I guess you are right Eddie about different parts of the country having more AMC's. We have two Ford plants located here so as you can imagine Ford does dominate the car scene around here. Not that you don't find a lot of other makes. For that matter you can go to the Ford plants parking lots and you will see a fair share of Chevy's parked there but for the most part we are a Ford town. We have two very active
Mustang clubs here. So when you go to shows here you see a lot of Fords especially Mustangs here. I go to a lot of shows with a guy I work with who owns a Mustang. He tells everyone that I have one of the most popular cars at the show. I must admit the Gremlin does gets lots of looks. Not because of the shape it is is but just because it is a Gremlin. I like showing it off and hearing the people stories. I think if I had any other car I wouldn't be going to the shows after 10 years. I am a History buff and I love owning a piece of history. I am like you Eddie I encourage everyone on this list to take their cars to the local cruse no matter what shape it is in. I can guarantee you people will look at it and they will have a story to tell you. One of best things I like to do is park my Gremlin in between two Mustang and watch them get pissed off because people are looking at my way less than pristine car and ignoring their high dollar cars. Hey I can't help it if my car is
different and a half dozen of their twin brothers are at the show. I love it. Your right about the Studebaker's Eddie. They are rare as hens teeth.
I think why it is surprising sometimes (just a guess, a Happy 4th of July everyone) but guess it is surprising that they might be only AMC there is some of these areas where the shows go on had a very high volume of sales of American Motors cars back in 50s/60s/70s. Even 80s. So that means that theoretically (big ass scrabble word) that more remain in certain parts of county. For instance two of the highest areas where AMCs were sold in the US were in York...and Erie, PA. Kansas City is another 'hotbed' as was Houston, and Chicago, and several areas of NY like Rochester. Milwaukee comes to mind but that is hometown support.
Granted, there were millions of Mustangs and other things we see now at meets made, and AMCs were made in smaller numbers regardless of what model.
I mentioned several times here that of something like 5 million registered vehicles in and around Houston metro (Houston covers almost 10,000 square miles and about 5-6 counties according to Chamber of Commerce) there are only......about 200 of them registered. That means with tags. So eliminate my 6-7 and number drops. That don't mean there are only 200 AMC's here out of 5 million cars, i know guys with over 30 AMCs not registered, sitting up, or rotting or racecars, or whatever. So not accurate.
Still, it is not uncommon for me to be lone AMCer with Rebel or AMX or SC/360 or anything AMC in a sea of brand x vehicles at cruise nights in and around Houston. And yes, same shit, lots of cookie cutter Mustangs, many cars with exhuast systems or
rims worth more than cars, smattering of mini trucks, or low riders, and yup, usual suspects like Camaros, Firebirds, Vettes and so forth and even some high dollar rides although I don't consider Vipers high dollar anymore but still cool. Even a Prowler or two, come on over here and let me hand you your asshole with my SC/360......
Again, think of the numbers. When was last time you saw a Studebaker at old car meet for instance? They built millions of cars until 1966. I don't even remember the last time I personally saw one at a cruise night or show! Sad!
So never take it personally. My suggestion if you have not fallen asleep from OD of BBQ today is simply do what you are doing! Go out and show off your AMC to people, as you represent us all AMCers when you go. Something you might seriously consider is looking on my LINKS section of my site to see if there are any area AMC or Rambler chapters in your region,
or fellow AMC fans you could get together with and go to these meets or cruises all together or park together, that is even more impressive and will have lots of exposure.
Years ago the local club (of whihc i am no longer affiliated with) was doing the AMC SW Regional and was at the Raddison about 1 1/2 miles from me. A lasting image I will always recall was the San Antonio Alamo AMC club pulling in off I-10. They had a convoy of about 10 cars! Ambassador to Rebel, everyone just stopped what doing, myself included and stared with a big smile, most impressive!!! My member got so hard a cat could not scratch it. Eh, ok, ya'll can live without that visual.
Still, go out and enjoy these meets, mixed makes or not. Even when these cars were new I assure you not a lot of them (copmared to other vehicles production numbers) were at meets, so difficult to gauge in 2007 20 years after our favorite automaker was lost.
Go to meets. Enjoy your cars. Most of all, Have Fun. Patriotic red, white and blue photo enclosed.
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Wednesday, July 04, 2007 7:38 PM
Subject: Re: [BaadAssGremlins] Re: things that make you go hmmmmmmmmmm.............
I don't see why that surprised you. Most of the cruses I go to I am the only AMC there. I would suspect most of the country is the same. You have to remember that there have been over 8 million Mustangs built since they came out in 65. I would guess Camero would be close to that many. Compare that with our 650,000 Gremlins. Guess what you are going to see. Then again if you want an old Mustang or any of the classics get yourself a catalog and you can assemble one out of a book. Try doing that with an AMC.
Terry
GrublinX@aol.com wrote:
As I suspected, I started some lively conversation with this thread. Just got back from a vacation in Niagara
Falls. While in Lockport, NY, the wife and I happened upon two large car cruises and visited both. As is typical, we saw 3 million Camaro's (YAWN), 2 million vintage Mustangs in a variety of colors (REALLY BIG YAWN) and a sea of Corvettes (DROWN). (I swear the vette owners look upset when I walk by without even so much as glancing at their car.) We also saw the usual lineup of off the showroom floor $75,000 and up cars - BIG FREAKING' DEAL.
But what bothered me most was that we saw not one AMC of any kind. Unbelievable. Made me wish I had the Gremlin and Pacer with me. They sure would have drawn some attention.
Charlie
"Cool Factor X"
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