So...my grandfather bought this car brand spanking new and he was damn proud of that thing. He gifted it to me in 1997 when I turned 16. Along with a personalized airbrushed tag made at Kmart with his nickname for me sprayed across it in big cursive letters. I was proud of that car because my papaw was and I kept it clean and with a sparkling shine just like he did. This video took me way back. That was one heck of a car!

My parents had one of these, they bought it for half price, HALF Price! It was when they were selling off the remaining 1991 stock, it stickered for $20000, and they got it for $9995. For a brand new loaded car. It was one of the smoothest, roomiest, most comfortable, most refined cars I’ve ever driven. I was a teenager then so I got to drive it and ride in the back of it. They put over 200,000 reliable miles on that thing.

has anyone in their life ever used a glove box cupholder? I feel like as soon as you hit a bump or corner your drinks flying

"Most reports called AMC's Jeep division the biggest prize of the merger with Chrysler. But future opinion may focus on this Premier." Nope, it didn't.

1:52 LMAO wow she is representing the 1980's from her head to her toes. Just love the burned perm, blue Blocker sunglasses and wind pants! Work it honey!

I owed 2 of these cars in the late 90's early 2000's. They were sloppy handling beasts but they had excellent V-6 engines. Both cars made it over 250,000 miles without any major work. This brought back alot of fond memories MW thanks for the retro reviews.

The incredibly rare Renault emblems on this one, which were quickly replaced by Eagle badges.

Sometime in the late 80's my parents were trying to decide between one of these and a Honda Accord. (We'd always been AMC fans). They asked my advice and I suggested if they buy the Eagle they get the longest extended warranty they could. They did, and it paid off big time, I'm not sure there was anything on that car that DIDN'T go bad (except the engine). But the funny thing is about the time the warranty ran out the car stopped having problems and Mom drove it for many more years. And it was a really nice car, I think it had every option except for leather and a sunroof.

I had a 1990 model, and aside from the master cylinder, it was a pretty solid car. I liked it because it was comfortable for me (I'm really tall) and it was nice to drive. Never had the electrical drama that everyone was talking about. Looking back, I wish I would have kept it longer.

I remember Wesley's henchmen pulling up in this kind of car in Road House

My first car! Had a 1991 with the same paint scheme as the ES in the video, though it did have motorized seatbelts, different wheels and a floor shift. Bought it back in 2016 after high school graduation for $920. Fun times. Bought an 89 LX almost two and a half years later. Miss them both.

I had a 90 Dodge Monaco, and, to this day, she still ranks at the top of my favorite cars list. She was extremely comfortable and had pretty advanced features, for her time. Unfortunately, I had persistent electrical issues and ultimately she became a bit of a money pit and I had to stop fixing her and just let her go. I would've have loved to have kept her much longer.

I love how the A/C compressor is attached to the valve cover. LOL. Those valve cover gasket changes will be fun!

I haven't seen one of these on the road in probably 15+ years. Like most typical 80's and early to mid 90's cars, they're becoming extinct. It's a shame that most of our automotive history is vanishing to the recycling centers.

I'm really glad MotorWeek posts such a wide variety of retro reviews. The Premier is a car I know a lot about, yet haven't had the fortune of seeing one in the metal in as long as I can remember. Naturally, the Premier's legacy is in the LX and ultimately, the LX, but it's a shame more wasn't made of the Premier itself during its run. Chrysler didn't know what to make of it and the Eagle brand it created to sell it under. Lack of quality control and meaningful improvements basically sealed the car's fate. Even selling it under the better-known Dodge brand late in its life didn't save it. Too bad, as it was a good looking vehicle.

I rented one of these in '89. I didn't ask for it, but the rental company was out of Chrysler 5th Avenue's, which is what I reserved. I actually liked this better. It handled nicely in the snowstorm that occurred in Buffalo, NY when I had it. I considered buying one, but was concerned about "Renault Reliability", which is an oxymoron. This was confirmed by the abundance of them I saw in junkyards in the early 2000's.

