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AMC Rambler Aficionados
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Back around 1973 (?) I was working for Sears. I had a 30 mile commute each way. The gas crisis hit big time...anybody remember? We had long lines and rationing. It was terrible. You could only buy gas on even days or odd days according to your license plate number.
Anyway, a guy at work was selling his elderly mother's 1962 American convertable for 100.00. I decided to buy it just to have another car to keep gas in. Nobody knew if the crisis would worsen.
This Rambler had NEVER had the top lowered. The top was intact but brittle so I never tried it either. I was warned that it burned a quart of oil every 300 miles. That's how far it would go on a tank of gas. The gas guage was broken. It had been using that much oil for years. It didn't smoke or leak it just used oil!
It ran like a top and never caused me a bit of trouble for the year and probably 10,000 miles that I kept it. It even looked good. So Calif car, no rust, etc...
I remember I sold it to a girl at work whose last name was Nash. She called it Nash's Rambler and commuted between San Diego where she went to school and L.A. often where her parents lived.
I ran into her three years later...she still had it. It STILL used a quart of oil per tank and ran like a dream.
Yes, '73 was the year I learned how to siphon gas. Unfortunately this involved some trial and error.
Speaking of siphoning gas, sometimes I keep my Catalina 'vert at my grandmother's house, and sometimes my DeSoto. I have to be careful with the 'vert, though, because my uncle found it very easy to siphon gas out to use for the weed trimmer, tractor, lawn mower, etc.
-Andre
The cops took the guy to the hospital. The owner, between bouts of hysterical laughter, said he wouldn't press charges. He figured the guy'd been punished enough.
And for some gratuitous Rambler references, how about those bizarro Hurst-Rambler whatchamacallits that were produced in very small numbers?
There was also a few colors that American Motors tried out around '68 that were extremely unusual for the time. Some optical brighteners in there, I think; maybe even a little flourescent pigment. Not enough so that it was actually day-glo, but just really vivid.
In one of my old Road & Tracks too there was a picture of an American that looked just like one of my beloved/hated old heaps, winning its class in the Baja 1000.
I also recall an anecdote where a guy in the "hot" (a relative concept) Gremlin met a Ferrari at a light and challenged the guy to a race. When the light changed the Gremlin revved like crazy, lit up the tires and took a long time to turn all that sturm und drang into actual forward movement, while the Ferrari just drove away.
That exhausts my entire repertoire of American Motors trivia.
Back the many of us championed the brand of car our fathers bought. Ford vs Chevy vs Chrysler
One fellow of our aquaintence felt compeled to championhis fathers brand, Rambler. Poor guy!
Most of the Ramblers, to my eye, were at least decently-proportioned and pretty clean; just very conservative, at a time when most of the competition was into styling with a lot of pizzazz and gee-whiz about it.
Stylistically I'd say the Ramblers were a lot more sophisticated than most of the junk from the big 3 until about 1970, when American Motors must have made a decision to modernize and pursue the american slob market; eventually even out-tackying the big boys.
Back the, my friends and I judged cars by how much rubber they could burn. Of course that was not Ramblers strong suit.
Whenever they'd do a compact car roundup, whatever Mopar product they were testing (Dart or Valiant) usually took top honors, although they would get on Mopar for slipping in 13" tires and 170 CID slant sixes as standard equipment, which may have helped keep initial prices low, but who wants a Dart with a 170 and 13" rims?! I had one with a 225 and 14" rims...it wasn't bad, but I wouldn't want anything slower!
I think the Ramblers usually came in second, although sometimes it was a tossup between the Rambler and the Ford Falcon. CR liked the Rambler because they changed them so little from year to year, except I remember one year, they made the backlight smaller, and of course CR griped about it. They usually rated the Chevy II dead last, although when it was redone for 1968, I think they started rating it better.
I do remember that, performance-wise, as long as the Mopars had a 225 and not a 170, they were usually the quickest off the line...0-60 in about 14 seconds, although they tested a 1967 Valiant with a 225 and 2.94 gears at 0-60 in 13. I know these numbers sound lame by today's standards, but for comparison, they tested that most beloved family car of the 60's, an Impala with a 307, at 0-60 in 14-14.5 seconds. I think the Ramblers usually came in at 15-17 seconds, depending on the engine.
