The Eagle Optima was a concept sedan developed under Eagle, the Chrysler-owned brand reserved for the American market that had inherited the legacy of AMC. The four-door, four/five-seat notchback design applied the cab-forward concept created by the Chrysler Motors Product Design Office, a layout previously explored on the Chrysler/Lamborghini Portofino and Chrysler Millennium experimental sedans built in Italy. Like those cars, the Optima featured flowing, elegant lines that ran into a rear deck with an integrated spoiler.
At just over 490 cm long, the Optima was classed as a luxury sedan. Chrysler stated that the cab-forward layout improved driver visibility while also providing generous interior space and a large trunk. The rounded nose carried a distinctive bumper with an integrated spoiler that concealed the air intake feeding the cooling system for a longitudinally mounted, DOHC 32-valve all-aluminum V8 driving the rear wheels. Chrysler said this experimental engine was developed by its own Engine Engineering Department rather than being a Lamborghini derivative, and that it was built as a demonstration of technical capability rather than for production.
The car was a running, drivable concept and rode on Goodyear Eagle P245/50 ZR 17 tires, with custom five-spoke wheels finished in a three-coat pearlescent white matching the body. The five-passenger cabin was trimmed in quartz gray with blue accents. Dimensions included a 284 cm wheelbase, 157.5 cm track, and overall length, width and height of 492/186/136 cm.
