AMC Eagle Den Forum

1979 - 1983 AMC Spirits and 1978 - 1983 AMC Concords => Spirit Archives => Topic started by: shanebo on June 12, 2011, 11:08:58 PM

Title: Anyone seen a Spirit Limited lately?
Post by: shanebo on June 12, 2011, 11:08:58 PM
I was just looking around here on the Spirit thread....I never knew they made a Spirit Limited..... Ive never seen or heard of one! I love those high back leather seats!! Has Anyone here ever seen one of these rare cars...or better yet owned one?
Title: Re: Anyone seen a Spirit Limited lately?
Post by: amc78concord on June 13, 2011, 01:16:51 PM
Spirit Limited? Maybe that means GT?  Cuz there were quite a bit of GT's made. Or maybe there was a Spirit Limited? I've never heard of one either! That would be cool to see one if there is one.
Title: Re: Anyone seen a Spirit Limited lately?
Post by: El Matador on June 13, 2011, 01:29:23 PM
The only place I've seen one of these mythical beasts is in a brochure.  It doesn't make sense that AMC would even offer it, since the Spirit was intended to be an economy car and/or a sporty car - not a luxury car.  I doubt many were sold.

The luxury car niche was filled by the Concord, so the Concord Limited made much more sense - although those seem to be extremely rare as well.  I have been tipped off as to the whereabouts of one close to me though...
Title: Re: Anyone seen a Spirit Limited lately?
Post by: Eagle1985 on June 13, 2011, 05:42:22 PM
1979 Spirit Limited Sedan
(http://home.comcast.net/~eaglewagon/1979 Spirit Limited.jpg)

1980 Spirit Limited Liftback
(http://home.comcast.net/~eaglewagon/1979 Spirit Limited Liftback.jpg)

//////////
Title: Re: Anyone seen a Spirit Limited lately?
Post by: thereverendbill on June 13, 2011, 05:50:44 PM
oh man I'd love to get my hands on a few of the "sedan" options for my kammback.  Mainly those awesome pillowtop seats and the rear window deflector
Title: Re: Anyone seen a Spirit Limited lately?
Post by: amc78concord on June 13, 2011, 11:44:51 PM
WOW that thing is GORGEOUS
Title: Re: Anyone seen a Spirit Limited lately?
Post by: JayRamb on June 14, 2011, 01:10:40 AM
I love the woodgrain steering wheels. But I am lovin my sport wheel.
Title: Re: Anyone seen a Spirit Limited lately?
Post by: shanebo on June 14, 2011, 01:12:40 AM
even the steering wheel is imitation wood grain....and look at the wood shifter knob! What I wouldnt give to just see one!! those gotta be about as common as the sundancers....That would have been awesome if the limited package had found its way into the sx4's and kambacks.
Title: Re: Anyone seen a Spirit Limited lately?
Post by: 83Eagle! on June 14, 2011, 01:27:55 AM
I have never seen interior like that before.  Very nice. 
Title: Re: Anyone seen a Spirit Limited lately?
Post by: shanebo on June 14, 2011, 01:41:59 AM
Kinda makes one wonder if it was one of those things that never actually made it to the show room floor due to lack of interest. It goes to show how ahead of the time AMC was. That was probably the only low end car that was available with such high end options....Today even the lowest end cars are available with leather and power options...back then that was unheard of....AMC's are so darn interesting!!
Title: Re: Anyone seen a Spirit Limited lately?
Post by: amcinstaller on June 14, 2011, 09:27:18 AM
my dl had the same dash and coloumn with wheel, but with no passenger side mirror or top vents. there was/are package tray vents on both my spirits, but they are molded above or below, not part of the tray like those ones. my gt has the same centre console, and wooden shift knob, but my shifter is bent, as it is an sr4 car. the gt does not have the wood steering wheel tho, and the speedo and tach have a more rounded numbering, vs the square on those cars, and my dl.
Title: Re: Anyone seen a Spirit Limited lately?
Post by: Draekon on June 14, 2011, 09:57:28 PM
My '81 SX/4 has the same style wood grain steering wheel.

