Eagle
Brief History
Failing automakers Hudson and Nash merged their fortunes to become American Motors Corporation, hoping that they could reap some economies of scale. Eventually, due to slow sales for their overweight cars, they were bought by Renault, partly to increase Renault's sales in the US. Renault's attempt failed, and Chrysler, under “buy and sell” Iaccoca, bought AMC. Iaccoca, for unknown reasons, dropped the AMC name, replacing it with Eagle - named after a particularly heavy compact.
Chrysler was contractually obligated to sell Renaults after buying AMC, leading to the Eagle Premier. Built in Bramalea (Ontario), it was the roomiest car in its class and quite aerodynamic. Its 3 liter, European, MPI V-6 and four-speed automatic were reportedly quite nice to drive.
In the late 80s, the Grand Wagoneer held the position of having its buyers hold the highest average income of ANY “american” built vehicle. Chrysler saw that the people who bought these vehicles didn't have Chryslers or even Lincolns in the gargage next to the Jeep. Volvo, Mercedes, Audi, etc were the garage roommates of the Cherokees & Grand Wagoneers. Chrysler said, why can't we provide a car that those people would consider buying while they're at the Jeep dealer instead of losing those sales to Volvo, Audi, etc. If Jeep is attracting those “type” of buyers, why can't we do the same with a car line?
That is what the Premier was supposed to do, and the Vision, and the 300M (which was originally going to be an Eagle).
Eagle ended up competing against corresponding Chrysler and Dodge models. Somewhere in the early-mid 90s the decision was made to eventually dual Jeep-Eagle with Chrylser-Plymouth, leading to the long-term goal of phase-out of the Eagle brand and eventually Plymouth also.
