The intermediate sized personal luxury automobile market was large and growing. The many models in this market segment had combination of eye-catching styling, affordable price, many options to customize the car, as well as the appearance of prestige.

The AMC Matador had the special Oleg Cassini designer version for the 1974 and 1975 model years.

Cassini Coupe

The Barcelona Matador was introduced for the 1976 model year as the luxury coupe. It consisted of the special interior and upholstery, however, the exterior was similar to the the other Matador 2-doors. It was in 1977 that the exterior was upgraded to distinguish this unique model.

The Matador coupe was a unique design compared to the sedan and wagon versions. Click on the above image for a larger AMC Press Release picture of the other models for 1976.

On the left is a magazine advertisement for the 1977 Matador coupe. It states that "economy does't have to be dull."

The new Barcelona II for 1977 sported a unique two tone paint treatment, color keyed Landau type padded vinyl roof, stylish opera windows with special accents, color coordinated slot styled wheels, and much more. All this plus Matador's high level of standard equipment including power steering, power disk front brakes, automatic transmission, woodgrain instrument panel. Experience Barcelona for yourself! You'll find there's more to a Matador, and more to an AMC ... including Buyer Protection Plan II.

There was also a special "California Edition" Barcelona that included AM/FM stereo radio as standard equipment.

The personal luxury market was a very critical and profitable market segment during the late 1970s. Auto manufactures were able to charge a higher price for these models and they typically were ordered with a large number of high markup options. American Motors was focusing its efforts on the smaller sized vehicles, but the Matador continued to uphold the company's entry in the larger vehicle segments. The following are selected competing models in the "personal" market segments. These illustrate how similar the various models were from General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler.

Chevrolet claimed (on the left) that:

When a car makes you feel good about its looks, that's styling.
When a car makes you feel good about yourself, that's character.

However, the traditional personal/luxury car was Ford's four passenger Thunderbird. Shown on the right, it was available with only a tiny opera window in 1978 as the Diamond Jubilee edition. The rear quarter window was completely blanked out. The whole car had a seemed to have an heavy look to it. Additionally, the Town Landau models had a bright tiara crossing up and over the mid-roof that seemed to be evolved from Ford's own 1955 Crown Victoria.

The Mercury Cougar XR-7 for 1978 shows the exuberance of its stylists in the use of vinyl. Not only does it sport this material on the obligatory "formal" roof, but it is also used on the rear of the trunk lid.

Who ever said "too much can never be enough"!

So important was the personal luxury market that whatever the size of car, auto manufactures tried to please buyers' demands for faux prestige appearance even on their cheapest models.

Although the 1978 Ford Mustang was downsized to the subcompact Pinto platform, this quintessential "personal car" was also available in a "luxury" Ghia version. The picture on the left shows the required formal vinyl coach roof with its small, non-opening opera side windows.

The 1976 Oldsmobile Cutlass - one of the most popular models in the sales race at that time - followed the Matador's approach with a more subdued exterior. However, in succeeding years, even the best seller for Olds gained numerous trim upgrades including two-tone paint treatments.