The portfolio highlights the 1973 AMC Matador from the LAPD Rampart Division.  I acquired the car in August 1999 and loaded the car onto a transport and took it home.  The car came without the 401 engine and transmission.  The vehicle had the official "Z" VIN Number for the police pacakge, and I was planning on using the 360 V-8 engine from the other car.  I took the 1973 car to my mechanic and had him assess the feasibility of repairing the engine and placing it into the LAPD car.  After 1 day, the bad news.  The engine had a blown oil seal, the crank was cracked or damaged, and a couple of pistons needed to be replaced.  The estimate was $1100.00.  I decided to begin looking for the elusive 401 police package engine.   I began thinking that I should have just completed the 1971 Matador and been happy with that.  In just 3 days, I was in contact with a former LAPD officer, now retired, and he had a rebuilt 401 engine with less than 3,000 miles on it.  He delivered it and I bought it for just under $800.00 - the estimates for just a short block 401 V-8 was $1100.00, so I felt very lucky.  I was assured that the engine was in good shape.  I had my mechanic check the engine out and it was, and indeed, it was very good shape.  The LAPD car was moved to the paint and body shop.  I stripped the tan '73 Matador of all useable parts and began putting all the pieces together.  The LAPD car was stripped, and all bad parts were tossed.  The old tan '73 Matador came in as a donor car, and it saved me thousands in labor and parts.  The car was given to the owner of the 1971 Matador who would take the front end and use the disk brake system, and other suspension parts for his project.