AMC Spirit
The AMC Spirit is a subcompact car sold by American Motors Corporation (AMC) from 1979 through 1983. Replacing the AMC Gremlin, the Spirit was available in two different body styles, both were two-door hatchbacks – but neither was marketed as such. Instead, AMC offered a Facelift (automobile), restyled Gremlin either as a "Spirit ''Kammback"'' or ''"sedan"'', while an additional model with a more gently sloping rear was introduced as the "Spirit ''Liftback"'' or ''"coupe"''. Due to budget constraints, the Spirit shared the Gremlin's Automobile platform, platform – its floorpan, powertrains, and many other parts were carried over. AMC also offered a four-wheel drive Crossover (automobile), cross-over version using the Spirit's bodywork, marketed from 1981 through 1983 model years as the AMC Eagle, AMC Eagle SX/4 and Eagle Kammback (1981–1982 only). Spirits were manufactured by AMC in Wisconsin and Ontario, as well as under license by Vehículos Automotores Mexicanos, V.A.M. ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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American Motors Corporation
American Motors Corporation (AMC; commonly referred to as American Motors) was an American automobile manufacturing company formed by the mergers and acquisitions, merger of Nash-Kelvinator Corporation and Hudson Motor Car Company on May 1, 1954. At the time, it was the largest corporate merger in U.S. history. American Motors' most similar competitors were those automakers that held similar annual sales levels, such as Studebaker, Packard, Kaiser Motors, and Willys-Overland. Their largest competitors were the Big Three (automobile manufacturers), Big Three—Ford Motor Company, Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler. American Motors' production line included Compact car, small cars—the Rambler American, which began as the Nash Rambler in 1950, AMC Hornet, Hornet, AMC Gremlin, Gremlin, and AMC Pacer, Pacer; intermediate car, intermediate and full-size car, full-sized cars, including the AMC Ambassador, Ambassador, Rambler Classic, AMC Rebel, Rebel, and AMC Matador, Matador; musc ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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V8 Engine
A V8 engine is an eight- cylinder piston engine in which two banks of four cylinders share a common crankshaft and are arranged in a V configuration. Origins The first known V8 was the Antoinette, designed by Léon Levavasseur, and built in 1904 by the French Antoinette company for use in speedboat racing, cars, and later, airplanes. Also in 1904, V8 engines began small-scale production by Renault and Buchet for use in race cars. Design V-angle Most engines use a V-angle (the angle between the two banks of cylinders) of 90 degrees. This angle results in good engine balance, which results in low vibrations. However, the downside is the greater width of the engine compared to those that use a smaller V-angle. V8 engines with a 60-degree V-angle were used in the 1996–1999 Ford Taurus SHO, the 2005–2011 Volvo XC90, and the 2006–2009 Volvo S80. The Ford engine used a 60-degree V-angle because it was based on a V6 engine with a 60-degree V-angle. ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Facelift (automobile)
An automotive facelift, also known as mid-generational refresh, minor model change, minor model update, or life cycle impulse, comprises changes to a vehicle's styling during its production run including, to highly variable degree, new sheetmetal, interior design elements or mechanical changes, allowing a carmaker to freshen a model without a complete redesign. While the life cycle of cars hovers around six to eight years until a full model change, facelifts are generally introduced around three years in their production cycle. A facelift retains the basic styling and platform of the car, with aesthetic alterations, e.g., changes to the front fascia (grille, headlights), taillights, bumpers, instrument panel and center console, and various body or interior trim accessories. Mechanical changes may or may not occur concurrently with the facelift (e.g., changes to the engine, suspension or transmission). __TOC__ History In the 1920s, General Motors under the leadership of A ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Hatchback
A hatchback is a car body style, car body configuration with a rear door that swings upward to provide access to the main interior of the car as a cargo area rather than just to a separated trunk. Hatchbacks may feature fold-down second-row seating, where the interior can be reconfigured to prioritize passenger or cargo volume. While early examples of the body configuration can be traced to the 1930s, the Merriam-Webster dictionary dates the term itself to 1970. The hatchback body style has been marketed worldwide on cars ranging in size from supermini car, superminis to small family cars, as well as executive cars and some sports cars. They are a primary component of sport utility vehicles. Characteristics The distinguishing feature of a hatchback is a rear door that opens upwards and is hinged at roof level (as opposed to the boot/trunk lid of a sedan (car), saloon/sedan, which is hinged below the rear window). Most hatchbacks use a Three-box styling#, two-box design bod ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Subcompact Car
Subcompact car is a North American Car classification, classification for cars smaller than a compact car. It is broadly equivalent to the B-segment (Europe), supermini (Great Britain) or A0-class (China) classifications. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) car size class definition, the subcompact category sits between the "minicompact" and "compact car, compact" categories. The EPA definition of a subcompact is a passenger car with a combined interior and cargo volume of . Current examples of subcompact cars are the Nissan Versa and Mitsubishi Mirage. The smaller cars in the A-segment, A-segment/city car category (such as the Chevrolet Spark and Smart Fortwo) are sometimes called subcompacts in the U.S., because the EPA's name for this smaller category — "minicompact" — is not commonly used by the general public. The prevalence of small cars in the United States increased in the 1960s due to increased i ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Dick Teague
Richard Arthur Teague (December 26, 1923 – May 5, 1991) was an American industrial designer in the North American automotive industry. He held automotive design positions at General Motors, Packard, and Chrysler before becoming Vice President of Design for American Motors Corporation (AMC). Teague designed several notable show cars and production vehicles, including the Packard Executive, many AMC models, such as the AMC Pacer, Pacer, AMC Gremlin, Gremlin, and AMC Hornet, Hornet, as well as the Jeep Cherokee (XJ), Jeep Cherokee XJ. After Chrysler bought American Motors in 1987, he also designed or assisted in styling later automobiles, such as the Jeep Grand Cherokee (ZJ), Jeep Grand Cherokee ZJ and the Dodge Neon, Neon. Early life Teague's mother worked in the motion picture industry during the silent movie era. At five years of age, Teague appeared in five episodes of ''Our Gang'', playing the role of Dixie Duval, a girl. When he was six, he was seriously injured in a car ac ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Liftback