I would love to have one of those center consoles/arm rests though!  and the top vents in the dash.
Title: Re: Anyone seen a Spirit Limited lately?
Post by: shanebo on June 14, 2011, 11:11:15 PM
I wish they would have used that style of seats in all the eagles!...I like these big wide seats that the big body eagles have but an arm rest would be so nice!
Title: Re: Anyone seen a Spirit Limited lately?
Post by: thereverendbill on June 14, 2011, 11:15:46 PM
the wood grain steering wheel is a nice piece indeed.  I have a nutmeg one in prestine shape from my wagon that I took out in favor of a nutmeg sport wheel
Title: Re: Anyone seen a Spirit Limited lately?
Post by: shanebo on June 14, 2011, 11:31:08 PM
I would love to find one of those in good shape. The one on my cars is shot. I found a nice sport wheel at the pull and pay but its Honey instead of the nutmeg im looking for....Ill have to check out the wagoneers in the junkyard too their steering wheels should fit.
Title: Re: Anyone seen a Spirit Limited lately?
Post by: amc78concord on June 14, 2011, 11:37:45 PM
My '85 Eagle Wagon has a wood-grain steering wheel.  Yet, the car was a fairly low optioned car.  It didn't have the light group option (lights only come on with front doors only), and no limited package.  Had the digital radio and cruise control though.  Back in 1985, my car was used as a model that the owner of the local dealership would drive around to and from the lot to advertise the Eagle around town.  He actually purchased and kept the car until 1990 when he sold it to my grandfather, I inherited it in 2006.

So my car must've been a specially ordered car just for modeling purposes to show maybe what Eagles could come with?  Seems to be what it sounds like to me...
Title: Re: Anyone seen a Spirit Limited lately?
Post by: ammachine390 on June 15, 2011, 04:06:00 PM
They must of dropped the limited at the end of 80 because my 81 only mentions the base, DL, and GT.
Title: Re: Anyone seen a Spirit Limited lately?
Post by: philotomy on June 15, 2011, 09:21:23 PM
My 1st car was an 80 Sprit DL ;but limiteds? don't think at the time if I would have noticed the differences,
Title: Re: Anyone seen a Spirit Limited lately?
Post by: shanebo on June 16, 2011, 12:11:55 AM
Ill bet it did get dropped rather early in production....if they ever actually got produced at all.
Title: Re: Anyone seen a Spirit Limited lately?
Post by: DarthGremlin on June 18, 2011, 01:33:43 PM
I have seen two:  The first was on a used car lot in Western PA (in Natrona Heights) in about 1985. It was a copper color, IIRC.  At that time, I remember thinking I had never seen one and did not know they made them like that.  The other was in 1988 at the former AMC dealership in Harrisonburg, VA.  The old guy that ran the place still specialized in used AMCs (and Volvos) and he shopped the auctions for good examples of both.  I tried to buy that one. Unfortunately, I was a penniless college student at the time, so I was stuck with my grandmother's hand-me-down Citation (blech!) That Spirit was sort of a champagne color and it had the 'turbine' wheels.

I recall both those cars to have had every conceivable option.  I do not recall what model year they were (although the wheel style would indicate '79 on the second one), but I can confirm that at least two made it out of the factory and off the lot in that trim.

Title: Re: Anyone seen a Spirit Limited lately?
Post by: eaglesx4 on June 18, 2011, 02:22:41 PM
As a AMC salesman while stationed in Japan, I ordered two for delivery in New Jersey for returning military people.  Both were Spirits, I don't recall selling a single Kammback, only one loaded Pacer and 4dr Matadors with tu tone.  Most were stripped manuals with no or very little options.
Title: Re: Anyone seen a Spirit Limited lately?
Post by: AMCKen on June 29, 2011, 12:50:30 AM
The air deflector would probably be the typical Gremlin one.
Title: Re: Anyone seen a Spirit Limited lately?
Post by: shanebo on June 29, 2011, 12:58:16 AM
Im sure at the time the people in the market for that kind of car really didnt want to shell out the extra cash for leather and a few extra goodies...if they did they would likely have opted for a Concord....And I only recall ever seeing one or two Limited concord...so evidently that wasnt such a popular package on them either.
Title: Re: Anyone seen a Spirit Limited lately?
Post by: IowaEagle on July 04, 2011, 05:29:37 PM
Information from the AMC Standard Catalog suggests the Spirit Limited was available only in '79 and '80 and were an upgraded, greatly upgraded DL model.  Spirit GT's were variants of both the DL and Limited.  In 1979 Spirit Limiteds based priced at an even $1,000 more than Base DL's and for $1200 more than Base Spirits.  In 1980 they were significantly less with them basing at only $499 more than their DL counterparts.   The Spirit GT was the priciest, listing for $5663.00
Title: Re: Anyone seen a Spirit Limited lately?
Post by: shanebo on July 13, 2011, 01:00:15 AM
I guess back in 79 and 80 if you were looking for an economy car luxury options probably were not high on your priority list and 1000.00 was a descent chunk of change back then.
Title: Re: Anyone seen a Spirit Limited lately?
Post by: shanebo on July 15, 2011, 01:09:03 AM
I certainly like the small body interior lay out over the large body ones....I really like those high back buckets and a console would be so choice!!.
Title: Re: Anyone seen a Spirit Limited lately?
Post by: lonestar1947 on October 04, 2011, 06:49:05 PM
I'm still new here; Is it OK to let members know if I see something interesting on Ebay? 

