Back in the 1970s and earlier, major manufacturers usually redesigned cars every three or four model years, sometimes even more often. Some exceptions were Hudson (1936-1947 with three years off due to the war) and Ford (1952-1956 with a major facelift for 1955).
American Motors Corporation was much smaller than the likes of General Motors and Ford, so could not afford frequent redesigns. And in the 1970s with its 1975-1980 Pacer that did not sell well after its introductory year, the corporation lost money and was purchased by Renault and, later, by Chrysler.
What this boils down to is that AMC's new for 1970 Hornet was facelifted and rebranded for 1978 as the Concord. These cars were produced for 14 model years: 1970-1983.
I wrote about the Hornet here. Today's post shows examples of two-door and four-door Hornet/Concord sedans (though the 2-door version looked like a coupe in many cases, and is ofter referred to as such).
Unless noted, images below are car-for-sale photos.
The original Hornet was a clean, attractive design. Not exciting. So it probably had little of the "Must buy" factor that can be important for sales.
The final version before the re-branding. The grille area had been facelifted, and this car sports the then-fashionable vinyl-clad passenger compartment roof. Note the large bumper mandated by the government.
First-year Concord. The forward-leaning front seen in 1970 now leads slightly backwards. The grille is positioned so as to overlap that large bumper, reducing its visual impact.
A less-dressy Concord two years later. A new grille flanked by rectangular quart headlights -- retrograde, in my opinion.
A final-year Concord. Now the passenger compartment greenhouse is six-window, not four-window. Note that the body rides higher off the ground, probably due to compatibility with AMC's 1980-1987 four-wheel-drive Concord-based Eagle. The grille is little-changed from 1980.
Now for two-door sedans. Again, the basic original body with entry-level lack of trim.
A final-year Hornet, also lacking ornamentation.
The Concord version received a padded vinyl top that encroached on the after windows, creating the fashionable opera-window appearance.
This rides high, Eagle-fashion.
Model year 1982 was the final one for 2-door Concord sedans, The car seen here has two-tone paint, along with the vinyl. A far cry from the simple Hornets shown above.
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