modified) truck is 98" x 74". On the ride home yesterday the bed carried a 20 foot extension ladder (10 feet long, flagged 14 inches past the rear bumper), two other ladders, a smallish air compressor, a largish shop vac, three large bins, some materials, some scrap, and a slew of tool cases/bags. It was pretty full, is what I'm saying.The range of the Cybertruck would have been just fine. Nothing I carried had any substantial weight to it, in truck terms. The frunk would have been extremely useful (lock the tool cases there, out of the way of the Bed Stuff, away from prying eyes and grasping fingers -- you say I can charge my cordless tools there? bonus). Stainless steel plus no paint is a plus.Apparently the Cybertruck bed will be 78" long (but over 96" with the tailgate folded down) and 60-65" wide. And then Tesla promises "100 cubic feet of exterior, lockable storage — including the under-bed, frunk and sail pillars." Underbed storage requires the bed to be clear of other stuff, but bottom line everything would have fit, especially when we consider the second row of seats (tools and some materials out of the weather).Some days I was hauling mostly air on one leg of the trip. There were several store runs involved, some for 8-foot stock. One day I bummed a ride in a Roush Mustang. Three separate times other drivers tried to run into my truck (stainless steel panels, yes please). The fuel savings would be large enough for me to notice and to care.TL;DR: This truck would work for me, as a truck. Sample size = 1.
  • Art Vandelay Dodge should bring this back. They could sell it as the classic classic classic model
  • Surferjoe Still have a 2013 RDX, naturally aspirated V6, just can't get behind a 4 banger turbo.Also gloriously absent, ESS, lane departure warnings, etc.
  • ToolGuy Is it a genuine Top Hand? Oh, I forgot, I don't care. 🙂
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