If you’re an AMX fan but a regular AMX (is there such a thing as a regular AMX?!) isn’t good enough for you, here’s one that will knock you on your keister and have you scrambling to get in touch with your personal banker for that second mortgage. This incredibly rare car is a 1968 AMC AMX Von Piranha! It can be found here on craigslist in Denver, Colorado and the seller is asking $10,000 for this must-have two-seater. Thanks to JSack for sending in this great tip!
This car is mouth-gapingly cool! They are rare, almost as rare as anything out there and I’m surprised at how great this one looks given its location outside under a tarp. I don’t see any flaws in the body at all, but the seller is only giving us four lone photos. I know, craigslist and eBay both allow a dozen or two photos for no extra charge so why people continue to just snap a shop-teacher’s-handful of photos in 2019 is beyond me. They appeared to use a very wide angle lens which is actually helpful in this case. Although the distortion is a little painful. But, only four photos? This car is amazing almost no matter what condition it’s in and how many photos there are.
Thoroughbred Motors out of Denver modified an estimated 22 AMXs in 1968 and 1969 and created the ultra-rare Von Piranha edition. I’m not sure if the roof scoops are functional on this example – they were on race versions to help cool the interior – but if they are this car could be even more rare and valuable. This doesn’t appear to be a race-only car so I’m guessing that those roof scoops are just for show. The interior looks great for a car that appears to have been sitting outside in a yard in the snow under a tarp for who knows how long. This car was originally red which you may have guessed by now, but I really like the gold color. A car this rare deserves to be restored back to original-spec, in my opinion. As much as I’m not a fan of red cars, in general, I would probably do that.
Now you know for sure that it was a red car. The seller says that the odometer shows 23,000 miles. This is AMC’s 390 cubic-inch V8 and it has “the 3-barrel carb, R4B and driveshaft loop” according to the seller. This appears to be the real deal and they say that “the engine runs well and tranny shifts well but has a leak.” If this car can be restored by an owner rather than in a restoration shop at $75-$100 an hour it seems like a good deal at $10,000. Have any of you seen an AMX Von Piranha?
Nice write up Scotty, I am also not a red paint fan, but the gold with a black or white inside would look real nice. Very cool car and the price seems good.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwiH6NGsnefgAhVVHzQIHYZEBu4QzPwBegQIARAD&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.hotrod.com%2Farticles%2Fthe-30-year-mystery-of-von-piranha-1968-amc-amx%2F&psig=AOvVaw1SmdkanzwfJIMU9N3nZFFm&ust=1551745703214624
Nice and priced reasonably .
Back to original….pronto. When I was 14 or 15, an associate of my Dads came to visit one weekend…..that AMX he was driving made a big impression on me. Always liked the AMX but have no clue what they’re worth. Maybe AMCFan has an idea.
What did someone do to the hood?
I hate when a seller claims whatever the 5 digit odometer reads is the actual mileage and offers no documentation to back it up. They would be better off leaving that information blank than come across as a liar.
Steve R
Nothing. That’s the way they were delivered. BOT featured one a year or two ago…great looking cars.
On the outer edges of the raised portions there is no sheet metal. You can see the inner substructure, either someone started modifying this hood and didn’t finish or an insert was removed.
Steve R
Other pictures indicate there was an insert there!
It may be missing the insert to your point but again, the hood came that way from the factory. I remember seeing one as a kid in ATL on I-20…before I-20 became a parking lot. lol Good picture here: https://www.hotrod.com/articles/the-30-year-mystery-of-von-piranha-1968-amc-amx/#1968-amc-amx-von-piranha-hood-alt
This is the second time in recent days that I have seen reference to “BOT”. I am not familiar. Please elaborate.
Hi Steve, just a guess but I think it supposed to be BAT. Bring a Trailer.
Good article.
https://www.hotrod.com/articles/the-30-year-mystery-of-von-piranha-1968-amc-amx/
Ad is down already. I’m sure that sold quick at that price. Looked like it was in pretty good condition and that custom rarity probably attracted the AMX aficionados.
I am original owner of a 1969 AMX and still drive it when weather is decent. Sorry guys, this thing is pug-fugly. My AMX is a 4-speed, so I have nothing to compare. But, the shifter seems to be sitting on some kind of a non-original box/hump. As they say, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. So is ugly. Yenko improved cars. Not so sure about Thoroughbred Motors. Hope it found a good home.
gone!
I have a buddy and he pulled the 390 out of an AMX a guy was restoring and my buddy set it up with good rods full roller cam nice intake and heads, it had a very beautiful sounding idle good lump. The car was original 4 speed, I got to drive it out to the owners house to deliver it the car was in primer yet but it drove well and wow did that engine have some serious SNAP! I have loved the AMX ever since that day!
BTW, the 290, 343 and 390 all used the same block in 1969.
What were the scoops on the roof supposed to accomplish? Kind of odd looking.
mikestuff: I mentioned it in the 3rd paragraph, where on race/track cars those roof scoops were functional to help cool the interior.
What were the scoops on the roof supposed to accomplish? Kind of odd looking.
Not only are those scoops ugly, they go against everything I’ve learned in 40 years of working on race cars.
The last thing you want to do is draw air into the interior of a race car. The inside of a race car acts like a parachute, when air gets trapped inside the car. For those scoops to serve any real function, they should be mounted at the rear of the roof, to vent air out of the interior.
That’s a great point, gbvette62. Not to mention it may look a bit better and not be such an air-drag.
Perhaps the race-prepped versions had no rear window, or other cutouts to vent what the scoops picked up.
A second one of these just showed up on Craigs List in Denver. It says the only other known one is a gold one in Denver.
https://denver.craigslist.org/ctd/d/salina-1968-amx-rare-rare-trade-trades/6858002925.html