This was a really cool car back in the day. When I was in high school we had a '91 and it was a peach. We drove it I think about 150k miles before my dad traded it in for a '95 Altima SE with a stick shift. But anyway the Premier was a fine family car and only broke down a couple times, I believe it was a faulty fuel pump both times it broke down. Otherwise it was a sweet car to drive around in as a teenager. Glad my sister was OK but if she hadn't totaled the Dodge Dynasty we would have never had the Premier lol! :)

My neighbor has a mint condition low mileage Eagle Premier with the original clearcoat paint. He only takes it out once per month. That thing is a gem! Luxury at its best.

@3:25 Yes!!! I love this lady's style!

These were totally misunderstood cars. Very cutting edge, VERY comfortable, bullet-proof V6 engines, let down by ill-educated technicians, and a lazy dealer network. By its name, no one was willing to give it a try. A real tragedy, in my opinion. Really neat car.

I love the "simple" design. Jim Kenzie from Motoring best described the general look of cars in the past 15-20 years as a slightly used bar of soap. I really like the squared design

LOL @ the idea that Chrysler cared about Eagle at all. The only reason they took it from AMC is because they couldn't get Jeep without taking Eagle in a package deal.

The Premier looks so bland and unoffensive it could be an unlicensed car in a video game lol

Finally after years and years of watching car videos on youtube, a finally a car I have never heard of.

I remember that we tried out one of the Dodge Monaco versions back in the day but skipped over it in the end. Glad to hear that owners out there had some good experiences. Makes one wonder what we missed back in the day.

Her hairy arms and long, Lee Press-On Nails are fantastic!

i love you guys for uploading these

I was very curious about these cars when i was a teenager searching for my first car. Fun to see this old video.

Neat snapshot of some pre production models. AFAIK no production Premiers ever wore the Renault badge. This was the first car in the USA to use complex reflector headlights.

It was either a Honda Accord or this. I bought an '89 LX in Aug. '90, and had it 13 years for $14,XXX. The sticker was $17,XXX. The dealer couldn't move these. 140,XXX miles when I sold her. Aluminum block and heads. Front wheel drive with the engine facing forward like an American rear wheel drive V8. The driveshaft tunnel was there, but it is front wheel drive. Replaced 2 water pumps, power steering pump, struts, half-shafts, brake master cylinder, a muffler and normal maintenance. That was it. Handled well in 12 MN winters with antilock brakes. A little light in the rear. The interior was plush and unique. The attractive instrument gauges were back-lighted green and red illuminated. Not digital. Climate controls were no problem. The car was very comfortable on trips and 5 adults sat comfortably. Not the HP of today. Don't recall a lot of wind noise. Plenty of room in the trunk. I had the center console with drink holders. The car was wine exterior with a wine interior. It had those automatic shoulder belts that were always annoying. The quality of craftsmanship was superb. Fit and finish fine. I never understood why Consumer Reports would give it a bad review for reliability. Never left me stranded and always started up. Never did see any on the road like her. She was a good car.

Those were great cars. My father had one and I was only a teenager at the time. I loved it. It was comfortable, gripped the road like an Audi. Its V6 wasn't that fast but it was smooth as hell and the interior was very classy and attractive.

The Eagle Premier almost looks like a Mazda 929 to me...

I had 2 of them. No trouble. Best visibility EVER!

I actually liked the looks of these.

A stylish looking car that would become the basis for the LH cars down the line. Chrysler just didn't know what to do with it. We never did get that promised coupe, either.

I rented a 1990 or 1991 from Avis but it was a Monaco. My friend and his father each bought one. I was going to but decided to pass. Good thing I did because they had nothing but trouble with theirs. I remember hearing the gas gauge was reading 1/2, but they ran out of gas on a bridge in NY. I kept my college car for another 8 years, and banked the money. Sad that my friend and his father both passed away at a young age 10 and 20 years ago respectively.

The digital dash looks dim. With the analog dash, it would be alright...if it had rear shoulder belts. Anyone who needed seat belts and airbags know how well they work. What a crazy omission for a later 80s car.

Thanks for posting this video this brings back some memories!

Always loved the design of these cars both exterior & interior. So much more interesting than the current crop of USA built mid-size sedans.

