Minneapolis Street Sighting: AMC Eagle

I love AMCs; I love station wagons; I love the Eagle line of cars. Naturally, this was a "must shoot" for me. Cars like this make me perk up, moreso than the average classic Ford or GM for obvious reasons. Even new, the AMC brand wasn't the most common brand, despite having a strong presence on our roads. Assembled in Kenosha, Wisconsin, a good majority of these cars spent their lives in the rustbelt, which is not good for cars in general, let alone the hit-or-miss paint quality of the Malaise era.
Getting out of the 1970s, AMC was in a rather dark period; the once-muscular AMX was a shadow of its former self and now reduced to a tape-stripe package, the much-loved Marlin was long gone, and the quirky yet functional Gremlin and its cousin the Pacer, were both on their way out, and the Matador had developed into a big, bulky coupe that people either loved or hated. That left the basic Hornet bodyshell, which, despite revisions, still looked like the same product that left factories in the early 1970s.
In 1980, the Eagle lineup was born. Comprised of lifted sedans, hatchbacks, and wagons, this lineup would be the forerunner to what would spell success for Subaru with the Outback lineup some fifteen years later. Along with these off-road cars, AMC bonded ties with Renault, and..well.. you can guess how that turned out. However, in the 1980s, the majority of the population didn't quite understand the concept of four wheel drive cars, and those who did bought Jeeps instead. Chrysler saw the success of the Jeep brand, and purchased them in 1987, thus winding down the nearly 35 year old automaker.
Despite being out of production for nearly 35 years, the AMC Eagle certainly has a cult following, and owner fall into two distinct categories; AMC nuts, or people who don't quite know what the significance of what they drive (ie not car people). I have loved the Eagles for quite some time, and despite being produced close to Minnesota, seeing a well-kept one is quite a rare sight.
I was gladly surprised when I happened upon this gorgeous example -- okay, maybe gorgeous is too kind of a word, but this car is definitely one of the nice Eagles I've ever seen. Even though the factory sky blue paint is quite faded, and lost its luster, this example isn't sporting any rust. The wheels are in excellent shape, too, which I suppose isn't too surprising since they're aluminum. What I do find quite attractive here, is the lack of woody-sides. Yes, I realize a woody would make this all-the-cooler, but dare I say it looks great without it. Even better than the wood-sides perhaps. I just wish more people had the same train of thought as me, so more would be saved. Cheers to the owner for keeping this example is pretty-much flawless condition.