Re: Anyone have two round Barcelona fender medallions?

[John McEwen <moparrr@xxxxxxx>]

Thanks very much Rick:

I've been doing my research since I bought the car in late September. 
It's my first AMC if you don't count two Nashes and a Renault Fuego 
Turbo which my wife bought new in '82.

I've wondered about the badging ever since I got it, as my car is 
incomplete on the exterior.  I knew about the script badges and 
thought they belonged on all of the cars until I got the '78 brochure 
on eBay and noticed the differences.  I am aware of the rarity of the 
'78 "Barcalounger" and I'm also very pleased at mine, now that I've 
got it running properly.  It had sat in a shed in Radium, BC since 
1990.  I drove out from Edmonton to Radium with a car trailer and 
hauled it home.

I have always liked the look of a Matador coupe and you're right it 
is a love/hate thing.  The first few times I drove the car, what 
amazed me were the comments of passersby - particularly the young 
people who saw it.  I've had them walk over and tell me that the car 
is "Way cool" or "A really neat old car".  They've asked lots of 
intuitive questions and wondered out loud if there are many around as 
they'd love to have one.  I was quite surprised.  Edmonton is a big 
old car city - but most young people (under 30) don't usually have 
much to say about old US cars - particularly the vinyl-roofed, 
opera-windowed jobs of the '70s.

It drives amazingly well.  In fact it's a real "Kroozin' Machine" 
It's the first '70s car I've owned that runs and drives like a '50s 
car - in all of the positive ways.

I think the badging on my car must have been altered.  It was 
repainted about 22 years ago, by my guess.  I'm thinking that the 
badges were altered at that time.  Possibly they were damaged in 
removing them. Currently there are no Barcelona badges on the 
exterior but there are MATADOR badges with AMC logo badges under 
them.  The '78 brochure shows an AMC badge on the hood.  Do you 
remember if there was a similar one on the trunk?

As luck would have it, one of the other fellows on the list has 
pointed out that someone on eBay is selling a pair of the round 
badges and a hood ornament.  I don't know how I missed them as I've 
been searching under AMC Matador for weeks, but there they are and 
with only two days to go.

My 'apology' for the comments re: the coupe were simply because the 
conversation on the list is dominated by interest in the 'hot rod' 
AMCs and I was concerned that the majority of the list members were 
more into muscle cars than boulevard cruisers.  I greatly admire the 
styling of both the AMX and the Javelin and would certainly consider 
adding one to the fleet.

Ken Ames and I go way back here in Edmonton.  I founded the Alberta 
Post-War Car Society nearly 30 years ago.  He was an early member and 
was an AMC lover then.  It has been a major club in Alberta and one 
of the first anywhere to break out of the "antique car" world and 
recognize that cars are cars - and that they are generational.  I 
insisted that we recognize and collect cars as new as 15 years and 
that we not set some artificial date cutting off when all "real" cars 
would have been built.  It has worked well and the club contines to 
prosper.

BTW, my "ultimate" Matador coupe has to be the copper Cassini coupe. 
I remember seeing a few around here years ago.  That was the car that 
really brought up my interest in owning an AMC.  I would really like 
to find a nice one - particularly as I know what a good car it will 
be.  It's interesting that the copper color-scheme would find 
widespread approval over the past few years.  To my knowledge, AMC 
was probably the first to use this exterior color to any extent.

Thanks for your support and interest,

John



> John;
>
> You certainly don't have to apologize for owning a Matador! There is 
> a reason it was chosen to be on the cover of the Standard Catalog of 
> Independents; with its AMX/3 inspired styling, it was a very 
> attractive car, one of those cars which was so bold in its styling 
> as to elicit an immediate 'love it or hate it' response. Car and 
> Driver magazine labelled it the 'best styled car" for 1974. I've 
> owned one; the only thing I didn't like was the large headlight 
> tunnels/frog eye headlights, but that was a minor beef. The car 
> turned a lot of heads.
>
> I owned a 1978 Barcelona Coupe. You should know that there weren't 
> very many of these made (only 2006 coupes total, of these approx. 
> 396 were barcelonas). Mine was all original, and did not have 
> 'barcelona' script anywhere; I think 1976 was the last year they 
> used the script. It had the gold emblems you are referring to on the 
> glove box inside, on the stand up hood ornament, and one on each 
> fender beside the 'Matador' script.
>
> Visit www.matadorcoupe.com (the 'Coupe Coop') for much more 
> information on your beautiful car! There are some good scans of 
> articles from magazines there, and lots of pictures of Matadors.
>
> Rick Ferron
> Niagara Falls Canada
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "John McEwen" <moparrr@xxxxxxx>
> To: <mail@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Thursday, November 11, 2004 1:08 AM
> Subject: Anyone have two round Barcelona fender medallions?
>
> > Hello Everyone:
> >
> > Unfortunately, I don't have a Gremlin, Hornet, Ambassador, Javelin 
> > or AMX. What I do have is a Matador Barcelona Coupe.   I've found 
> > an inconsistency in the description and pictures of the badging on 
> > these cars and wonder if anyone can clear it up.
> >
> > I've seen pictures of the cars which show a round gold-colored 
> > medallion (prominent red cross in design) on each fender adjacent 
> > to the MATADOR emblem.  However some of these cars have script 
> > 'Barcelona' emblems on the trunk and hood (offset to the right as 
> > viewed) while other cars are pictured with an AMC badge on the hood 
> > and I have not seen any rear shots to verify how that was finished.
> >
> > My car, a '78, has no medallions.  It has MATADOR badges on each 
> > front fender and AMC stick-on badges below that.  I believe my car 
> > is supposed to have 'Barcelona' script badges on the hood and trunk 
> > but I'm not certain what is correct now.
> >
> > I'd like to know if anyone who has a Barcelona could tell me what 
> > year their car is and what kind of badges are in what locations on 
> > the car. I'd like to clear up the mystery.
> >
> > In the meantime, if anyone has a couple of the round gold 
> > medallions (probably stick-on) I'd certainly like to buy them - as 
> > long as they're in decent shape..
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> >
> > John