thus, the amc eagle came about when jeep's chief engineer joined a concord body with a four-wheel-drive system. such a vehicle was a logical step for amc, according to then ceo gerald c. meyers, as a second energy crisis had hit in 1979, and sales of amc's highly profitable truck-based jeep line dropped, due in part to their low fuel efficiency, leaving amc in a precarious financial position. the eagle provided a low-cost way of bridging the gap between amc's solid and economical, but aging, passenger car line and its well-regarded, but decidedly off-road-focused, jeep line, as the eagle used the existing concord (and later, spirit) automobile platform.