I just saw a 1970’s AMC Gremlin, in perfect condition! It obviously belongs to somebody who has affection for the make…although (I think) the company died in 1982 or so. Anyway, I have a few questions:
-AMC made pretty basic/transportation-type cars-did theyever try to market a luxury-styled line?
-I recall reading that AMC was always on the brink of financial disaster-they never had more than 2-3% share of the USAarket-did they die because they were so small?
-is there a collector’s market for AMC cars? I go to quite a few cars shows, and I never see manyof them.
Finally, AMC marketed a faux-sports car model (the “Javelin”?) which was intended to compete with the Ford Mustang and Chevy Camaro-was it a very popular car?
Here’s the wikipedia: American Motors Corporation - Wikipedia
AMC did have more luxurious brands earlier on, namely Packard, Studebaker, and Hudson but these were mostly gone by the 1960’s. Some of the later Ramblers did come in somewhat upscale trims, but nothing like Cadillac or Lincoln. Keep in mind that it was only in the late 60’s that they started selling cars under the AMC badge and by then the company was in pretty bad shape.
My take on AMC is that they were trying to compete directly with the big three, but had nowhere near the resources to do so. The post-war period was a time when people bought cars almost entirely for reasons of style and image (more so, anyways) and the big three spent huge amounts of money convincing people that they wanted the image they were selling. AMC didn’t and unlike VW or Datsun or any of the other future challengers of the big three, AMC’s cars were not really materially different from any of the other domestic carmakers. In a nutshell, people just didn’t have any reason to buy an AMC (unless it happened to be a Jeep). Near the end they realized this and tried more to compete with the big three on price, hence their more frugal later offerings (and partnership with Renault).
As for collector’s market, there’s a pretty good market for Hudsons, Packards and Studebakers and some old Jeeps. Their two muscle cars the AMX and the Javelin have some value, but they’re definitely more of a cult following.
Maybe the CJ5, but the real collectible Jeeps are the Pre-AMC ones (Willys-Overland, Kaiser-Willys). (The CJ5 was also made by Kaiser, and was carried on by AMC until 1983.)
They officially died in 1987 after they were bought by Chrysler.
They tried numerous times to make upscale cars, with varying degrees of success. They tried cutting edge styling, they tried designer interiors, but nothing really took hold. More’s the pity.
They had much more than that at one point. They were very profitable under Romney, for instance, but made several poor decisions under Abernathy and it killed them.
Yes, but outside of some pristine AMXs, Javelins and perhaps a few Rambler Rebels they are cult collectibles (Pacer, Gremlin, Hornet). As for me, I think they are really neat cars, but I am the exception rather than the rule.
The Javelin and the AMX were for a short time, but they were never as popular as the Mustang or the Camaro. And “faux” is somewhat unfair. The Javelin and the AMX were perfectly good sports cars.
As one of a vanishing number of AMC survivors (I owned a '72 Gremlin) I’ll take a shot.
AMC tried to position the Ambassadoras a “luxury” car. But the Ambassador was never intended to compete with Cadillacs or Lincolns – its level of luxury was closer to the Ford LTD or Chevrolet Caprice.
The company was formed out of the merger between Nash and Hudson – neither of which were what you’d call powerhouse competitors. From the very beginning it was trying to do more with less. In the beginning it was sourcing transmissions and large engines from Packard. By the end it was subcontracting excess production capacity to Chrysler. AMC tried a niche strategy to compete by focusing on smaller, less-expensive cars. Ironically, by the mid-70s, when the strategy might have taken off, the company had decided to cast its fate with Jeep and the 4-wheel drive Eagle. Meanwhile, the Japanese imports were beginning to get a foothold in the U.S., and AMC’s economy models couldn’t compete with them.
There are a few models that are fondly remembered, mostly the Metropolitan (and, of course, Jeeps) and have some value as collectors’ cars, but not many.
The Javelin came out in 1968, after the introduction of the Mustang, Camaro, Firebird, Barracuda and Challenger. It was larger than the competitors (a human being could actually sit in the back seat!) Javelins could compete on speed and acceleration, but were generally considered below the Mustang and Camaro in handling and braking. Javelins generally sold about 25,000-50,000 per year – somewhat more than the Barracuda or Challenger. By contrast, Mustang sold over 1 million in its first 18 months.
ETA GreasyJack, Studebaker and Packard were never a part of AMC.