Here goes, there's a Spirit Limited for sale, look carefully at the picture with the door open.  You'll see the Limited badge in the middle of the door panel, near the top of the door

It has the woodgrain steering wheel, and center console. 

I'm suprised it has a manual transmission.

I wonder what the leather seats look like?  I noticed the seat cover!
Title: Re: Anyone seen a Spirit Limited lately?
Post by: jim on October 04, 2011, 07:58:40 PM
Yes, it's all right to describe what you see.  We're not allowed to link to auction sites, and we're not allowed to comment on price.

Members can link to their own auctions.
Title: Re: Anyone seen a Spirit Limited lately?
Post by: captspillane on October 05, 2011, 02:54:30 AM
The Spirit armrest is amazing. It cannot be installed in an Eagle because the Eagle floor pan humps up nearly an inch compared to a Spirit. Even with the rug removed it doesn't fit. I plan on converting my Spirit into an SX4 mostly to retain the lower floorpan and the awesome armrest. I'm also curious about cutting out the hump on an Eagle and making a new floor a half inch lower. It might work with the T5 because the hump is just there for the automatic shift linkage. Here are two pics to compare an Eagle versus a Spirit floor plan.

If you remove the bolt at the bottom, the cushion part pops out of its tapered slot easily. The slot could become a hidden cup holder without a tacky chunk of aftermarket plastic there.

(http://i1181.photobucket.com/albums/x427/captspillane/Eagleweb%20Postings/Spiritvseagle2.jpg)

(http://i1181.photobucket.com/albums/x427/captspillane/Eagleweb%20Postings/Spiritvseagle.jpg)
Title: Re: Anyone seen a Spirit Limited lately?
Post by: shanebo on October 05, 2011, 03:33:54 AM
Wow, Ive never seen the two side by side like that! Thats a huge difference!

Some of the VAM cars (Mexicos AMC) had really nice bucket seat and arm rest combo. There is a fella here on the nest that lives in Mexico and he had some pics of his VAM and the interior on that thing about knocked me out of my seat...and it was stock!! Some of the European AMC cars had really cool seats too....As much as I love my big wide seats I would love to have a bit more stylish bucket seats and an arm rest.
Title: Re: Anyone seen a Spirit Limited lately?
Post by: matt1971 on October 02, 2012, 02:08:36 PM
Hi. Matt here. I am daily driving a 1979 AMC Pacer Limited Hatchback in Kenosha WI. 258 auto. Alpaca Brown. It is a really fun car to have.
I have seen 2 AMC Spirit Limited Liftbacks. One was stacked on top of another car in a boneyard. It was either a 79 or 80 model. It was a bronze/brown color. (My 79 Pacer Limited Hatchback is the same color.) The Spirit had "Limited" emblems on both front fenders. The other one was a 79 with a 304 V-8 option. Again, it was a bronze/brown color. These Limiteds are loaded with factory options as part of the Limited Package.
There were also Concord and Eagle Limiteds that I have seen. Also, Jeep had Limiteds starting in the 1979 AMC/Jeep model year. -Matt.
Title: Re: Anyone seen a Spirit Limited lately?
Post by: shanebo on October 04, 2012, 01:38:14 AM
Man, what I wouldnt give to get my paws on a v8 equipped Spirit Limited  :drool: I cant even begin to imagine how rare they must be, about like hens teeth I would imagine  ::)