The AMC Eagle Car: More Than Just a 4WD Wagon - The Original Crossover Pioneer?

Back in 2015, on a typically damp Pennsylvania day, I had an unforgettable experience: test driving an Amc Eagle Car up a small mountain. Despite not being a seasoned off-roader, the Eagle, a vehicle from the 1980s, effortlessly navigated the rugged terrain. It handled washed-out gravel roads and muddy tracks with remarkable ease, never once getting stuck or losing traction. This 30-year-old station wagon was a testament to its surprising capability.

The AMC Eagle was a unique vehicle from its inception, blending a somewhat dated design and engine with a truly innovative four-wheel-drive system. AMC Eagle car enthusiasts often proudly declare it as both the first four-wheel-drive passenger car and the original crossover SUV. However, this claim often brings to mind the popular “Well yes, but actually no” meme:

Well yes, but actually no meme

While the enthusiasm is understandable, history reminds us of vehicles like the Subaru Leone (1972), Jensen FF (1966), and even the GAZ M-72 (1955), all equipped with four-wheel drive long before the Eagle. Perhaps the 1980 AMC Eagle car could be more accurately called the first American four-wheel-drive passenger car. But the question remains: can it also be considered the first crossover SUV? The definitions themselves seem to clash. A car and a crossover, after all, are not the same thing.

Now, let’s clarify – this isn’t about starting a semantic argument. My understanding of a crossover is a vehicle built on a car platform but styled to resemble traditional, truck-based SUVs. It’s more than just a lifted car with all-wheel drive. Using this definition, vehicles like the Audi Allroad and Volvo Cross Country, sharing body panels with their wagon counterparts, wouldn’t strictly qualify as crossovers. In contrast, the Audi Q5 and Volvo XC60, with distinct SUV styling on car platforms, fit the crossover mold.

The AMC Eagle car shared virtually identical body panels with the AMC Concord, available in sedan, wagon, and hatchback forms. While the Eagle boasted a lifted stance, four-wheel drive, and plastic cladding, it fundamentally shared its body and interior with a line of passenger cars. For a long time, I viewed the Eagle as simply a four-wheel-drive car, not a true crossover.

That perspective shifted when I came across the original 1977 product proposal for the AMC Eagle.

Product proposal for AMC Eagle

After American Motors Corporation (AMC) acquired Jeep in 1970, they brought in Roy Lunn to spearhead Jeep engineering. Lunn, a British engineer with experience on the legendary Ford GT40, was tasked with modernizing Jeep’s product line. However, he also explored the potential of a four-wheel-drive passenger car. In 1972, he ingeniously combined an AMC Hornet with a Jeep Quadra-Trac drive system. While functional, the prototype suffered from excessive noise and vibration from the Jeep system, amplified by the Hornet’s unibody construction. With strong sales for both AMC cars and Jeeps, the project was unfortunately shelved.

AMC engineer Roy Lunn with an Eagle sedan

In 1976, Lunn discovered a promising viscous-coupling transfer drive developed by FF Developments and GKN, reportedly offering a quieter and smoother four-wheel-drive experience. The existing Quadra-Trac system relied on a limited-slip center differential with metal-on-metal connections. The FF-GKN viscous system, in contrast, used a coupling with discs spinning in a silicone-based fluid. Lunn believed this technology could resolve the noise, harshness, and vibration issues that plagued the earlier four-wheel-drive Hornet prototype.

AMC viscous coupling 4WD system diagram

Lunn, in a bold move, discreetly requested a million dollars from management to revive the project and build a new prototype. This request was a direct breach of AMC’s policy, which dictated that new vehicle ideas were the domain of product planners, not engineers. Remarkably, Lunn secured the funding without reprimand and immediately began working with FF, GKN, and New Process Gear, the American licensee of the viscous technology. By June 1977, FF had constructed a four-wheel-drive Hornet prototype in England and shipped it to the United States. In July, Lunn presented his refined concept to AMC’s board of directors.

Despite his engineering background, Lunn had keenly observed a growing disconnect between Jeep’s marketing and the actual needs of their customers. Years later, in a technical paper for the Society of Automotive Engineers, he wrote:

“It was evident that many consumers coming from the 2WD segments were buying the vehicles (Jeeps) for the security they offered for on-highway driving, although the only vehicles available were accented to off-road usage. This out-of-context purchase, particularly in high volumes, raises the question of whether there was a need for a new type of vehicle with a different balance of compromise accented to highway usage.”

In simpler terms, Lunn recognized that while Jeep commercials showcased off-road adventures, most buyers primarily used them for everyday driving, seeking extra traction for inclement weather or peace of mind. Four-wheel-drive passenger cars were scarce at the time. While a Jeep Wagoneer or Cherokee might be overkill, it was still a more practical family vehicle than a pickup truck.

AMC tech illustration

By 1977, AMC’s passenger-car sales were declining rapidly. Lunn’s product proposal, titled “8001 Plus Four,” offered a remarkably prescient analysis of the situation:

“American Motors has functioned most-profitably in situations where its products were unique in the marketplace. The current passenger-car decline is unquestionably partially due to a demand for larger vehicles; but our disproportionately low share of the small-car market is highly influenced by increasingly superior imports and domestic competition.

