RateItAll: The Opinion Network

The little car company that could- - - but never really did. Starting life in 1954 AMC was a combination of Hudson and Nash, two independent car companies with good reputations. AMCs problems, right from the start until the day they ceased making cars was due to the fact that their management team was too involved in office politics rather than making cars which were right for their current market. At first AMC cars were sold with both the Hudson and Nash nameplates but by 1956 everything was renamed Rambler which became its own make. 1958 saw the introduction of the Ambassador and the end of all other nameplates. Current models were renamed and somewhat restyled. The Ambassador became their bread and butter car and for the first time AMC showed a profit. Millions of these were sold and by 1962 they were available with air suspension, fully reclining front seats and a standard feature was dual circuit brakes which at that time was available only on Cadillac, Rolls Royce and some Mercedes models. In 1963 Motor Trend named Rambler the Car of the Year. AMC went through the 1960s with an indentity crisis. Instead of embracing the solid granny image which gave them the loyalty of a certain portion of the buying public, they started to add bigger engines to smaller cars and attempted to compete with Detroit's Big 3 on their turf. The Marlin, originally designed as competition to the Mustang, was put on a bigger wheelbase than first planned (and displayed to the public as the Tarpon on the original smaller wheelbase) and the end result looked more like a full size Dodge Charger which caused it to be a poor seller because the performance was not there in the bigger and heavier body. By 1968 they got it right when they introduced the Javelin and the Javelin AMX. Javelins were originally offered with the 232, 290, or 343 cu in V8 engines, the AMX was available with the 290 or 390 cu in engine and with performance options such as the Go Pack the car was quick and a good handler, it was competitive with Mustang and Camaro, and sold well. The AMX was a 2 seater as the standard Javelin seated 4. AMC shoehorned their largest engine into the smallest body and created a little monster known as the SC/Rambler, also known as the Scrambler, also known as a Hurst Rambler. Deciding that they needed a truck, AMC bought Kaiser, maker of the Jeep which would keep the company alive when car sales began to slump. By 1970 they were producing smaller cars like the Hornet and Gremlin and they sold well. AMC did not have a 4 cylinder of their own so they bought the rights to make Audi's 2.0 4 cylinder but made the mistake of replacing the Bosch fuel injection with a carburetor. The engine was slow and noisy and vibrations were hidden under soft engine mounts. In 1975 they introduced the Pacer, a car designed around the passengers with safety and comfort it's main objectives. It sold well at first but within 2 years sales dropped dramatically. Then the Concord and Spirit were introduced and around this time they entered into a joint venture with Renault. Things get complicated from here because AMC and Renault became almost two companies with one product. 1980 saw the introduction of the Eagle line which featured raised suspension and all wheel drive. The 1980 recession hurt AMC more than other car companies and by 1981 Renault owned almost 47%. Between 1981 and 1987 AMC cars were Renaults and in the end only the Eagle line remained without a Renault nameplate. Renault wanted out of their association and Chrysler wanted the Jeep so Chrylser bought the company. All AMC/Renault cars were renamed just Renault and AMC became the Jeep/Eagle division of Chrysler. On Dec 14, 1987 the last AMC, an Eagle wagon, rolled off the assembly line. During it's life AMC produced some solid dependable products as well as some colossal failures, but much of their history was a case of making cars that were almost a success. Short sighted management never allowed AMC to have a real identity and in the end it lost everything to Renault and then Chrysler. Except for a few early years of glory and a handful of great cars which were right for their time, AMC was mismanaged out of existence. Hudson and Nash deserved a better ending than to become half French and then a division of Chrysler which itself would later be sold to Damlier-Benz.