Top 10 Most Important Cars You’ve Never Heard Of

AMC Eagle

American Motors was the result of a merger between two struggling car companies, Nash and Hudson. Usually two wrongs don’t make a right, but apparently two desperate automakers can build some pretty innovative vehicles. Case in point: the AMC Eagle.

This boxy ambassador of 1980s design is far more than just a high-riding passenger vehicle; it was America’s first car with four-wheel drive. The screaming Eagle kicked off the SUV fad that was soon to sweep America. Others would expand the segment – trucklettes like the rough-and-ready Jeep Cherokee and the immensely popular Ford Explorer, but the Eagle is largely credited with starting it all.

It swooped into the market as 1980 model and was offered in a number of different body styles including a two-door sedan and a station wagon. Regrettably though, the innovative Eagle would fall victim to another merger, Chrysler’s acquisition of AMC in 1987. The car was offered for one more year before going extinct.