As American Motors began to move away from the Rambler nameplate (its final hurrah was in 1969), the 1966 Ambassadors were labeled as AMC. The cars had been heavily restyled in 1965 and now rode on a longer wheelbase than the similar Classic. This 880 model is said to have a mere 20,000 miles and has had the same owner for the past nine years. Located in Plymouth, Massachusetts, this show winner is available here on Facebook Marketplace for $13,900. T.J. comes through with another great tip!
Three trim levels of the Ambassador were offered in 1966: the 880, 990, and DPL (new). So, the 880 was the entry-level edition, but this was hardly a stark car. A 287 cubic inch V8 was standard, with a 327 being optional (the seller’s car has the former). Unlike a lot of these automobiles, this one was built with a 3-speed manual transmission with overdrive. The easiest way to spot a ’66 Ambassador vs. a Classic was the Ambo’s use of stacked headlights.
This AMC wears Balboa Blue and Cortez Aqua paint, which looks outstanding (original). The matching interior is equally nice. The presentation of the car is excellent, and it’s no surprise that it’s won twice at local car shows. Recent work done includes a rebuild of the 287’s carburetor, a new muffler, and some new suspension pieces. As a result, the Ambassador runs as nice as it looks (per the seller).
Originally sold in Kansas, the former Midwestern car is now in New England. It seems to have avoided harsh weather in both of those locales. Perhaps the seller has too many toys, and it’s time for this one to move on. If I were closer, I’d be tempted to take a run at it. How about you? Or reader Howard A?
Ha! Well, I would like it, but that stick, you know. Now, we go around and around about what a car with low mileage looks like, a better example you won’t find. It has the “rattle can” tune up, and in the front wheel shot, you can see the ill-fated trunnion at the bottom of the spring,( I think) and another on the bottom A arm, replaced by ball joints in 1967.
Again and again, great find, and realistically, probably one of the easiest column shifted cars to drive, if they can grasp the concept, that is. We won’t even get into the O/D part.
This is very similar to my grandfathers( not the Packard one) ’65 Ambassador. After the ’61 Classic, which I learned was NOT a trunnion failure that did it in, was the A arm connecting points to the body that rusted. He got the ’65, but didn’t drive it much, and was relegated to the back yard listening to the ball game and secretly smoking cigarettes behind my grandmas back. Like she didn’t know. Nice car, stick is gonna kill the sale.
Lower ball joints were actually introduced in the 1962 Rambler Classic and Ambassador as I recall, though the American (actually a restyled 1950 Nash Rambler through 1963) retained lower trunnions.
Trunnions continued to be used for the upper control arm and were finally replaced across the board for 1970, at last putting to rest “Satan’s idea of ball joints” in AMC/Rambler front suspensions.
These have a longer wheelbase than the Classic but the stretch is all ahead of the firewall, a trick from Nash days, that makes the car look bigger but provides no additional interior space.
I see on this car while the aftermarket air conditioner uses the same general type of 2-cylinder “paint shaker” compressor that the factory used, it is mounted in a different place. (Factory AC would have the compressor mounted right next to the oil filler pipe.) Looks like there is no fan shroud. That’s something you would want if driving this car on really hot days with the AC on.
This car looks great up top, but having lived its life in the salt belt you really want to see the underside. I stay away from Facetube so don’t know if the seller has provided such photos there that are not shown here.
Early to mid 60s AMC always gets my attention. This was the 2nd and last year of this body style, for both the Ambassador and Rambler. They were more attractive than what followed. Some (most) will say “too bad it doesn’t have the automatic or Twin-Stick”, but a 3-speed with OD will be more economical to drive, so there’s that. Some might also say the price is a little high for this beautiful car, but if the seller will talk turkey, it should go for a decent price.
The older I get the better an AMC/Nash looks. Nice car but if look closely, is that an old Jeepster in the garage?
Car looks pretty good, just click on the link, trunk and wheel well shots look ok.$14k seems reasonable per inspection.
Balboa blue, and Cortez aqua colors do look great… 💯 agree Dixon 👍
Some prefer the three-on-the-tree to the automatic. Personally, I’d be happy w/either, if I liked the particular car.
The ’66 Ambassador I owned was an 880 four door like this one. Mine had the 327 2-barrel and automatic but no AC, PS or PB.
That was one of my most enjoyable cars. I liked it so much I went on to own a ’67 Ambassador convertible and a two door hardtop.
They were all great cars, and I miss AMC!
I found one of these in the boneyard several years ago except it was white and had the red houndstooth interior. I had never seen one of these before and thought it was such a neat car.
I snagged the grill, (which is now hanging in my carport as wall art), the console, (which is made out of thick fiberglass and weighs way more than it should) and the red houndstooth pillow that miraculously was still in the car. One side was very sun faded but the other side is still really nice.
The console is hanging largely forgotten on the wall of my Man Cave / shed and I have no idea what I am ever going to do with it but it was too nice to let it go to the crusher.
Trivia: The “Rambler” name survived into the 70’s in Australia. We even had RHD Rambler AMXs