The Ambassador, which was IIRC officially considered a separate make, not an upscale Rambler, was the equivalent of an upscale Buick. It was at one time the only American car on which air conditioning was standard.
Studebaker-Packard was an independent company during its car production years (Packard ended production in 1958, Studebaker in 1966), and the conncection with American Motors only took place after both firms were acquired by Daimler Chrysler.
ETA: Damn you, kunilou!!
IIRC, The Premier
was supposed to be AMC’s flagship model for its new Eagle luxury division.
But, Chrysler bought AMC/Jeep from Renault and instead made Eagles simply re-badged Mitsubishis, Dodges, and Plymouths.
The Premier, itself a re-badged Renault 25
http://z.about.com/d/cars/1/0/f/n/1984_renault_r25.jpg
inspired the 90s Foreward-Cab Mopars, The LH sedans.
BTW, the engine in the Premier is the same as in the DeLorean!
Alabama used the Javelin as a police car in the 70s. Mustangs and Camaros have also been used.
If there is a collectable CJ 5 it would be the Renegade. Manufactured in 1974 (+ or -) it came in two colors…purple and bright yellow. Its most notable option was the 304" V8 backed up with a 3 speed manual transmission. Did not find a photo online, but they were sharp.
When I was in college, an economic prof described the American car industry as being dominated by three-and-a-half companies; she waited for, and received, a puzzled “half…?” and replied “Well, what would youcall AMC?”
Just felt like sharing a couple of pictures of my mom’s AMC Javelin.
That was one kick-ass car.
She took these pictures in 1976 prior to trading it in. Sadly, it had serious rust damage underneath, so she sold it before it lost too much value.
While everyone else was going to school in a station wagon, Mom took us to school in a Javelin
(actually we rode the bus, but the car was still cool)
The Gremlin was an interesting car because it competed against 4 cylinder Pinto’s and Vegas. During the gas crunch they marketed the range of the car (it had a large gas tank so the 6 cylinder went a fair distance). You could order it with a Randolf conversion 401 CI motor if hp power was the order of the day.
The only car I can think of that would compete in the pony car market was the Hornet which could be ordered with a ram-air fed 360 CI motor. I’ve only seen one of them and that was 30 years ago.
An AMX with a 390 ci motor was a pretty stout car. I had a buddy in high school that had one. It was sweet and unusual-looking (as many AMC cars were).
Don’t forget the AMC Eagle and its off-road abilities.
I had a chance to visit Kenosha, Wisconsin, where AMC cars were built, back in 1975. AMC vehicles were everywhere, you did not see many Chevys or Fords.
I owned a couple Gremlin variants,and drove a Pacer and a Hornet pretty frequently. Whatever killed AMC, it wasn’t the quality of their cars. They were as good as (or sucked as much as, if you prefer) the products put out by the big three in the 70’s and early 80’s. Everything that I hated about my AMC’s was exactly the same as what I hated about the Chevys, Fords, etc. in the same time period.
The first car that I ever owned that was basically trouble free was a Volkswagen Rabbit. It wasn’t until 1988, when I bought a Ford Ranger, that I could say the same thing about an American-made vehicle.
The Javelin, faux sports car or not, bested the rest of the American sports car field in Trans-Am Seriesracing in 1971 and 1972.
My grandmother, in her fifties, for some unknown reason, bought a Javelin in the early 1970s. She only kept it for a short time before deciding it was “too fast”, and traded it in on a 1975 Buick Apollo (which ended up becoming my first car in 1985).
It wasn’t the overall quality, it was more the overall weirdness of some of the cars.
The Gremlin was a Hornet with its rear end cut off. Despite the fact that Gremlins looked like hatchbacks, they didn’t come with a hatch. IIRC in the first year model, the Gremlin’s rear window didn’t open.
The Pacer was duly noted for coming with air conditioning as standard equipment. What’s forgotten is that the Pacer’s unusual design made it a rolling greenhouse – if AMC hadn’t included a/c at no charge, no one would have driven a Pacer longer than 15 minutes.
And you’ll notice that a number of posters have fond memories about the high-power options available on AMC cars. Remember that the company’s overall positioning was as a maker of smaller, fuel-efficient, cheap to operate cars. While you could order a Gremlin with a 401 engine, you were flying in the face of the company’s own DNA.
My car in high school was a 1960 Rambler Super. It was pink with a white top and looked just like this one. I still carry the scars.