By the numbers

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

Errata: 1975, not 1974 was when Pacer predicted the future; 294, not 174 was how rare those beautiful or homely (your eyes; your beholding) 1958 pillar-less Ambassador wagons were (so, using my unscientifically handy-dandy 5% equation, 15 should exist now), that Mitsu Raider link was to a truck photo, not a beach bunny pose (although some Raiders probably will be equipped with a Playboy Bunny on bumper or window), and, thankfully*, the luminary list was from a real contest, not another random ramble of mine mind.  Let's address those errors.  Let's count Ambassador wagons.  

Hardtop total: 294 in '58, 578 in '59, 435 in '60.  '58 is rarest bird.		

Later totals: 13,984 in '70, 9,944 in '71, 7,070 in '74.  Coffin nosed. 

Now let's dissect the cadavers.  Since Brougham, SST, and fleet (base) models were produced in '71, but only one trim level (plus, perhaps, a very few trim-less cars for sale to fleets) for '74, the rarer of each generation of [LWB] wagons were not the final years.  The '71 Brougham should be the later version of the '58 Cross Country flagship --- were AMC a strong and sane space for car lovers to appreciate finer things.  If AMC were Chevrolet (or Ford or Mopar), it would be doing just that, while it saw its stock (and its car prices!) rise in the marketplace: since AMC is AMC, it now can only watch its muscle car market be picked off by those priced out of the Big-3 sweepstakes (and by those seeking to impress their Big-3 buddies by throwing money at something kinda different) while the rest of its output (and most of its history) is laughed at.  The joke is on more than one level.  The punch line is still on AMC.

I don't care who laughs at what for whatever reasons; I do wonder why AMC still can't seem to get its collector car show on the respect road.  
  
If Ambassador sedan production dropped by about 10,000 from '70 to '71, hardtop sales fell by over 40% and never recovered.  The last three years of what should be one of the most collectible near-classics by American Motors are now virtually invisible to the car-crazed nostalgia world.  If, say, a '71 AMC Ambassador Brougham 401 hardtop were, say, a '67 Chevrolet Impala SS [396 or 427] hardtop instead, it wouldn't be yet another "not-seen" AMC car forgotten.  It wouldn't be a $5 or $10k beggar.  It would be a $15, $18 or $20k jewel in anyone's collection.  And many more anyones would be hoping to wear an AMC-collector crown.  


http://tinyurl.com/c29ov

(Is it an "import pickup" 'cuz they're writing about it in Canader?) 

http://www.mitsucars.com/06raider/

As you reconsider Dodge and Mitsubishi, remember Rambler and Renault 

http://tinyurl.com/cvbss

and if you Rebel at the price of gasoline, reflect on how Reliant we've become on vehicles a little --- or a lot --- bigger than we really need, 

http://tinyurl.com/7fcxc

then join the auto rebellion: Reliant, AMC, Mitsubishi, or Dodge.

http://mclellansautomotive.com/photos/B5477.jpg

Just don't flout the hi-test MPG of your 375-hp 4-bbl 440:

http://www.allpar.com/squads/engines.html

You could be run over by massed hybrids.

Skinny 15" tire marks are not healthful.

Even if only organic granola is thrown...


*Thankfully I'm not responsible for errors or omissions: "Cheverolet" is their typo.  I make those without thinking --- wholly on my own.

http://www.experienceeverythingautomotive.org/app.asp?id=75

You still have time to enter.  A great event.  Good luck.

AFA who was most influential, I nominate Kettering, Sloan, or Leland.


I also let Brooks Stevens speak for himself.  (Can you hear him now?)

Get it?  Verizon, Valkyrie, Vee?  The more you read, the more fun had.

Of course, sometimes his "V" became a "B" --- note his custom fenders. 

http://www.lmgauto.com/art/jensen/brooksbugatti.jpg


Now note how I Veer back to AMC Via Hudson, when Country Club debuted.

http://tinyurl.com/dzby3

(And by 1939, Hudson was really on a roll: Six, Big Boy Six, Pacemaker Six, Country Club Six, Country Club Eight, and LWB Country Club Eight.)

Yes, AMC fans, while Nash was the "Chrysler" (or the "Mercedes") in its merger of equals and Nash brought along its great history, -Hudson- had even more of a history --- in terms of substance and styling.  So Hudson was a burden, with its fat-fendered old Step Down and a failed compact. Mason --- or even more, Romney, missed a wonderful opportunity when Hudson was buried so fast.  Hudson stylists could draw circles around the very few designers Nash had and Hudson quality made Ramblers look like trash.  Hudson had --- or at least, had had --- a reputation and a desirability that Nash had --- or at least, hadn't had since the depression --- only dreamt of.  After it all was over, Nash never made any cars this grand. 

http://tinyurl.com/7ksg7

http://tinyurl.com/7bojh

Oh well, have a hot dog, a beer, flash a Nixon-style "V" sign to Brooks and never ever ask who really could have designed the 1970-era AMC logo.  If you found out, the truth squad might have to kill you.  Or worse, you might be made to drive 2005's Weinermobile.  (That would -really- Arrest your Development; even if it were painted like SC/Rambler and Machine.)

http://tinyurl.com/awfps

http://tinyurl.com/chhr5

http://tinyurl.com/8wpdw

>>
"Country Club" is the hardtop. I don't think the hardtop wagon had the
"Country Club" name on it, just "Cross Country" like all other wagons. The hardtop was only in the Ambassador line IIRC, I'll have to check.
<<

Taking 1958 again, as an example, the full title of "Ambassador Custom Hardtop Cross Country" shows how American Motors' name game was played. While "Country Club" two-door hardtops had been routine for that decade (the 1950-born baby was introduced with "Nash Presents America's Newest Hardtop Convertible --- The Rambler 'Country Club'" while the open baby carriage was first called a "Laundau" and subsequently a "Convertible"), in 1958, two "Glorious Rambler Country Club 4-door hardtop" models that were "growing fastest in popularity --- now available in Record Economy 6 and Rambler Rebel V-8" were on the market.  There were two sizes of 4-door hardtops in '56 and '57 as well.  Don't take my word for it; check the brochures.  


Time gone again: looks like I'll never have enough to write about what was up with the Pacer/Matador.  Maybe I'll just post wheelbase numbers and body styles and let you deduce something about the styling from them.

100" 	Pacer			3-door hatchback and 3-door wagon
110"	Pacer			5-door wagon
110"	Matador (Classic)	2-door sedan
115"	Matador (Classic)	4-door sedan, 5-door wagon
115"	Ambassador		2-door pillared hardtop
120"	Ambassador		4-door 6-window sedan

The intent of that body design was obvious: why else would there be a 77" wide small car? 
				

PS- Ben, the wagon part of this six-brochure package is a good resource... 

http://tinyurl.com/d4rao


(No, it's not my auction)