American Motors fans unite!

C'mon, admit it - you gotta love American Motors products.

(Those of you under 30 are forgiven if you've never heard of American Motors. It's time you learned.)

The merger of Nash and Hudson to create AMC in 1954 was supposed to be followed by another merger with the Studebaker-Packard liaison to form a full-line car maker to turn the Big Three (General Motors, Ford, Chrysler) into the Big Four.

That latter marriage never happened. Both Packard and Studebaker eventually died, but AMC soldiered on for a few more decades.

Among its many successes, AMC introduced the concept of a 'compact' car with the original Rambler in the late-1950s (OK, maybe the Henry J got there first, but its parent company Kaiser died soon afterwards). The others (Chevrolet Corvair, Ford Falcon, Plymouth Valiant) slavishly followed AMC's brilliant lead.

At the time Ramblers were the only domestic cars with reclining front seats. Although they generally appealed to older customers (who could have a wee nap on their way back to the retirement home from the bingo hall) their owners often wondered why their grandchildren always wanted to borrow Grampa's car to take their, um, friend to the drive-in movie.

(Those of you under 30, ask your Grampa what a 'drive-in movie' is.)

The Ramblers of the mid-'60s were very handsome cars, styled as they were by one of the true and largely unsung geniuses of domestic car design, Richard Teague. AMC was chronically under-financed, so Teague would be given a budget of about $25 and told, "Go come up with all-new cars!"

It was amazing what he did accomplish - this is a Rambler Ambassador 990 2-door coupe:

Even the much-maligned Hornet (of which, as regular readers know, I own a fairly pristine and amazingly original example, a 1977 hatchback, orange as only a mid-'70s AMC product could be, fake cast alloy wheel hubs, white pin stripes, vinyl roof, white buckets, 39,000 original miles, runs like a top, if it had an 8-track it'd be PERFECT) was an exceptionally well-proportioned car.

No, seriously. Park your prejudices and take another look. Simple but elegant front end; long, low hood; thick C-pillar and tall rear deck (on the sedan and coupe); gorgeous flared wheel openings - all design concepts that would later find their way into cars ranging from the Volkswagen Jetta to the Mercedes-Benz C-Class.

True, those wheel wells were usually filled with tires not much bigger than those off a Schwinn bicycle (ask Grampa...).

But the fundamental elements were there.

AMC rang an amazing series of changes off this basic platform - about the only one they had. Sedan, coupe, hatchback, and the extremely lovely wagon.

Lop off about two feet, and you had the Gremlin.

Pop on a fishbowl body, and there's your Pacer, again much maligned (Wayne's World, anyone?)

But as usual, there is a story.

As I heard it, the Pacer was supposed to be a much smaller automobile, powered by the Wankel rotary engine which General Motors was developing at the time. But AMC couldn't afford a new (or even a revised) platform, so the Pacer went on the same old guts, making it larger than it was intended to be. GM also canned the Wankel project, so the Pacer front end had to be stretched to accommodate either the stove-bolt six or one of AMC's V8 engines.

Even small changes to a car's proportions can ruin its looks; major alterations at the (relatively speaking) last moment like these meant the Pacer never had a chance, despite some clever advertising ("Is that the new 'Alfonzo di Credenza??'")

Later in the Hornet's life, AMC jacked up the body, stuffed the Jeep four-wheel drive gubbins underneath, and created the Eagle line. Don't let anyone ever tell you Subaru or anybody else invented the 'crossover'.

Ah yes, Jeep. AMC had acquired the rights to this fabled brand name, as well as the ancient "Cherokee" which had begun life as a Willys. For better or for worse, AMC also created the whole SUV craze.

Renault bought AMC in the early '80s, in yet another of the French company's (always vain) attempts to establish itself in the North American market. When that failed, Chrysler bought what was left of AMC - namely, the Jeep brand - and AMC went to that corporate automotive boneyard in the sky.

Now, these blogs are supposed to be short, quick hits. But once I start to wax on AMC, well, this is what you get.

