Cute, cute, cute, and cheap, cheap, cheap. Those are the words to describe this little gem of a 1961 AMC Rambler on craigslist. You maybe wouldn’t think of it if someone said, “dream car,” but when you see it, your heart is stricken. Is this the car Aunt Bea drove to the set of The Andy Griffith Show (and in the show itself)? No, but it’s in the ballpark. Maybe you folks who watch Hazel could see her driving this. That show premiered in the same year this car was born, after all. Curvette found this, another masterpiece of a tip. The car is at a $4900 asking price now, off an initial price of $5900 and sitting in West Linn, Oregon.
What’s not to like about that four-door configuration and dog-dish hubcaps? It’s no muscle car, but a get-around buggy more stylish than any modern car. Look at the side spears and vestigial fins. That color—perfect for a four-door sedan, and I bet you’ve never seen a rear-window configuration like this, a kind of mini version of the popular bubbletop 1961 Impala. As for the paint, that’s a bit perished, but the other P-word, “patina,” is what the seller offers up. Apparently the car is clear-coated to preserve that look. (Shades of a pro re-seller are all over that fact, something to keep in mind before you fall too far in love.)
Inside, you’ve got bench seats front and rear, so you and five friends can tear up your town. That is, if they’re not big people. Adding 1000 pounds of passengers might just tax the original straight six engine’s ability to go 0-60. Or zero to anything. How about the three-speed column shifter? That theft-proofs this little gem. What car thief knows how to operate one of those these days? Add in crank windows and granny-style cloth upholstery, and you’ve got a way-back machine on your hands here.
The only potential problems are rust issues and need for a mechanical rebuild, as the 38,000 miles showing on the odometer are likely plus-one-hundred-thousand, per the seller. The rust has been repaired in the passenger side floor, apparently, by welding in new metal. No word whether that’s any kind of properly configured floor pan. Don’t laugh—I’ve seen flattened coffee cans used to replace parts of floors, and that at a car being sold at a classic car retailer, not a guy with a welder out behind the garage. But that’s less a concern that whether other areas of the body have been attacked. As for the sheet metal as a whole, there appears to be a crease at the base of the front driver’s side fender. And in terms of inspection photos, there is no view under the hood or in the trunk. Consider the ad a starting point, and do your homework from there. You might just find this little sedan the right car for your adventures.
Ya gotta love it. It looks like a lot of fun for not a lot of money, maybe even a little room to negotiate the price. 3-on-the-tree, a straight six, and tail fins, what’s not to like? They even welded in the floor patches. I went to look at a Chevette once, the drivers seat was bolted to a YIELD sign. The YIELD sign was bolted to nothing.
How are the trunnions?
Arrgh
That would be my concern, seeing a photo with the car listing to the side. Although the trunnions can be repaired/replaced even at this late date, you really don’t want to mess around with “Satan’s idea of ball joints” if you don’t have to. Certainly most of today’s mechanics wouldn’t know what to do with them.
Trunnions aren’t that bad, especially not the old style this car used. The big rubber bushed upper trunnions of the 64-70 American/Javelin/AMX are more troublesome. See https://amc-mag.com/front-suspension-2/
Hhhhhhhhere we go ,,,,again. This was a car very similar to my grandfathers car, the one that had 41,000 miles and the trunnions were rusted. His was an automatic, and cream colored, it was a tough decision to junk it. He loved Ramblers. For the record, no way on 139K, these cars just didn’t last that long, and still look like this. Aunt Bea drove a Studebaker, I believe, but never shown on the show. Ford was the sponsor and the 1st car we saw her drive was a 1954 Ford Sunliner. I didn’t watch Hazel that much, and apparently, with Ford also the sponsor, was seen in several cars, but never a Rambler.
Now the reality, this car is a dinosaur, and doesn’t have a snowballs chance in Hades. The deal breaker is and will be, the manual transmission. Pray the clutch doesn’t need replacement,,
BTW, I realize some may be getting tired of hearing my stick schtick, but it’s clear to me why most of these cars for sale are a manual, nobody wants them. A darn shame, as with an automatic, this would be gone by now. They all would. I can’t think of a single bigger deterrent.
I always look forward to Howard’s comments. Informative and humorous at the same time.
Howard, I believe that trunion replacement (by those in the know) would trump the manual transmission issue. AS THOSE IN THE KNOW ABOUT TRUNIONS (YOU HAVE TO FIGHT SPELL CHECK FOR THAT WORD) A MANUAL TRANSMISSION IS A PLUS!
Great looking cars? Not exactly. Flashy? Not exactly. Gut that wasn’t their purpose – they were designed to be basic and economical transportation for those who didn’t want the mainstream GM, Ford and Chrysler products that were larger and while flashy, were common. The manual transmission is a killer for most, but if you want the unique, then this is up your alley. I do dread to think about having to replace some parts on it (the trunnion issue would be tough), and being PNW born and raised, don’t think that the tin worm hasn’t done some issues. Check that underside very carefully to see if there are going to be COSTLY issues, because if that “replacement” floor pan wasn’t done correctly, well that may be another issue. It would be a nice little car to putter around town in – my uncle had a 62 Classic wagon that seemed to be pretty sturdy, but he traded it in for a ’67 Ambassador wagon (he seemed to be an AMC guy in the ’50’s through ’70’s).
