Our latest book for Motorbooks, The Complete Book of AMC Cars, hit the shelves on October 29, 2024. Patrick Foster and I created a definitive history of American Motors, the small automaker that achieved great things. driving.ca gave our book a glowing review while also praising my employer, Hagerty. You can check it out here!
Back in the 1960s the factories could build just about any combination of components — if you knew someone. The gentleman that ordered this one-of-a-kind 1966 Mercury Parklane Q-Code, powered by the Police Interceptor 428 V8, with a multitude of options including the rare factory Child seat, didn’t have that advantage. So when his order was rejected by Ford, he called headquarters in Dearborn, and eventually spoke to Lee Iacocca himself. Iacocca finally relented and made a phone call, order accepted. This Mercury was recently purchased from that original owner, has just 43,300.9 miles on the odometer, and is completely original, right down to the factory windshield washer fluid. It is now part of The Automobile Gallery museum in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and will be a future Photo Feature in Collectible Automobile magazine.
The 1974 AMC Matador Coupe looks like it was born for the race track. Instead, this sleek coupe was designed to compete with personal luxury cars like the Pontiac Grand Prix or Chevrolet Monte Carlo, although the slippery shape certainly benefitted Roger Penske’s NASCAR team. Unfortunately the coupe was launched just days before the first Arab Oil Crisis. The victim of bad timing and bad luck, the Matador had excellent first year sales but rapidly declined afterward. This 304 V8-powered Matador Coupe came from Wyoming and had just 9,123.9 miles when photographed!
“Introducing the American Eagle. Totally new, totally exciting and totally right for the 1980s!” Roy Lunn was the Technical Director of Engineering for Jeep after engineering the Ford GT40, GT Mark II and GT Mark IV that won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1966–69. Working with FF Developments and GKN Ltd. in his native England he created the revolutionary four-wheel-drive AMC Eagle. Based on the AMC Concord sedans and wagons, the 1980 Eagle was first mass-produced 4wd automobile. Later versions could be switched to two-wheel-drive, and were the official vehicle of the National Ski Patrol. They were also used by the California Highway Patrol and rural letter carriers due to their excellent traction. This immaculate 1987 Eagle Limited was one of just 5,203 Eagles built that year, and on March 10, 1987 AMC was sold to Chrysler, who then built the final 2,305 Eagles in ’88, the last AMC vehicles. We just photographed this Eagle for our upcoming book, The Complete Book of AMC Cars.
The sleek fastback shape of the Rambler Marlin was quite striking when introduced in 1965, a year before the 1966–67 Dodge Charger and three years before the 1968–69 Ford Torino fastback. It would have been even more attractive had American Motors’ CEO, Roy Abernethy, not intervened. A tall, large man, Abernathy felt cramped in the rear seat and demanded his designers raise the roof over the rear seat by 6 inches. Stylists sweat fractions of inches to get the right profile, imagine what 6 inches did to Bob Nixon’s design! Still, it’s a great automobile with a beautiful instrument panel and interior. Most Marlins were V8 powered, this one is a rare 232 six-cylinder car. Look for it in The Complete Book of AMC Cars published by Quarto/Motorbooks next year.
The 1964 Rambler American was a critically important product for American Motors. As their low-price leader, it would carry on the Rambler legacy in a throughly modern compact. The 1964 Rambler American 440 Convertible we just photographed for The Complete Book of AMC Cars is proof an inexpensive car can also be very stylish — designer Bob Nixon made sure of that. This the second AMC we’ve have photographed that was purchased by a grandparent and is now in the hands of a 20-something grandson dedicated to its preservation.
Long before minivans and SUVs ruled the roads, station wagons were America’s people movers. AMC’s large Matador and Ambassador wagons were some of the best: smooth ride, luxurious interior, and good power, all with AMC’s focus on value and reliability. This 1978 AMC Matador Station Wagon has the multi-function tailgate and folding third seat, perfect for families. It also represents the last of the big AMC cars, killed by the second Arab Oil Crisis and the cost of meeting the government’s draconian regulations. After 1978 AMC made nothing but compact cars.
We are trying to photograph the most important cars in American Motors history for The Complete Book of AMC Cars. The 1970-77 Gremlin was certainly one of them, and the ’72 Gremlin X we just photographed is a great example. This Butterscotch Gold Gremlin X is originally from California, and has the special California emissions compliant 304 cu.in. V8, identified by the engine’s red paint. Gremlins were the perfect automobile the weather the economic storms of the 1970, as well as the two Arab Oil Embargoes. My late brother, Ray, drove his Gremlin trouble-free for over 175,000 miles — very common for these cars!
We just photographed this amazing 1977 Pacer Sedan for our upcoming book. It was purchased new at Ken Simonis AMC in Waukesha by the owner’s grandmother, and the family has preserved it ever since, now showing 46,956 miles since new. The Pacer is much maligned today, but it actually was a masterpiece of the AMC philosophy of innovation and finding niches the Big Three ignored. Compact yet amazingly roomy, the passenger side door is 4″ longer to facilitate entry to the rear seats. What a great idea. And had everything gone according to plan, the Pacer would have been narrower and powered by a two-rotor rotary piston engine. You can read the whole story of this amazing people mover when the book is published in September 2024!
The 1959 Rambler was the right car at the right time, launched as the United States was recovering from a serious recession. They were smaller on the outside than most contemporary cars, but the interior was as large as most full-sized vehicles. We recently photographed these 1959 Rambers, a Custom four-door sedan and a Custom Cross Country station wagon for our upcoming book, The Complete Book of AMC Cars. The ’59 Rambler was a huge success, American Motors built 242,581 of them that year.