The ongoing product situation, particularly relating to emissions and fuel economy legislation, is also necessitating complete redesign of basic vehicles to meet a new market created by standards rather than customer demand or desire. AMC is not financially or creatively capable of being able to meet this changing situation in the main segments of the market. We have, therefore, to accept progressive annihilation or get back to where we started by finding unique slots in the marketplace which are legal on a continuing basis and are within our financial and creative capabilities. This product proposal relates to creating such a unique product as a natural combination of Jeep and Passenger Car factors.”

Lunn’s assessment was clear: AMC was being squeezed by import competition in the compact car market and by the Big Three automakers in the full-size segment. The company desperately needed a novel product to carve out a niche with less competition. As Lunn stated, a four-wheel-drive car was a “natural combination,” and leveraging existing designs would save AMC significant development costs.

AMC 4wd tech illustration

Here’s where Lunn’s proposal became particularly ingenious. He argued that AMC lacked the resources for extensive redesigns to meet increasingly stringent government regulations. Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) rules were coming into effect in 1978 and were set to become stricter each year. Emissions and safety standards were also on the rise. However, Lunn devised a clever workaround:

“A most important aspect of the proposal is the legal categorizing to meet safety, fuel economy, and emission standards. The specification content and package layout are designed such that the vehicle would be categorized as follows:

Safety—multi-purpose

Fuel Economy—non-passenger cars (starts in 1979 at 17.2 mpg)

Emissions—Light truck

These categories have obvious and distinct advantages over passenger-car requirements. This will enable us to pursue a course of action which will require less change to our basic powertrains and maybe a lower level of [emissions] control equipment.”

Roy Lunn explicitly stated it: The AMC Eagle car is not a car! It was the first vehicle to exploit what is now known as the “SUV loophole.”

Automotive journalist Jason Cammisa has provided an insightful explanation of this term, but in essence, the loophole was an unintended consequence of American automobile regulations from the 1960s and 70s. Regulations for “passenger cars” (sedans, wagons, coupes, hatchbacks) were significantly stricter than those for “light trucks” (pickups, SUVs, off-road vehicles) in terms of fuel economy, emissions, and safety.

These regulations were partly due to industry lobbying and partly due to well-intentioned policy. The aim was to give trucks some leeway on fuel consumption because they constituted a smaller market segment and required more powerful engines for towing and hauling. However, as with many regulations, loopholes were exploited.

By meeting the classification criteria of a light truck, a vehicle could benefit from less demanding engineering requirements and lower development costs. This made trucks and SUVs more profitable to manufacture, leading automakers to invest more in their design and marketing.

These regulations inadvertently created a feedback loop that fueled the explosive growth of truck and SUV sales. This trend persists today and has contributed to various issues, from increased pedestrian fatalities to higher air pollution levels. While this isn’t a forum for political debate, it’s ironic that the U.S. government categorizes a Subaru Crosstrek, essentially a lifted Subaru Impreza hatchback, in the same class as a Ram 1500 pickup.

These rules might have been logical when SUVs were genuinely truck-based and primarily used for utility purposes. But now, and even more so than in Roy Lunn’s time, most SUV drivers never utilize their vehicle’s off-road capabilities. Instead, automakers continually push the boundaries of what car-like vehicles can technically be classified as SUVs. By this metric, perhaps the AMC Eagle car was the first crossover after all.

AMC Eagle advertisement

AMC’s board approved Roy Lunn’s proposal, and the AMC Eagle car, as planned, was classified as a light truck by the government. Although the prototype was based on a Hornet, the Hornet was redesigned into the AMC Concord for 1978. Consequently, when the Eagle debuted in 1980, it utilized Concord bodies with minor modifications such as fender flares and a different grille. The advanced viscous-coupling drive system was an industry first and later found its way into various Jeep models, including the XJ-chassis Cherokee.

Who can fault AMC or Lunn for capitalizing on this regulatory loophole? No one could have foreseen the far-reaching consequences these regulations would have on the automotive landscape. Ironically, Lunn likely envisioned the Eagle as a more responsible alternative to larger, less efficient trucks and SUVs of the time.

Compared to those gas-guzzlers, the AMC Eagle car was smaller, more fuel-efficient, and easier to handle. It was intended to persuade drivers to trade in their fuel-hungry Wagoneers, not their family sedans.

AMC Eagle wagon woodgrain

Considering all of this, I still hesitate to definitively label the AMC Eagle car as a crossover SUV, despite its government classification. The term “crossover” wasn’t even in common use then, and AMC’s marketing materials often cautiously referred to the Eagle as a “vehicle,” “automobile,” or “sport machine,” although the term “car” occasionally appeared.

Regardless of semantics, Roy Lunn and American Motors deserve recognition for the creativity and resourcefulness they demonstrated in developing and launching such a groundbreaking vehicle on a limited budget. More importantly, Lunn should be celebrated for engineering an exceptional 4WD system that remains impressive even after decades. That achievement is undeniable.

Joe Ligo is the director/producer of “The Last Independent Automaker,” a documentary TV series chronicling the history of American Motors Corporation.

1986 AMC Eagle off road in the forest