The 1974 AMC Matador was the last American Motors sedan a civilian buyer could order with a genuine 401 cubic-inch V8 before that engine got locked away for police and fleet duty only. Buried under a boxy, unglamorous body was a real big-block warrior that law enforcement agencies loved for its brute reliability. Today it’s one of the most overlooked big-inch survivors from the muscle era, still selling for a fraction of what a comparable GM or Mopar commands. Here’s why the last-call 401 Matador deserves way more respect than it gets.