Tell me about AMC

[expat]

I came to North America in their waning years, never knew much about them.
The Pacers and Gremlins were ugly and odd, the later Eagle seemed kind of cool.

Seems they used a bunch of other companies engines, so I guess reliability would be mixed.
Anybody own one?

 

[dishdude]

Wasn't it like a merger of Packard and Studebaker? As a kid in the 80's, I always thought their cars were a funky kinda cool with plaid interiors, the weird door handles and the Eagle wagon. Four wheel drive cars seemed crazy. I also remember thinking it seemed like they were cobbled together with parts from other cars like GMs. Remember the Spirit?

For some reason I always thought the Ambassador was an interesting car, although I am not sure I've ever seen one in person.

 

[Andrew1972]

They were a hot potatoe company owned by Renault and then Chrysler in latter years. The 6 cylinder 4.2 in line was shared with jeep and the roots of the venerable 4.0.

My parents owned an 1982 amc eagle which used jeep awd and jeep 4.2l. They gave it away with 285k 15 years latter.

 

[demarpaint]

They owned Kaiser Jeep or part of it at one point in time. IIRC they also had a Matador and a 4WD Eagle. I think Chrysler ended up buying them out, or part of them.

I remember watching a few AMX's and Javelins run at National Speedway in the late 60's and early 70's. They were pretty cool cars at the track. It brings back some great memories of a great time for me.

 

[eljefino]

"All Makes Combined."

For some reason the XJ cherokees used GM 2.8s in the mid-80s.

They struggled with collapsible steering columns, too, so just bought random ones on the market.

The partnership with Renault was sort of meh. Chrysler picked up the pieces and was contractually obligated to make those awful Eagle Premiers and other cars. Renault also contributed the "Renix" fuel injection computers that have no diagnostic abilities and are hated all over. Incredibly the Jeep brand survived and is a profit maker for FiatChrysler.

 

[larryinnewyork]

Around 1980, I bought a 1969 Rambler.
It had 18,000 miles with original tires.
I paid $900 from original owner (80 yo man).

Back then, I was young and didn't do any auto work unless something broke.
I ran it into the ground, mostly from neglect.
It did look nice after I painted it with a paint brush.
It was just a plain looking car with nothing fancy.

 

[NHGUY]

AMC used mostly their own engines,other than the Metropolitans Austin engine,the GM 2.5 Iron Duke and GM 2.8 V6.Transmissions ranged from Borg Warner and Chrysler automatics to various manual trannys.Charging systems ran from Motorola,Ford and GM.Starters were Ford and GM. AMC was a merger between Nash,Hudson,and the Rambler brand.AMC was to merge with Studebaker-Packard but George Mason died before that was to happen.

 

[fdcg27]

Heavens no, AMC was not a merger of Studebaker and Packard, although there was a merger of Studebaker and Packard in the fifties. Studebaker would go on to make some great designs, like the Hawks and the Avanti.
AMC was Rambler, a company with roots going back to the early auto industry as the Thomas B Jeffery Co., with a new name. They made some great cars, like the Javelin and the AMX as well as some weirdly wonderful ones, like the Gremlin and the Matador coupe. Did you ever see "Argo"? The cars pursuing the 747 down the runway in Tehran are Matador sedans. AMC went on to produce the excellent AWD Eagles, based on the ancient Hornet chassis as well as the attractive Spirit hatchback based upon the same.
Along the way, AMC had also acquired the Jeep brand and improved it greatly. The first modern Cherokee was an AMC design.
In the eighties, Renault took an interest in AMC and various Renault models were offered at AMC dealers, including the Fuego, the R5 (Le Car) and the really awful Alliance.
Chrysler bought the company after Renault got tired of breaking their pick in the US market, if only because they wanted the Jeep brand as well as its product portfolio.

 

[Lyman]

I owned a 78 Jeep Cherokee. Chrysler 360, GM turbo 400 trans and GM axles. It was actually easy to find parts for it. I had very few problems with it.
Grandmother had an 4x4 Eagle that She bought new. It was loaded too. I remember the leather seats in it were plush.

 

[simple_gifts]

We had a Rambler; no better or worse than other cars of that era; The other cars we had @ the time were a Corvair and a Buick Wildcat convertible.

Seeing that Spirit makes we want one. The 1970's American "Forester"

 

[Eddie]

I drove an AMC Concord wagon for many years. The engine was a straight 6 of 4.0 or 4.2L. The AT was a 4 spd. No major problems in the 100,000+ miles I had it. Ed

 

[Old Mustang Guy]

In 1975 I was a rookie police officer on the Dallas P.D. We got AMC Matador squad cars that year. Worst cars ever. We got Pontiac Le Mans in 76. Much better.

 

[dishdude]

Originally Posted By: Old Mustang Guy
In 1975 I was a rookie police officer on the Dallas P.D. We got AMC Matador squad cars that year. Worst cars ever. We got Pontiac Le Mans in 76. Much better.


Daddy, the top came off!

 

[bullwinkle]

Originally Posted By: dishdude
Wasn't it like a merger of Packard and Studebaker? As a kid in the 80's, I always thought their cars were a funky kinda cool with plaid interiors, the weird door handles and the Eagle wagon. Four wheel drive cars seemed crazy. I also remember thinking it seemed like they were cobbled together with parts from other cars like GMs. Remember the Spirit?

For some reason I always thought the Ambassador was an interesting car, although I am not sure I've ever seen one in person.

That top one is an Eagle, looked like a Spirit with a lift kit! One of the guys I worked with in the '80s & early '90s actually had a PLOW on one!

 

[Old Mustang Guy]

That's me, holding my training officer's hat on.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Originally Posted By: Blkstanger
I owned a 78 Jeep Cherokee. Chrysler 360, GM turbo 400 trans and GM axles. It was actually easy to find parts for it. I had very few problems with it.


Actually, no: that was an AMC 360 (sharing NOTHING with the Chrysler 360), and the axles were a front Dana 44 and either another D44 or an AMC 20 in back.

AMC was formed by the merger of Nash and Hudson.

 

[lewdwig]

My dad drove various Ramblers in the 1960s, then drove Pontiacs in the '70s.

 

[expat]

I did once, on a whim, look at an AMC Eagle 4x4 station wagon. But one look at the garish 70's Americana interior made me want to

They seemed to stay pretty rust free though, but I had no idea about their mechanics.

But from what I read about them sorcing the GM 2.8 V6 and Renault parts (at a time when Japanise mechanicals were in their prime) it seems foreboding.

 

[Exit32]

I still own a 1965 Rambler American 440 convertible with 43K original miles. This car was made when AMC was doing very well.

 

[HerrStig]

Penske made an AMC go fast in Trans Am.