I had one an 88. First car I ever bought on payments. It was roomy and comfortable with lots of power but literally the car from hell mechanically. It left me stranded on the highway once and would stall when it rained,it constantly overheated and it was 50/50 whether it would start on any given day. I tried to trade it many times but no dealer would buy it. I traded it in with 1 payment left!

That turn signal stalk is a trip.

My family had a 1988 Eagle Premier. It was the car I learned to drive in. I remember all my friends assumed it was rear wheel drive when they opened the hood LOL!

A 3.0 Fuel Injected V6 running an 18.5 quarter mile! What a pleasant surprise! Haha!!

Very nice car, better than most of the junk we have now in 2016 !

The american version of the Renault 25

Same V6 engine that was used in the DeLorean. You can even tell by the sound of it.

Fun fact: the plant that built the Premier still exists. It's located in Brampton, Ontario. It moved on to build the "cab forward" Chryslers such as the Intrepid, Concorde, 300M and Eagle Vision. From there it moved on to the LX cars, all of which (except the Magnum, obviously) it still builds today.

damn, those seats look comfy

These were incredibly good cars for the era. I learned to drive on a '91 as it was our family car at the time and I thrashed it to no end and it was a really unique and fun car to drive! Ours was mostly reliable although a few accessories failed multiple times, the fuel pump and ac compressor, seems like I remember it getting new ones several times at the local Chrysler dealer. I think we put like 150k on it and then I talked my dad into buying a Nissan Altima se stick in the mid 90s.

"American Motors' last product was one of its best." Fun fact: the pre-production prototype we tested has Renault badges, instead of the standard Eagle ones.

I had an Eagle Premier. I think it was an 89. It was a good car. I'd like to find another one. It was comfortable, decent power, good handling and good looking.

Saw one of these for the first (and last) time, last year in Scranton. Had no idea what it was, but I took a bunch of pictures.

I had one for my first car back in '95. Mine was an '89 LX it had a lot of electrical problems and I heard a lot of them did. The 3.0 PRV V6 is very similar to the engine in the Delorean and some people even dropped them in.

Reminds me of a somewhat similar car that also flopped.. The Merkur Scorpio

Ive always loved the style of these early premiers. People poke fun of the quirky layout and climate functions... BUT if you have been in any late new car, you find you have to wait 30 seconds for the screen to boot up before you can access your heat and radio stuff THAT is a huge pain in the ass.

To the surprise of absolutely no one, Giorgetto Giugiaro boldly designed yet another box of a car. Sometimes I think the only reason that the wheel wells were round is because no one had perfected a square tire. The Golf and Scirocco looked sporty and fresh in the mid 70's, but this looked like he drew it in his sleep, then gave it some obnoxious front overhang to boot.

I loved the way these looked back in the day. If nine year-old me could've bought a car, it would've been this one (or its Monaco twin).

Back in 1997 I had a 1992 eagle premier. At that time I got good complaints about the eagle premier. But now it seems almost every body talks down on a eagle premier. I still miss my 1992 white eagle premier.

It’s like the car is the embodiment of mid tier cubical workers at the office space. A car that tells others “I have a job but I make enough to get by.”

I can't get over that front overhang....the front wheels look like they're halfway down the car.

French electrical problems overshadowed how good they were. Chrysler ditched it's K car based fleet and modified the premier to carry Chrysler throughout the 1990's for it's cab forward cars

Chrysler sales for the Premier weren't enough to make use of all of the transmissions from Renault that Chrysler obtained when they bought AMC, so the Dodge Monaco was created to use them all up.

I love my 1989 ES model. Leather seats. Very well built car!

I never thought much of them back then, just based on the looks. Honestly this wouldn’t make me want one now either. Very positive review though, lots of positive comments in here too. One of my High School teachers had one and he raved about it more than once, so seems like it was a legit good car.

My family owned this car. It was junk, constantly breaking down. However, it was my daily driver in high school and I have many fond memories of it. At the time, believe it or not, it was constantly being mistaken as a mercedes. And we thought it was cool because the nemesis in "road house" had one.

I almost had the Premier mixed up with the Renault/Eagle Medallion. Both cars arrived at the same time. While the Medallion left in 1989, the Premier/Monaco stayed until 1992, as the new LH cars replaced them for 1993.

