If you find yourself asking "What's a Matador?" it appears you are not alone. From the looks of this self deprecating AMC commercial the company had accepted that even two years into the model run, people still didn't know what a Matador was.
In reality the Matador was a renamed and restyled AMC Rebel, but that certainly wasn't what the car company was advertising. To AMC the Matador was "one of the best kept secrets in Detroit".
The following year AMC introduced the radically styled Matador coupe as well as a complete redesign for the coupe and wagon. Matadors went on to race in NASCAR and had already found favor with many police departments by 1973.
Even so, we imagine when the model line was discontinued in 1978 there were still plenty of people who wouldn't have been able to answer the question AMC asked in this vintage advertisement.