Your chance to learn more about AMC and to see some amazing automobiles occurs today (as you likely read this; Saturday June 26 in any event) from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., at the Northern Ramblers Car Club of Canada's 15th Annual Rambler-Rama American Motors Car Show and Swap Meet (maybe I can find an 8-track) at Haugen's Bar-B-Q Restaurant in Manchester Ontario, just west of Port Perry. Take Highway 12 north out of Whitby - there are signs to Haugen's all over the place around there - or call Steve Johnson on the day of the event at 416 702 1053.

Registration to show your pre-1988 AMC (or related - Jeep, Rambler, Nash, Hudson, even Essex) product is $10, $20 for vendors. Owners of lesser marques can come and admire.

Rain (oh no!!) or Shine.

See you there!

*** OOPS!! ***

UPDATE: The beloved Hornet fired right up this morning, and was splashing merrily along towards the 427. Traffic was considerably heavier than it was yesterday; rain, construction near Hurontario and possibly an earlier collison - an OPP cruiser was still there. But once it opened up again, I started to feel a strong vibration somewhere in the driveline. U-joint, maybe? It only happened at around 100 km/h, so from the "the better part of valour is discretion" file, I took the back roads home. I'll have Bill, our car guy, take a look at it at his earliest opportunity.

Sorry, Northern Ramblers and AMC fans - I'll try again next year.

******

Comments

[Tom D]

I agree. The 1968-70 Javelins are some of the best looking Pony cars of the era, though a bit plain on the inside and the 1969 Ambassador SST in 2-door coupe or wagon form still is one of the most attractive cars styled in that era. Add to that the Hornet SC360 and you're right - beautiful styling.

I had an Eagle SX/4 with manual transmission, and on very cold mornings with the fluids in gearboxes, transfer cases and differentials all not warmed up it seemed like it took all the power of the 232ci six to get the car up to 80kph.

[Bill Taylor]

Right on, Jim. The Hornet IS a good-looking car. But even the Gremlin had its own quirky charm (which didn't, alas, extend as far as its driving qualities). And the first-generation AMX was one of the best-looking muscle cars. Thirty five years after the event, I'm still kicking myself for passing up the chance, in 1975, to buy a mint, low-mileage '70 AMX, with the 390 and 4-speed, for $1,500. I somehow wound up driving a six-cylinder Plymouth Duster instead....

[Tim Garrett]

Hey Jim! I just stumbled upon your page when doing a yahoo image search for "Orange AMC Hornet". I own a 1974 AMC Hornet that when NEW was painted almost EXACTLY like your pictured car! The differences were: mine is a 74 vs your 77 model, so mine was painted in "Sienna Orange" vs your Orange which seems a bit brighter than the rusty brownish Sienna Orange of 74. Also, my top was a PAINTED white top vs your vinyl. Mine also didn't have the white "X" stripe down the side. Mine was re-painted a 1973 "Grasshopper Green" color by a previous owner way before me. I've been toying with the idea of painting mine back to Orange again, hence my search for "Orange AMC Hornet", which brought me here. THOROUGHLY enjoyed your article and AGREE 100% with everything you said about AMC, which is almost identical to what I tell people! I even like to point out to people that scoff at the notion of ever owning AMC "junk" as they drive their Hummers that THOSE were designed by AMC people! They all say.."No..it's GMC..NOT AMC!" I say..."Nooooooo...GMC bought it from AM General which was a subsidiary of AMC...go read up on your automotive history!" When I prove it to them they are astonished! Which goes to show you that AMC had a MUCH broader footprint on the automotive landscape than many realize. Even the designer of the Porshe 928 ADMITTED that the rear end of that car drew it's inspiration from the AMC Pacer! Anyway, if you care to see my car, it's on youtube at this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmUdCW0hS6g Also, please update us with how your Hornet is doing now! I hope that you are still enjoying it and that you were able to get it fixed! Sincerely, Tim