I bought one for a few hundred bucks back in 1998. The sheet metal was strong like a Volvo and the paint quality was excellent (metallic gray). Everything else failed, however..

I have a Jeep Comanche, I'd like to see a review of it from back in the day. Mine is a 1991.

Good looking car that rode well; it looked better and drove better than the Taurus.

we were impressed by the good 0-60 time of 11.7 days lol.

OMG....LMAO.....WE HAD A 1989 EAGLE PREMIER..IT WAS A LUXURIOUS CAR IT WAS BURGUNDY & GREY IT WAS FAST & COMFORTABLE....MISS IT.

Cool, I had a 1988 White Ford Tempo, with blue interior sedan, my co worked had a car like this. At Lowe's Foods, 1995, Cornelius, NC 😀

Rented these and loved them. One of the few FWD cars that really was roomy. Much better than the larger LeSabre/88/ Bonneville.

DEFINATLY ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL CARS EVER MADE. I AGREE WITH ANY COMMENTS ABOUT THAT

I purchased a new 1988 Eagle Premier ES that looked identical to the two-to be gray and silver test car in this video. It was a wonderful car! Roomy and luxuriously appointed interior, smooth quiet ride and plenty of power. I put 77,000 trouble free miles on it before having minor issues with the fuel injection system. I decided to trade it in on a smaller, more economical car to better accommodate my longer daily commute. I'll always remember enjoying this car, my first family sedan.

That's funny, I've just realised that the doors of the Renault Eagle Premier are exactly the same as the Renault 25... :) Also the front and rear seats, and the dash board :))))

I am 40 years old and I don't think I've seen one of these in 25 years. this would win Radwood for sure.

I had one of these with the V6 as my second car. It was a nice car, and a bit better looking in production than the one they are showing here. It should have actually been the base of future cars like he mentioned.

I remember these. Didnt see them too much at least around here. Its a ok looking car slightly generic. I like the interior. Im surprised a late 80s car didnt have shoulder seat betls..

My wife had one of these when I met her. The damn thing caught FIRE one day. I signed on a used Sunfire that I knew she could afford and everyone thought I was an idiot for doing it. Well, I'm an idiot but we are still happily married 20 years later.

Those pods are just like the ones in the Mitsubishi Magna. 🇦🇺

This was my first car.... Overheating like there is no tomorrow 😂

My dad had one when I was a kid; what memories

He was correct in that this became the basis for the LH chassis that Chrysler transitioned to after the K-Cars. The Dodge Intrepid, Chrysler LHS and New Yorker of the mid-90s were all built on a modified version of this platform.

those Lee Press-Ons on fleek

Why are there so many Renault badges on this car? Did they actually use the car or just the exported Renault? By the way, my friend loves this car!

I got the 1988-1989 Eagle Premier brochure last year...but I like the ES model better.

According to Consumer Reports, this model was plagued with all sort of electronic problems, way more than any of its competitor either import, or domestic.

I love how much of a 'handfull' that car is to handle. Its a rally car. It just is.

I fancy this one.

About 18 years ago someone pulled out in front of me driving one of these. I was going about 45mph and I was in an older Buick at the time and yeah the Premier didn't do so good. I smashed into the left front fender and there was nothing left of the front end of their car. Their car was towed and I was able to drive mine home. Fortunately no one was seriously hurt.

If Chrysler would have developed Eagle as a mid price luxury brand like Honda's Acura brand or Toyota's Lexus brand; would have helped Chrysler do better in that field.

This car was designed by Renault for the European market.When they aquired AMC, Renault brought it over. When Chrysler bought AMC from Renault,they simply adapted the floor plan and engine layout for the LH cars saving a lot in re-tooling costs.

got a 87 Acura legend intead, but a nice design that flopped until DNA went into LH cars. Chrysler also got XJ cherokee that had Alliance wheels that was made from 80s to 2000s

...don't forget the Dodge Monoco, LOL!

I remember this episode on the premier.

They did use this as the the base for the LH platform.

Sur la base de la R25 française ! Jolie ! Je ne connaissais pas !

they were like we'll keep half of Renualt badges

I had one , it was a beautiful POS