Eagle Medallion

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eagle
88 Medallion 478.jpg
Medallion
Production period: 1987-1994
Class : Middle class
Body versions : Limousine , station wagon
Engines: Otto engine :
2.2 liters (79 kW)
Length:
Width:
Height:
Wheelbase :
Empty weight :
Previous model Renault 18
AMC Concord
successor Eagle 2000 GTX

The Eagle Medallion , also known as the Renault Medallion , was a version of the Renault 21 . Both sister models were created on the same floor pan. The Medallion differed from the Renault 21 mainly in equipment and engine range as well as the front area.

origin

The Medallion was developed by Renault in France and imported into the USA by cooperation partner American Motors Corporation from spring 1987.

Originally, the model was supposed to replace the hard-to-sell Renault 18i / Sportwagon and the already discontinued AMC Concord . It carried the Renault logo until Chrysler acquired American Motors Corporation in August 1987.

design

The Medallion had the 2.2 liter inline four-cylinder engine from the Renault 25 . It was installed lengthways at the front, as was usual at Renault at the time, and drove the front wheels. The car was equipped with a manual 5-speed gearbox or a 3-speed automatic. The longitudinal installation of the engine was unusual - and somewhat old-fashioned - at a time when most front-wheel drive vehicles had transversely installed engines to save space.

The reason for this design principle was the fact that the torque of the larger Renault engines (over 2.0 liters displacement) had proven to be too high for the transmissions usually used in the Renault 21. In Europe, all Renault 21 models with engines below two liters had these - like the smaller models (e.g. the Renault 9 ) - installed transversely. On the other hand, the larger models, such as. B. the Renault 20 or the Renault 30 , with engines of two liters capacity and more these installed lengthways. The Renault 25 had the same design, all of whose engines were larger than two liters.

The medallion had a lot of space. The limousine was known for its particularly large trunk. The station wagon was exceptional because, with a longer wheelbase than the sedan, it had an optional third row of seats with the passengers facing forward. The basic equipment was called DL , the more luxurious equipment version LX .

From the 1988 model year, the Medallion was sold under the newly created brand name Eagle . The import of the vehicles from France lasted until 1989.

Sales figures

Although the market outlook was initially quite good, the Medallion got off to a bad start in the US market because the AMC dealer network was thin and there were repeated rumors that the company was being acquired by Chrysler, which overshadowed the launch of the Medallion. So the car never really sold well. Although it was a really solid offer in an interesting market segment, Chrysler decided to stop importing Renault in 1989.

Robert A. Lutz , then head of the Chrysler Corporation, wrote in his 2003 book Guts that the Medallion and its larger sister model, Premier , would have been "sale-resistant". No matter how attractive and competitive these cars would have been, there would not have been a large enough number of customers interested in economical production.

In fact, the imported Medallion competed with Chrysler Corporation's U.S. models under the Chrysler , Dodge, and Plymouth brand names , so the enthusiasm to properly market the Medallion - and the Premier - was not too great.