Ramblers and American
Motors
A Metropolitan police car form the 2000 Park Road parade in West Hartford
CT
This Met is a Nash. Nash/Hudson became Rambler in 1959.
Follow the link for a History
of Rambler.
A fine 1969 Javilin from the Cape Cod fathers day car show in June 2000
A Rambler Story
Right after my dad bought our 65 Rambler Ambassador the Rambler Marlin
was introduced by AMC. He wished he had bought the Marlin, but the
Ambassador had just been delivered. At the time I thought the Marlin
was pretty cool, and I think the car still looks good when seeing it at
show's today. The original Marlin concept was on the Rambler American
platform called the Tarpon (lower left) and looked even nicer. This car
could have been a real competitor to the 64 Mustang. The man in charge
of AMC at the time (Roy Abernethy) thought bigger was better.
When the car did not sell it was moved to the Ambassador platform (lower
right) where even less were sold. That move along with some other
bad decisions almost bankrupt the company in 67. Ray also thought that
the name "Rambler' was associated with economy old man cars (thus hurting
big car sales) and had the name removed from the large and sporty AMC's
after 1965. This is why 1965 was my favorite year. 1965 was the last
year the full AMC line were badged as Ramblers. I can't believe Ray didn't
notice that as he did away with the Rambler name on models sales sank even
lower on those models, sometimes half what they were the year before.
Good move Ray!!! Click on the link to view some 65
Rambler's. It was the introduction of the Javelin in 1968 that
saved AMC temporarily. In 1969 the Rambler named was dropped for
good because it was felt that it was connected to a now bad image.
I think this was a big mistake. The AMC automotive products never
had a brand name after dropping Rambler. Models but no brand.
It was very easy to pull for AMC in racing. They
had a good Trans-Am program and latter went racing with the Matador in
NASCAR. Mark Donahue was a hero and my mom took me to see him race
in the Trans-Am series at Lime Rock in 71 (he won by over a lap).
Latter in the 70's my mom brought me to watch him at Pococno Speedway in
a NASCAR event. He had a chance to win at Pocono also and led a great
deal of laps after Richard Petty retired with a blown engine, but Mark
developed engine problems of his own with about 60 laps remaining.
I have a 1/24 scale model of the above Javelin I built as a child.
It is painted and lettered exactly as above. I also have H.O. Aurora
cars of this Javelin and the #16 Matador shown above. Oh and a 69
AMX Hot Wheels Red line. I'll be adding a hot wheels page latter.
Ah the 70 Javelin I dreamed of!!! Was the Red, White
and Blue paint scheme cool or what?
I think mom would have been uncomfortable with that scheme. Maybe
something like this!!
This car still looks great today (more than you can say for that
dress). Say what you will about the classic 65 Mustang I think the
Javelin has aged much better. By the 70's AMC really started to go
down hill. They lacked a brand name and it seemed like their product
content was getting cheap. This started in 70 with the Hornet.
The interior just looked cheap. The 71 Javelin followed with cheap
looking materials in the interior. I guess 69 was the last really
good year for AMC. The Rambler name was still present on what used
to be the Rambler American.
Some Cool Cars
In 1969 you could get the Scrambler. In 1970 AMC offered the
Rebel Machine. The Red, White and Blue stripes on the side of the
Machine glow in the dark. I have seen only one Rebel Machine in person,
but never in the dark so I don't actually know how well the stripes work.
AMC latter had some pretty unique ideas. Yes the Pacer is one,
but I don't think it warrants a picture. The Pacer was actually a
hit when it was introduced. I think it may be the quality that killed
it. Well people did accept the looks at first, so I really think
it was the big Q!!
So how about a Hornet hatchback with a built in tent. I think the
Hornet hatchback was the last truly attractive car AMC produced.
It had some of the original Javelin lines in it. The van above is
from 1979. AMC was in financial trouble again and took some concept
vehicles on the road to try to stir some interest in their products.
None of the concepts ever went to production due to lack of funds.
If AMC had some backing they would have beat Dodge to the punch with the
mini van. Maybe if that had happened AMC would still be around.
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