One thing that was sad, as the 60's wore on into the 70's, all of a sudden we had V-8 Granadas, Novas, Hornets, and Volares doing 0-60 in 13-15 seconds, about what the better compact sixes of the 60's were doing! Ain't progress great ;-)
Sometime I'd like to get back up to the library, look up those old articles again, and write the stats down just for reference. Might be fun, taking a nostalgia trip like that again!
-Andre
(note: when did 401 production start? 1971 maybe?)
2009 BMW 335i, 2003 Corvette cnv. (RIP 2001 Jaguar XK8 cnv and 1985 MB 380SE [the best of the lot])
I remember an episode of "Happy Days", where Ritchie bought an old late 40's/early 50's Chevy 'vert. It had reclining seats in it. I remember Joannie taking one look at it and saying "Those are Nash seats...they're great for necking!"
Most kids nowadays probably wouldn't get the reference, as just about all car seats recline nowadays!
As for the slow stereotype, sorry if I helped perpettuate it by quoting Consumer Reports tests. Usually, they tested the cheapest, most basic cars they could, but every once in awhile, they'd test some small Rambler with a V-8 in it, and it wouldn't disappoint...although then they'd gripe about it being overpowered!!
-Andre
I'm not sure what year it was, but it was a hardtop coupe, with quad headlights, a formal grille that kind of thrusted forward a bit at the top. The hardtop roofline reminded me a lot of the 1967 Newport 2-door I had, or the '67-69 Barracuda fastback. I'm guessing it was around a '70-73.
My co-worker and I were walking out to lunch one day, and saw it drive by. I said "ooh, it's got a 360 in it." He was amazed that I could tell just by the engine sound. Then I admitted that I just read the badge on the side! Shoulda kept my mouth shut!
-Andre
2009 BMW 335i, 2003 Corvette cnv. (RIP 2001 Jaguar XK8 cnv and 1985 MB 380SE [the best of the lot])
Speed... those parts you were describing were the "Group 19" performance mods option package. I am getting my 69 AMX into the shop tomorrow for a long awaited paint job, got everything stripped out of the interior except the dash board. Never seen that car look so naked. What I would'nt give to get hold of those group 19 mods now, but anyone holding onto them is doing just that or is so out of touch with what they want that it's not worth the investment to me.
Remember the Trans Am racing days when that was the "in" thing in late 60's early 70's?? the Sunoco Javelin, Camaro, Boss Mustang's ??
Well in upstate NY at Watkins Glen Interational Race Track on September 7,8 & 9th the old vintage racers come back to life and I'll be there to enjoy, that should be a great time.
Ray T.
I thought I remembered Roger Penske and Mark Donahue winning a Trans Am championship in a Javelin so I looked in "The Encyclopedia of American Supercars", one of the best books I've run across on American high performance. They won in 1971.
The book also mentions the Group 19 parts. Hot cam with 302 degrees duration, hi rise 2x4v manifold, wide or close ratio four speeds, gears up to 4.44s.
The AMX was a great image car for AMC when it first came out, much like the Road Runner or GTO. The car guys I knew in high school were in awe of it.
My brother just bought a basket case 70 Donahue Javelin that he is restoring, I've never seen so much surface rust! This thing has a factory replacement engine (360)in it since the original owner blew up the first one, it's tagged as such also by the factory. It will be worth some money to a collector for sure when he gets done with it because he is a perfectionist on this stuff.
Ray T.
My uncle used to have a '76 Jeep pickup with that same 360. Very torquey engine!
Anyone out there with experience with these have any comments as to which is better and why?
PS, PB, Auto, and 360 V8 for $1500? I'm thinking of something not too big as a 2nd car for limited towing of a seadoo or something similiar. My WRX wagon really isn't rated to tow.
Side story to a Rebel: When I was a kid in 1970 living in Germany when my dad was stationed at the American Embassy we went to p/u a Boxer/Shepard mix puppy. We had the Embassy driver take us. He drove us in an all black, base 70'AMC Rebel. On the way home w/the puppy who was being pretty out of control, my dad asked what I should name him. The only thing that came to mind was the name of the car...Rebel. So, that became the dog's name. It might be kind of cool to have a Rebel again...the 4 wheel variety as opposed to 4-legged. :-)
Stephen
So how does the Rebel drive- plenty of power and reasonable handling? I'm thinking about the same thing as you: these cars are cheap and reasonably good performers, right? Anybody know what one weighs?
Also, did anyone see the movie "Just Visiting", with Christina Applegate? It had a funky-painted Matador that just looked too retro-cool!
Stephen