Those of us who remember American Motors Corporation will recall names like Gremlin, Javelin, Matador, Pacer and Rambler… and even if you aren’t a fan of their work, you’ll appreciate the excellent condition of this collection, up for bids at Mecum soon. Thanks go to reader Larry D, let’s take a look!
American Motors came to be in 1954, a result of the merger of Nash-Kelvinator and Hudson motor companies. It was the largest ever corporate merger at the time, and it led to the creation of some of the most fascinating and iconic vehicles ever produced. They gave the traditional Detroit “Big Three” a pretty good run for their money, but they just couldn’t hang on, so they folded in 1988 and were integrated into Chrysler Corporation by 1990.
That’s not to say that the name is forgotten – by no means at all. American Motors designed and produced some of the most recognizable vehicles of the 20th century, and the set of vehicles up for sale is a pretty decent cross-section of their passenger car lineup.
Just take a look at these things. They’re all looking very shiny and appear to have been kept pretty well, and the market for some of them has skyrocketed in recent years, while others are not quite as interesting.
AMC passenger cars may not have been appealing to everyone’s taste, but these nice examples really are worth a look. That’s what we think, what do YOU think? Let us know in the comments!
I’m a fan as I have a 1971 Javelin base model that I like a lot. A Pacer with 1,800 miles! I imagine that will be the top seller of the collection but I have been wrong before. I thought that there would have been at least 1 AMX in the collection.
And no SC/Rambler, nor Machine, or my favorite design, the ’68 Ambassador. But still, a nice bunch of cars.
The ’72 Gremlin and the ’82 Spirit GT would be my two picks for my garage! :-)
Moparman…the ’79 GT would be my pick as you could get the 304 V8. My Dad bought one brand new at Tyson’s AMC-Jeep in Tyson’s Corner, VA. It was Silver w/Black vinyl bucket interior, Magnum 500’s w/blackwall tires, factory AM/FM/CB, power EVERYTHING, a 4-speed manual, and a Twin-Grip differential. I drove that car when I was a kid, several years before I was old enough to get a license. I learned to drive a stick at a very young age. It ended up catching fire under the hood in D.C. rush-hour traffic and was totalled…only to be replaced by a new, 1983 Nissan Sentra Wagon from Rosenthal Nissan, across Route 7 from Tyson’s AMC-Jeep.
That, was the coolest Spirit I have EVER seen.
that Javelin pictured, is a ’69 and looks exactly like the one I had back in ’74. SST, stripes and vinyl roof and all. It should also have the 390 engine.
It has the 343 CI V8
“Highlights
44,644 miles
Highly original condition
In a collection for 5 years
343/280 HP V-8 engine
High compression 4-barrel carburetor
Automatic transmission
Magnum 500 wheel
Redline tires
Gold with Black racing stripe and vinyl top
Beige interior”
Absolutely love the Javelin, what a beautiful car, they are all in beautiful shape
Fantastic collection!
I have to think that the wheels on the Matador wagon are not original. They match the ones on the Pacer.
Jim wheels are original to the
Car.
Wheels were option in brochure
yup they are, had a bunch of ol amc products including pacer station wagon and boy I have to say most comfortable seats ever put in a car
I want three of these, but I would rip the whitewalls off of all of them. Huge AMC fan here.
Our day has come
And it only took 33 years, AMCFAN
I’ve lived it. I know.
I would take either the Gremmie or the twin-stick American.
Auction estimate of $55-65k on the Gremlin X!!!!!
OK, I was looking at the pics of the inside of the Gremlin and I never would believed you could buy one with interior this great looking. I had a friend with a Gremlin X was his interior this good looking and I just don’t remember or were there different levels for the X ? Anyway you look at it there was never a Vega or Pinto Interior that came close to the one in this Gremlin. Great looking little car.
Wow, I’d be like a kid in a candy store!
I’ve always had a love/hate thing with AMC cars. My parents had a 75 Matador 2 door when I was almost 2 years old. According to my mom, it was the worst car she had ever driven and she vowed she’d never buy anything with an American name on it.
Love them all, but that Javelin is gorgeous! A friend from high school had a Rogue convertible very similar to the one here, only black-on-black. I helped him do some basic work on it; what a well-made nice car it was. We need a force like AMC now; didn’t know how important a company like that was until they are no more.
I’d take the Javelin as my first choice, but the Rogue convertible would be high on my list. The look a little dumpy with the top up, but a the perfect size for a top down cruise on the mountain roads around my on a warm afternoon.
Among my favourites are the Javelin and AMX, the Matador, the Rambler, the Spirit and the Eagle Wagon.
I owned a !968 javelin SST with a 343 then ordered a 1971 AMX 401 with all the trimmings, wish i had that one back. Still looking. Best racing cars ever made.
Gotta B the AMX (not shown) & pacer waggy (never the coupe). The other wagon’n vert aren’t bad. In the original article they hada ’63 “American” (2nd gen ’61/3 like mine which was a vert. The 1st gen was very “Nash-ie” ’58/60). So the 1st 4 I mention (well, w/the ‘Americaan’ I’d drive it today too) would B my choices. Quite alot for an orphan (company).
Nother orphan I’d love is the i8 or straight 8. Wish I had a V4 and i8 to play with. Tinker all day w/them~
I agree. I love the 1967-70 Javelin SST and 1967-69 AMX.
My 1st car when in high school was a 1963 AMC Rambler Classic, gold with a white top close to the one in this sale. I also had a Gremlin-X, Renault LeCar, my dad’s 1982 AMC Spirit and a red 1964 Rambler American Convertible. My wife had 2 AMC Concords between 1983 and 1994. Never had a new car until I bought my Hyundai Veloster in 2013 (I consider it to be a modern version of a Gremlin or Spirit.) I saved a lot of money over what many of my friends were spending on other cars and repairs.
Saying that AMC “folded” in 1988 is incorrect or at least misleading. Folded usually means they went out of business and stockholders got nothing. In fact, AMC stock converted to Chrysler stock in 1988 and then converted to Daimler-Benz stock when Chrysler was bought by Mercedes Benz in 1998. So my 100 shares of AMC became 38 shares of Chrysler and that became 23 shares of Daimler in 1998. So I still have my old AMC stock now as 23 shares of Daimler worth more than I paid for it and paying a nice dividend!
The link was working yesterday but it is not anymore and on mecum there are no amc’s to be found …
These cars all appear to have been removed from the upcoming Mecum Indy auction. Not sure what happened or why but I was really looking forward to seeing them cross the block. My very first car was a 61 Rambler Ambassador 4 door. It had the bigger V8 (327?) and ac and it took a lot of abuse. Have had multiple other AMC cars over the years. Too bad we won’t get to see these sell.