A liftback is a variation of a hatchback car body style, with a more gently sloping roofline, roughly between 45 and 10 degrees, whereas traditional or archetypal hatchback designs tend to use a 45 degree to near vertical slope on the top-hinged tailgate (often called, and even counted as, a rear'' 'door' ''on hatchbacks). As such, a liftback is essentially a hatchback with a gently sloping roof, with a side profile like that of fastback sedans, from an auto styling perspective. Some liftbacks, especially two-door models, may also have an appearance similar to a coupe, but with a boot / trunk tailgate hinged at the roof end, that is lifted including the rear window to open. Carmaker Saab used this in the marketing of their 900 liftback models, by calling them Combi coupé. The liftback design combines a sedan or coupé with the rear hatch versatility of a hatchback. Liftbacks generally have more cargo space than the typically shorter bodied hatchbacks, and more space-use f ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Sedan (car)
A sedan (American English) or saloon (British English) is a automobile, passenger car in a three-box styling, three-box configuration with separate compartments for an engine, passengers, and cargo. The first recorded use of ''sedan'' in reference to an automobile body occurred in 1912. The name derives from the 17th-century Litter (vehicle), litter known as a sedan chair, a one-person enclosed box with windows and carried by porters. Variations of the sedan style include the close-coupled sedan, club sedan, convertible sedan, fastback sedan, hardtop sedan, notchback sedan, and sedanet. Definition A sedan () is a car with a closed body (i.e., a fixed metal roof) with the engine, passengers, and cargo in separate compartments. This broad definition does not differentiate sedans from various other car body styles. Still, in practice, the typical characteristics of sedans are: * a Pillar (car), B-pillar (between the front and rear windows) that supports the roof; * two rows of s ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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AMC Eagle
The AMC Eagle is a compact four-wheel drive passenger vehicle manufactured and marketed in a single generation by American Motors Corporation (AMC) for model years 1980 through 1987 and continued by Chrysler, Chrysler Corporation following its acquisition of AMC in 1987, for the 1988 model year. Introduced in August 1979 for the 1980 model year, the coupe, sedan, and station wagon body styles were based on the AMC Concord. In 1981, the two-door subcompact-sized AMC Spirit-based models, the SX/4 and Kammback, joined the Eagle line aimed at both first-time buyers and fleet sales. A Sundancer convertible (car), convertible conversion for the larger Eagle two-door model was available during 1981 and 1982. By 1984, only sedan and station wagon versions were available. For 1988, its final model year, only a station wagon was offered, marketed as the "Eagle Wagon". However, the name continued to be used by Chrysler Corporation as the Eagle (automobile), Eagle brand of cars through 1 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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AMC Concord
The AMC Concord is a compact car manufactured and marketed by the American Motors Corporation for model years 1978 through 1983. The Concord was essentially a revision of the AMC Hornet that was discontinued after 1977, but better equipped, quieter, and smoother-riding than the series it replaced. It was offered in four-door sedan, two-door coupe (through 1982), three-door hatchback (through 1979), and four-door station wagon with a rear liftgate. The Concord was AMC's volume seller from the time it appeared until the introduction of the Renault Alliance. The car was available as a sports-oriented two-door hatchback AMX model without any "Concord" badges or identification for the 1978 model year, as well as the Concord Sundancer convertible during 1981 and 1982, an authorized conversion sold through AMC dealers. Vehiculos Automotores Mexicanos (VAM) assembled and marketed modified Concord versions in Mexico as the VAM American, including a unique VAM Lerma model. A batte ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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AMC Hornet
The AMC Hornet is a compact automobile manufactured and marketed by American Motors Corporation (AMC) from 1970 through 1977 model years in two- and four-door sedan, station wagon, and hatchback coupe configurations. The Hornet replaced the compact Rambler American line, marking the end of the Rambler marque in the United States and Canadian markets. The Hornet became significant for AMC in not only being a top seller during its production, but also a car platform serving the company in varying forms through the 1988 model year. Introduced in late 1969, AMC quickly earned a high rate of return for its development investment for the Hornet. The platform became the basis for AMC's subcompact Gremlin, luxury compact Concord, liftback and sedan Spirit, and the innovative all-wheel drive AMC Eagle. Its design would also outlast domestic competitors' compact platforms, including the Chevrolet Nova, Ford Maverick, and Plymouth Valiant. The AMC Hornet also served as an experiment ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Front-engine, Rear-wheel Drive Layout
A front-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout (FR), also called Système Panhard is a powertrain layout with an engine in front and rear-wheel-drive, connected via a drive shaft. This arrangement, with the engine straddling the front axle, was the traditional automobile layout for most of the pre-1950s automotive mechanical projects. It is also used in trucks, pickups, and high-floor buses and school buses. Front mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout A front mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout (FMR) places the engine in the front half of the vehicle but ''behind'' the front axle, which likewise drives the rear wheels via a driveshaft. Shifting the engine's center of mass rearward aids in front/rear weight distribution and reduces the moment of inertia, both of which improve a vehicle's handling. FMR cars are often characterized by a long hood and front wheels that are pushed forward to the corners of the vehicle, close to the front bumper. 2+2-style grand tourers often have FMR ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |