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American Motors advertising assured that the new Matador was not just a name change and facelift, but in reality it was the 1970 Rebel restyled with a longer front clip and a new interior. The 1971 model year Matadors acquired a "beefier" front end look for all three body designs: two-door hardtop, four-door sedan, and station wagon. The AMC Matador shared its basic body design from the firewall back with the Ambassador, which was built on the same platform, but had a longer wheelbase and front end sheetmetal, a formal grille and luxurious trim, as well as more standard equipment that included air conditioning. Interior wise, it shared the same dash, instument cluster, steering wheel, and arm rests as the 1970 Rebel. Also reused was the 1967-1970 Rebel "weather eye" 3-lever fan/heat control unit. The 1971 model came with a split-bench front seat with individual fold-down center arm rests for passenger and driver seats. Externally the 1971 model retained the same trunk lid chrome strip and rear corner chrome garnishes as the 1970 Rebel. The rear bumper was also the same as the 1970 Rebel but with a new tail light lens assembly of three-in-line square lenses with rounded corners.
The AMC Matador coupe’s roofline and rear fenders bear a striking resemblance to those of the late-sixties Chrysler C-body hardtops, but its bulging grille reminded one critic of big-nosed comedian Jimmy Durante. A few — perhaps 50 — 1971 Matadors were Machines, similar to the previous year’s Rebel Machine, but without its gaudy paint and ostentatious hood scoop. They had either a 360 cu. in. (5,892 cc) engine with 285 gross horsepower (213 kW), shared with the rare Hornet SC/360, or a 401 (6,573 cc) with 330 hp (246 kW).
Sources: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMC_Matador
http://ateupwithmotor.com/model-histories/amc-matador/
