[AMC-List] Sticker shock

["Mahoney, John" <jmahoney@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>>
I figured no one would be interested in the JC Whitney  Aouga Horn my
father put in his new 69 Rebel that I have had in every one of my second
cars
<<

I once borrowed one and had it temporarily wired into my '34 P-A 840A (150HP@3400RPM from 385CI with 5.50:1CR --- since you're into engine specs these days) 
and then drove it to a PAS picnic at a verry fawncy house.  I arrived quite late to be sure all were assembled and "ah-hooga-ed" up their long driveway --- sounding just like a Model T or A Ford.  When everyone wanted the hood raised to see what was making the racket, this looks like what they saw.  Priceless. 

http://tinyurl.com/yjdp9d

And Pierce-less: fun day.  Honk if you like laughter --- or old cars.

http://www.classicandexotic.com/inventory/pierce.htm

http://www.flickr.com/photos/chadnibal/191499472/

(Disclaimer: that's not my 840 --- or me --- in any of those photos...)


>>
that's called a klaxon, why i don't know but i'd speculate it was the
original company that invented them or their brand name.  i've seen
all mechanical versions that must date to the teens or early '20s at
least.
<<

The electrical version, credited to Miller Hutchison (who had worked with Thomas Edison), was not named "Klaxon" until 1908 --- after manufacturing rights had been bought by a parts maker in New Jersey,

http://tinyurl.com/utmn8

whose president, F. W. Lovell, used the Greek verb "klazo" (to make big scary noises while attacking your enemies) for his product name.  

Klaxons were the first electrical devices commonly installed in cars: they used 6 volt dry cells, later rechargeable [woowoo] batteries.

Who sez we're so hot (cool?) because we got iPods and cell phones?

But, as John Elle just observed, our automotive world has changed.

http://www.clublexus.com/gallery/data/500/medium/LS460L_005.jpg

http://www.clublexus.com/gallery/data/500/medium/LS460L_006.jpg

http://www.clublexus.com/gallery/data/500/medium/LS460L_024.jpg

http://www.clublexus.com/gallery/data/500/medium/LS460L_028.jpg

http://tinyurl.com/yh5mfk

It's good that cars still need help from human hands:

http://www.autoshop101.com/

http://www.autoecu.com/Products/default.asp

And "Blaat!" Klaxons still sound in the UK and Italy:

http://www.klaxonsignals.com/

http://82.193.8.13/index.aspx?

We don't need to put ALL auto history in the junkyard.

Some of it may even warrant the attention of AMC fans. 


If you didn't buy this old eBay AM car:

Item number: 200042381476 

you may plan to build this new "AMX/4":

Item number: 170044631956 

(If you're too lazy to cut-and-paste, you are no fan.)


19,134 - 17,450 = 1684.  # AMX versus # Alpines built.

If that engenders another dig from "Doc", be my guest.

Without words --- or numbers --- there's nothing left.  

So be it.


Just think what might have happened if the GTA launched in 1984 --- the famous line of sports cars that had gunned for Porsche: quick (a 6 sec. 0-60), fast (a 150mph top speed), responsive (grippier than a 911) and a comfortable (French, after all), quiet, long-distance machine (it even had rear seats like the Javelin/AMX!) that was also rust-resistant (fiberglass) and, ahem, reliable (in Europe, at least!) that would have used the Douvrin V-6 straight out of the Renault-AMC (R25) Premier and would have shared a money-saving supply of interior bits (one reason -AMC- re-styled the sedan's interior: any AMX would have used some of the same pieces) too --- just imagine what an '86 AMX/4, even before being bumped to 250hp (for a 165mph top), could have done to a less, ahem, "modern" icon of America.   

http://tinyurl.com/yxols6

http://www.delorean.co.uk/turboarticlepics/gta.jpg

Can you see the the Spirit of the Pace Car for PPG in it?

If you can't, can't you build an online American Center?

Where every AMC word, number, and image can be found? 

I guess it's completely hopeless.  No way, no how.


But back then...

GM might have made a different C4 CERV.

Honda might have made an earlier NSX.

AMC might have made another decade.

Rambler might have made history.

But American Motors didn't.

And now it's long dead.


Like Frank, I'll be off awhile, so here's something to discuss:

How was a genuine Duesenberg engine part of the AMC family tree?

How was Western New York a part of that motor's story --- twice?

Or thrice --- if you count the maker of its non-electronic carb.

Make "Rambler Mentality" mean more than cheap, old, and oddball.


And laugh while learning.  Life can be smart and funny at once.

"Hey, Mr. Rose, we're back to swap the battery in your Buick."

"You should be all set for winter now.  That'll be two bucks."

http://www.rootsweb.com/~miporthu/Gaffney/Streets_06NOV1930.jpg

"Methanol's OK too.  Ethylene/Propylene Glycol?  What's that?"

"You been readin' them new comic strips: this ain't 1937 yet!" 

http://www.biglittlebooks.com/buck_rogers.html


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