Selling my 4-Wheel Drive 1982 AMC Eagle SX/4 Sport. With a wife three kids (all in multiple activities) and four cars I just don’t have the time (or space) to enjoy this car as I should. Has MANY of the highly desirable options and goodies that people want in an SX/4: It’s got the “tough as nails” AMC 258 cid Inline Six Cylinder engine which is known for it’s longevity. The optional 5 speed overdrive manual transmission the “SPORT” package (Sport steering wheel console for floor shift black exterior trim/accents driver’s side sport mirror and SPORT nameplates) factory Air Conditioning 3 piece rear spoiler Factory pop-up sunroof AM/FM stereo Marchal Fog Lights correct AMC Aluminum wheels tilt steering wheel and more. Has only 98xxx miles on it. I’ve only driven it a couple hundred miles but it runs and drives good. I purchased this SX/4 last year from the Pioneer Auto Museum in Murdo SD. They had acquired the car with intentions of restoring it since it was such a solid example of an extremely well-equipped low miles SX/4. They have several AMC’s in their collection and the museum owner seems to have an affinity for AMC’s. Anyway realizing after a while that they probably weren’t going to get around to the restoration in the near future and with the SX/4 being kept outside they decided to sell it and that’s when I bought it. The car was solid but was in bad need of a new paint job. The car was not rusty or dented up the original paint had just plain wore out. It was worn down in many places to the primer and even further in a few sports but it was really solid and really straight. I have several “before” pictures that show how good of shape the car was in before it’s recent paint job. I have included one of those “before” shot of the car with this listing. I took the SX/4 to a couple local body/paint shops and I was pretty bummed to hear the high price for a new paint job (prices have sure gone up in the last 20 years). I wanted to have the car re-painted but couldn’t afford to have it done. So I decided to try my hand at painting a car myself. I’m not a professional by any stretch. I don’t have a paint booth just my garage. But I had a compressor and I borrowed a spray gun and went to it. I used an enamel paint and then an acrylic clear over that. The end result? It looks decent not great….but decent. It’s an amateur job with flaws. It doesn’t have the high gloss glass smooth finish of a beautiful professional job. But it still looks good. It’s maybe best described as a “20-footer” (you know a car that looks great from 20 feet away but once you get up close you see the flaws). So if you’re looking for a 100 point perfect show car you might as well stop reading this listing and look elsewhere because this SX/4 is not perfect. But if you’re looking for a good looking good running excellent interior well equipped “don’t see them very often” type of unique vehicle this might be just what you’re after. It’s a nice enough car to bring to local “small town” car shows and cruises. In fact I brought it to it’s one and only car show on May 16th shortly after finishing the paint job and the response from people was FANTASTIC. It seemed to draw more attention at the show than most of the “typical” show cars (Corvettes Camaro’s Mustangs etc). And I was sooooo pleased at the end of the show when my SX/4 won a first place trophy for best car in it’s class. People REALLY loved it and it was a lot of fun talking to folks about it and listening to people’s comments about it. This SX/4 looks identical to the car that AMC used in most of the TV and magazine ads for the SX/4 search ebay for “SX/4 ad” and see what I mean. Or go to you tube and search for videos for “AMC SX4 commercial” They are fun to watch and the SX/4 in the commercials looks just like mine. I included a picture of one of the magazine ads they used. Here’s the stuff that still needs to be addressed
- Outside driver’s side door handle doesn’t work. Something inside the handle mechanism is broken…I don’t know what. Seems to be a common problem with AMC’s. Inside door handle works fine.
- Needs some exhaust work. I can see and hear holes in the pipe that runs from the convertor to the muffler. It’s not that loud but you can tell it needs some exhaust work.
- The tilt steering wheel is kinda sloppy. A bit loose at the pivot point where the tilt wheel adjusts.
- Inside hood release handle is broken and missing. You have to use a pliers to pull the cable.
Here’s some of the “positives” with the car.
- Tires are in like new condition (less than 2500 miles on them and they are nice aggressive outline white letter tires)
- Comes with a display board that I made for car shows. Something I started making before I even painted the car. It includes 3 magazine ads that were laminated. It’s a neat piece to have because AMC used a red sx/4 sport that looked just like mine in most of their SX/4 ads. (picture included)
- Many many new parts included. I bought a bunch of tune-up and maintenance parts for it but just don’t have the time to install them. Filters plugs wires muffler new alternator new belts and hoses etc. (picture included). I have already installed a new fuel pump.
- The dreaded plastic valve cover that these Eagles came with has already been replaced with a proper aluminum valve cover.
As with any car purchase over the internet it is recommended that you see the car in person before you bid. I strongly encourage anyone who is seriously interested in the SX/4 to come and see it in person before buying it. I am more than happy to show the car to anybody who is interested. Come out and see it we can take it for a drive you can see the double takes and the thumbs-ups that we get while out and about. They say “A picture is worth a thousand words” well seeing it in person is worth more than a thousand pictures in my opinion. Please come see it for yourself. Or hire an independent third party vehicle inspection service (there are thousands of them throughout the United States) that can come and inspect the vehicle for you. Ask questions if you need to. I will try to get back to you in a reasonable time. Please don’t ask questions that I have already answered in this description. I have additional photos (ebay lets me post 24 but I have others). I will probably need an email address to send them or I will try to set up a page on photobucket or something so anyone can view them. Located in Hudson WI (about 20 minutes east of St. Paul MN). Clear Wisconsin title. The car will need to be paid for in full within 7 days of auctions end. And it will need to be picked up within 3 weeks of auction end. (I am currently paying $107/month for storage and the car MUST be picked up before the end of June). If I remember anything else I will try to add it to the description.