390-Powered 1968 AMC AMX

It’s funny the things you’ll remember from your school days. My late calculus teacher shared an anecdote with me, knowing I was into cars, about his younger days when he was ignored at the Chevy dealership while shopping for a new Corvette Stingray. Thus, he got into his car, drove to the local AMC dealership, and bought a new AMX instead. I think about that story almost every time I see an AMX, such as this very nice, well-documented 1968 model with a 390 and the “Go Package.” Barn Finder PRA4SNW found it here on Hemmings Marketplace, where the bidding has been active, with the current high bid of $29,500 not yet meeting the reserve.

I have to give it to the owner; the listing is exactly what you want to see when you’re buying a car online: the documentation is complete, the pictures are plentiful, and the ad copy is thorough enough that I suggest you click over to Hemmings when you’re done looking around here. The car has had five owners, all of whom have taken good care of the car. Here, we can see that the AMX is originally from Long Beach, California, and was factory-equipped with the “Go” Package, which included a Sure Grip differential, power front disc brakes, a heavy-duty handling package, heavy-duty cooling, and the “over-the-top racing stripe.” And that black stripe looks great on this car’s “Hialeah Yellow” paint, which was redone in 2001.

The 315-horsepower 390 is equipped with the Shift-Command automatic with 3.15:1 rear gears. You can see that this car has air conditioning, which has been refurbished and recharged with R12 by the current owner, but since it isn’t listed on the reproduction window sticker, we have to assume it was added at a later date. There’s too much maintenance to mention, but the engine, which has never been rebuilt, “does not smoke or burn oil.” The seller believes that the 92,254-mile odometer reading is original.

When the car was repainted in 2001 (when the lower quarters and “sections of the floor” were replaced), the AMX got a new carpet and headliner, while the upholstery was repaired rather than being replaced (the seat foam, however, was new in 2001). The door weatherstripping is new as well.

The undercarriage looks very solid, and it appears that whoever did the body repairs painted the undercarriage a uniform black. Maybe AMC restorers can let us know what the original finish looked like in the comments.

Perhaps the thing I like best about this AMX is that it’s wearing steel wheels with basic wheel covers, a combination I’ve only seen in period photographs. How many AMX owners popped a set of Magnum 500s on their cars and cast these covers to the four winds? I know I might be in the minority, but that alone make me love this pale yellow two-seater from the good folks of Kenosha, Wisconsin. With nice paint, rechromed bumpers, and a lot of documentation, it’s a beauty. I know my calculus teacher would have approved.