Vehicle sighting - 1968-ish Rambler

[Number_35]

This Rambler American looks like an unrestored original, and still a daily driver - I'm calling it a '68 because it's got side-marker lights, but it could also be a '69. They're pretty similar. The Rambler American was touted as America's only legitimate VW-fighter.

 

[pbm]

A nice, simple car....Is the 232 six related to the Jeep 4.0 straight six?...I think it might be...

 

[Eddie]

Had one. Mine had a flat heat six cylinder engine. Forgot the year though. Ed

 

[Old Mustang Guy]

I recall one bought new by a friends parents. I believe a 65. I think it looked almost like this one.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

Guy down the road a bit from me has a blue one in his side yard, I think he's planning on putting a 390 in it ... Some decade.

If it was a Dart I'd jump on it. I want to build a semi-beater 360 dart with a three on the tree - easy maintenance + fun daily driver - and no comprehensive insurance and limited collision.

I don't think the U.S.of A. had a VW fighter in the mid 60's. If GM had made a base Corvair with a 4 - that would have done it.

Otherwise just boring, "poor" people cars like Falcon, Chevy II, Valiant, Rambler, Dart - all with wheezy sixes or 4's.

Alternatively, My Father drove a Brit Triumph Herald Sedan to the train station in the late 50's an early 60's. 1959 Model Year.

I recall it had "white baby buggy bumpers" because if i brushed by it wearing dark slacks, the rubber inset would leave a big white "chalk mark" on my pant leg. Oh My!

My Brother took it to King's College one semester, and blew the rear end.

 

[MasterSolenoid]

Some time in the 80's, I had a 1969 Rambler.

It belonged to an 80 year old lady who gave up driving.
It had 18,000 miles and I paid $500 for it.

This was before I knew how to do PM work.
I drove it for nine year and pretty much let it fall apart.

But I still have two of the hub-caps hanging in my garage.

I have fond memories of that car.
I'd braze steel patches on it and once painted it with a paint-brush.

 

[wag123]

The last 242ci 4.0L I6 used in Jeeps up to 2006 was a direct descendant of the seven main bearing 232ci 3.8L I6 that came out in 1964. IMO it was the best mass produced I6 ever made. The fact that it lasted 52 years is testament to just how good it was.
Through 1965, the standard engine in the American was a flathead 196ci I6, it was the last flathead engine on the market. This car, equipped with the 3-speed manual transmission with overdrive, was the champion in the Mobil Economy Runs and was considered a VW fighter. The OHV 232 was optional in the American from 1965 on, but a smaller displacement OHV 199ci 3.3 L version of the same engine was standard from 1966 on. I had a couple of Americans back in the day. They were sturdy/reliable/durable cars and were inexpensive to purchase, maintain, and repair. But, they had rust problems wherever salt was used in the winter. I had to retire both of mine due to rust, but the engines still ran well. Besides the engine, the two things that stand out in my memory are the reclining front seat backs, and the excellent heaters. They were highly regarded cheap winter beaters when I was in high school.

 

[CR94]

I agree with everything Wag123 said.

My parents briefly owned a '59 Classic with the OHV version of the old 196in³ engine. It had the first spin-on oil filter I ever saw. Because oil filter wrenches were unknown then, my father bought a heavy chain-style pipe wrench to take the thing off.

In addition to the 199 and 232 in³ versions, there was a later version stroked to 258.

 

[Chris142]

One of my customers has a 65 Rambler with 34000 original miles. Has the 287cuin V8.

 

[PeterGreen]

Since we're feeling the love for all things AMC-ish,, in the seventies, I had a job in a gas station, and my boss asked me to deliver a customer's car to her home about a mile away. it was an Ambassador from the early 70s with a 401. I know by that time, the big three all had 7 litre engines, and this lacked a few cubes compared to a Hemi, a 429, or 427, but boy did that car have oomph. (Naturally, I was just driving it vigorously to make sure there was no residue in the carbs.)

 

[fdcg27]

These were cheap cars at the time and cheaply built, but darned if that greenhouse and side profile don't look like they were cribbed from the Mercedes W115, but the Rambler came first.
Maybe Mercedes emulated Rambler's design?

 

[andyd]

Thanks to AMC's thrifty-ness their engines /transmissions swapped easily. You could put any AMC V8 into any AMC. in the 70s A 401 would drop into a Gremlin

 

[atikovi]

Had this 64 back in 92. Had added on A/C that actually worked.

 

[Chris142]

Originally Posted by PeterGreen
Since we're feeling the love for all things AMC-ish,, in the seventies, I had a job in a gas station, and my boss asked me to deliver a customer's car to her home about a mile away. it was an Ambassador from the early 70s with a 401. I know by that time, the big three all had 7 litre engines, and this lacked a few cubes compared to a Hemi, a 429, or 427, but boy did that car have oomph. (Naturally, I was just driving it vigorously to make sure there was no residue in the carbs.)

After the emissions killed the 440 the AMC 401 was still liked by the police.

 

[wag123]

Originally Posted by andyd
In the 70s A 401 would drop into a Gremlin

I know, I did this myself. The car went like stink, it was scary fast. It had a low compression 401 so it ran good on cheap pump gas. It ran in the high 11's which was fast enough to blow-off pretty much everyone I came up against on the street. Frankly, the whole car was scary. It only weighed 2500 lbs, very cheaply built, there wasn't much to it.

 

[talest]

Beep Beep...
Originally Posted by wag123
Originally Posted by andyd
In the 70s A 401 would drop into a Gremlin

I know, I did this myself. The car went like stink, it was scary fast. It had a low compression 401 so it ran good on cheap pump gas. It ran in the high 11's which was fast enough to blow-off pretty much everyone I came up against on the street. Frankly, the whole car was scary. It only weighed 2500 lbs, very cheaply built, there wasn't much to it.


Beep Beep...

 

[dishdude]

It looks like the car the Soviets drove in Chernobyl.

 

[Rolla07]

My dad had one, his fav car to this day!

 

[talest]

For a Rambler to pass a Caddy, would be a big disgrace.
The fellow rolled down his window, and yelled for me to hear...

 

[ARCOgraphite]

Originally Posted by dishdude
It looks like the car the Soviets drove in Chernobyl.


Eto napominayet kakoy-to gor'kovskiy avtomobil