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
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