The 232 six, if well maintained, has a lot of life left at 138xxx miles. They were bulletproof. Dad was a gifted mechanic and they bought new Ramblers. 1st was the mid 50’s then early 60’s then Mom’s stunning black on red Classic 2 door hardtop with a 287 V8. I think there were 3 or was it 4? None of these cars were automatics but were all “Stick and Overdrive” like this one. I don’t know the production #s but I think automatics were in the minority, at least the many I knew of. Clutch replacement? OBTW these had a torque tube rear end that had to be unbolted and shifted back. WARNING: there were years when AMC experimented with aluminum blocks, a failure that I wished I had known about when I bought a used one. In high school borrowing the family Rambler for a date was not the embarrassment that you might think. Did I mention that the front seats folded back level with the rear. :-) Terry J
Unfortunately, the 232 six was still about 3 years away. This is the old small bore/long stroke, OHV 195.6 inline six. Which was ok in its day, but not the durable, long-lasting modern (7 main bearing) inline six that AMC came out with in 1964 (and lasted essentially 40 years).
The 232 didn’t come out until late 1964. This would have the older 195.6 OHV, which lasted in the American through 1965 — replaced in 66 with the 199 (de-stroked 232). The 195.6 is reliable as long as you know about a couple maintenance quirks, but just adequate power in a car that size. It was a bit better in the smaller and lighter American, but base model Americans still used a 90 hp 195.6 flat-head six — the 125 hp OHV was in higher trim models.
If it was in my price range I would buy it and take it to various car functions, when I am not unable to drive something else. It would be a fun way to prank the aristocrats of car parties.
The car needs a name…Richie Cunningham had the “Love Bandit”… I’m thinking Ramble On…
Listing to one side, with rust issues: as cute as this is, it’s a must to avoid at any price. It will drive whilst it still can, then fall apart. And too expensive to repair when it inevitably does. There is a REASON that you seldom now see one of these still on the road and daily driven. The manual shift would not bother me, since it is the “granny” variety left over from the 1940s, and not the “sport” version of the “muscle” years. If it were a low mileage always-garage-kept queen that nobody had ever smoked in, I might consider this one. It is fine basic transportation, but in this case with too many disasters just waiting to happen. If this were 1976, it would be a $50.00 car that it’s owner soon would drive to the salvage yard. Trouble is, I LIKE it!
these are cool but the market for them is small. when i was a kid a guy down the street from us had about 30 of these. sedans, wagons in various condition. this was when they could be had for a few hundred bucks. some of them were really mint. i sure did learned a lot from that old man.
Neighbor had one after a few years it sagged in the center and the driveshaft disconnected
This Rambler looks just like the one my girl friend ( now wife ) parents had that I taught her how to drive in. While coming to a stop on a 35 mph street she hit the brakes to hard, I almost hit the dash and windshield it was so hard. When she went to pull away she couldn’t keep it straight, keep driving into the right curb. It took everything I had in my arms to drive it 2 miles back to her house. What we found was a rotted frame right behind the right front trunnion had colapsed and shortened the right wheel base by almost 2 inches. Good by Rambler.
Sam, I had a ’62 Classic I named
Annabelle back in ’81 when I traded my gas guzzling ’73 LTD to
a friend of mine who was moving
to California and didn’t think old
Annabelle would make the trip there. She was a frumpy old gal with a mind of her own. Found out she’d take you anywhere you
wanted to go.if you treated her right. She liked having her oil changed every 3K miles and her
antifreeze and filters changed in
the spring and fall. Our feature car reminds me so much of Annabelle I can’t believe it! Yeah,
I’d have to show my SIL how to drive a 3 on the tree 🌲 but that
wouldn’t be hard at all. Maybe if
I told her that this car gets 33 MPG in town she might be interested. My K 5 won’t even do that! That, and if you lay the front seats back you have a really
great make out mobile. Just what I need these days LOL!
It’s just another hulk on the slow race to $0.
Were reaching the point in the hobby where there are vehicles like this that maybe do run, but otherwise they have no market value at all. Noboby needs or wants this for any reason.
West Linn Oregon does get its share of rain as does all the mid to north Willamette Valley, but they don’t salt the roads. I’ve seen rusty cars out here esp. if they are left uncovered somewhere for decades but nothing like I saw in Virginia and I’ve never seen a frame or front end rotted away like is common in the North East. Southern Oregon and Central to Eastern Oregon is pretty dry country. :-) Terry J
Trunions dont rust the threads ware from lack of grease then they pull apart. Not that hard to replace as long as you have the correct spring compressor. Done several in less than an hour.