Rare ONES Hearing the word American car, our imagination will immediately drift to the 'mischief' of a muscle car which has indeed become the hallmark of American cars. And a muscle car is an American-style sports car that has a distinctive power and design. Maybe we are familiar with the rows of American muscle cars produced by Ford, GM and Chrysler, so maybe we rarely know that there's the American Motors (AMC) had also produced the similar muscle cars named the AMC AMX.
The AMC AMX was the true sports car and the real high-performance edition, although it has not fared very well in the market. (Picture from: OldCarsWeekly)
The AMX's starting point came when American Motors hired Dick Teague as assistant design director in 1959. Three years later he became vice president of Automotive Styling and since then a new era has begun at the company. At the time Teague's job is to transform American Motors from being a small economy car builder to more broad-scale one, so that it could compete with the Detroit's Big Three (Ford, GM, and Chrysler).
By the way the decision taken by AMC, it turns out that many parties, especially historians, regretted that could be happened by saying that the company should keep building only small cars, or at least small and medium-sized cars, and avoid direct collisions by making larger models, because Ford, GM and Chrysler are considered to be more experienced and owned that market segment, so it's become very difficult for the AMC to rival them in that time.
1966 AMC AMX Prototype is a full-sized model of a two-seat sports car concept that features AMC's "Ramble Seat" for two additional passengers at rear is designed by American Motors Corporation (AMC) and known as the first "AMX" (American Motors Experimental) named car. (Picture from: Wikipedia)
But what can I say, AMC has already decided to participate in enlivening this market segment thus by full of confidently the company launched and produced the AMC AMX ranging from 1968 to 1970. The car is a two-seater GT muscle car model and also known as one of the two American two-seater sports cars, and making it in a direct competition with the Chevrolet Corvette, which has a wheelbase of one inch (2.5 cm) longer, but for substantially less price.
The AMC AMX is fitted with the optional high-compression medium block 390 cu in (6.4 L) AMC V8 engine. (Picture from: OldCarsWeekly)
The AMX name originates from the "American Motors experimental"
code used on a concept vehicle and then on two prototypes shown on the
company's "Project IV" automobile show tour in 1966. One was a fiberglass two-seat "AMX", and the other was a four-seat "AMX
II". Both of these radically styled offerings reflected the company's
strategy to shed its "economy car" image and appeal to a more youthful,
performance-oriented market.
The AMC's muscle car is fitted with the optional high-compression medium block 390 cu in (6.4 L) AMC V8 engine, it could be said that the AMX offered top-notch performance at an affordable price. Then what about the performance? As Eric Dahlquist wrote up the 1970 AMX in the December 1969 edition of Motor Trend and summed it up as 'one of the better constructed cars around.'
The AMC AMX also known as one of the two American two-seater sports cars, and making it in a direct competition with the Chevrolet Corvette. (Picture from: OldCarsWeekly)
The test car had the optional 390-cid V-8 that produced 325 hp at 5,000 rpm and 420 lbs.-ft. of torque at 3,000 rpm. It drove through the Borg-Warner four-speed gearbox to a 3.54:1 rear axle. Zero-to-60 mph took 6.56 seconds and Dahlquist did the standing-start quarter-mile in 14.68 seconds at 92 mph. Top speed in fourth gear was recorded as 109 mph.
The AMC AMX had a production run of 4,116 units, which made it the rarest of the three two-seat editions during 1968 to 1970. (Picture from: OldCarsWeekly)
In spite of this value and enthusiastic initial reception by automotive media and enthusiasts, sales never thrived. However, the automaker's larger objectives to refocus AMC's image on performance and to bring younger customers into its dealer showrooms were achieved.
After three years in the production line with 4,116 units ever produced, the two-seat version was discontinued in 1970, and the AMX's signature badging was transferred to a high-performance version of its four-seat sibling named the Javelin is produced ranging from the 1971 to 1974. Although the AMX nameplate was to be used again on Javelin- and Hornet-based models, the two-seater AMX was the true sports car and the real high-performance edition, although it has not fared very well in the market. *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | HEACOCKCLASSIC | OLDCARSWEEKLY | WIKIPEDIA ]
The AMX's starting point came when American Motors hired Dick Teague as assistant design director in 1959. Three years later he became vice president of Automotive Styling and since then a new era has begun at the company. At the time Teague's job is to transform American Motors from being a small economy car builder to more broad-scale one, so that it could compete with the Detroit's Big Three (Ford, GM, and Chrysler).
After three years in the production line with 4,116 units ever produced, the two-seat version was discontinued in 1970, and the AMX's signature badging was transferred to a high-performance version of its four-seat sibling named the Javelin is produced ranging from the 1971 to 1974. Although the AMX nameplate was to be used again on Javelin- and Hornet-based models, the two-seater AMX was the true sports car and the real high-performance edition, although it has not fared very well in the market. *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | HEACOCKCLASSIC | OLDCARSWEEKLY | WIKIPEDIA ]
