It’s always great when a classic comes with documentation showing its history, but rarely does one come with the kind of story and documentation as this 1967 AMC Rambler SST does. It is a one owner car and has never actually been for sale, as it was the grand prize in a holiday drawing held by a Los Altos, California home furnishing company in 1966. Mrs. Long was the lucky winner of the drawing and was the sole owner until her passing. She rarely drove it and only put 24,590 miles on it. Her estate is now selling it and has listed it here on eBay without a reserve.
Mrs. Long took exceptional care of her grand prize and there is documentation that dates all the way back to when she took possession of it to prove it. It obviously spent most of its life in her and her husband’s Lakewood, California garage. Mrs. Long must have been very proud of her prize and there are many photos of her posing with her Rambler.
The Rambler SST was the top of the line Rambler and only came as a two-door hardtop. It could be ordered with a variety of engine sizes. This one came with the base 290 cui V8, which was rated at 200 hp. The engine bay looks clean and original, but the air intake snorkel has some damage to it. The seller claims the engine has never been removed from the car or pulled apart, which is completely possible given its low mileage.
The interior looks just as amazing as the rest of the car and shows very little wear. This is a lot of red to look at, but the checkerboard inserts help to mix things up a bit. Sadly, the V8 is paired with a column shift automatic transmission, but the seller claims it shifts smoothly and works as it should.
This survivor is in amazing shape and just needs a good home to go to. Hopefully the next owner will take as good of care of it as Mrs. Long did. This one is being offered without a reserve, so it could be a great deal for such a clean survivor. We wish we would win a brand new car or even better yet, a classic as nice as this one!
I expect Amcfan to be all over this one, great story. Cars in great original shape.
I love everything about this story. The car is just beautiful.
from ebay pictures looks like no power steering. which may be one of the reasons why it has such low miles.
& no power brakes as well, still a very solid car.
Very nice. I had a Rebel in the 70’s . Very desirable way back then. The checker interior is very sharp.
Nice gravel roof on that house. Is that where she drove it? Why would it need tires if that odometer is 24,590 miles? Face it, the car was ugly then and is ugly now. That’s why she never drove it. And that’s why Rambler went out of business. I still like it and that interior is mighty fine. reeks of the 60’s.
The car needed new tires because bias ply tires didn’t last 40,000 + miles like radial tires do, plus the fact that 46 year old tires wouldn’t be all that safe.
Ugly. Right. It looked like a Roadrunner…..we know how that ended up.
Fantastic story , but….
Here is what bothers me:
Seller poses as the estate selling the car.
He also claims to be a private seller in his E-bay feedback in January 2011.
But he has feedback for 25 cars over the following 24 months (and maybe more sales without feedback ?). Anybody selling over 5 cars a year is a dealer in California !
I also found another E-bay user with identical auction listing format, fonts and wording in a neighboring city..
Coincidence ??
You be the judge……….
Interesting, good catch, but at least the car itself looks to be a the real deal, unlike the the bathtub Porsche from the other day.
Looks like straight up common estate biz to me. Just like there are auction houses that come in and promote and auction off estates there are people who specialize in facilitating certain categories of property. There is nothing new or shady about the practice of paying someone to list your car(or just about anything else for that matter) on e-bay.
I agree Mike, it’s a very common thing. Many people, especially in a bereavement situation, simply don’t want the emotional stress selling a vehicle belonging to a beloved relative. I myself have bought two estate sale vehicles from such vendors and have been very happy with both the process and the vehicles themselves.
also 5 cars a year in Pennsylvania = dealer
Oregon is a pain! They used to have the 5 car limit, but now say that if you intend to sell any car at a profit you are a dealer!! They don’t troll for curbsiders, or anything, but the rule keeps you from relaxing with the 5 car rule. So I just do what I do anyway, and sell what I need to -usually 1- 3 a year.
What a wonderful story thank you Mrs. Long for your legacy. American cars in the 70’s were rife with mismatched plastic and fabric interiors but I think that by the standards of any age we’d find this interior nauseating after only a few miles. I’d actually be tempted to throw another 10K miles on her as a daily driver (if I could stand so much red for a whole 10K miles) — and it would have been nice with a floor shift. A great piece of history and a proud legacy for Mrs. Long, but I’d be wary of the purchase via E-Bay, a sensible precaution always.
Los Altos is in Northern California-no gravel on the roofs up there. Los Alamitos is in Southern California.
Los Altos is an area in Long Beach right by Lakewood where she lived. The Don-A-Vee dealership is there too. So all that info is correct.
I myself, bought a car from Don-A-Vee.
Hey Paul, sorry I am late. Jessie It is about time….I was begining to wonder. I am on it.
Guys you cannot imagine how hard it is to find a Rebel in this condition. Given the numbers you mostly see very low mileage GM-Fords. AMC was never a high volume company. Not that they were inferior at all they had to work with a very limited budget. Really amazing. It is a true Black plate car with all the paperwork and documentation. I would expect to see seam splits and purple overheated/faded interior. Not here. The interior looks as new. Very well preserved out of the harsh elements. The woman went out of her way to take care of it. You can be sure this car will sell for WAY under the money.
I love it but would be surprised if it would bring $10-$12K and even at that look what you are getting. To pay $25K or more wouldn’t be a sin.
In 1967 Haydon Proffit along with Grant Industries. Built and raced the Grant Rebel SST funny car. Blown 438 cubic inch AMC. Ads called it the Ford Eater It was a first for AMC.
Fred Hughes: I was going to ask if you had gravel in the head. I’m not. I’ll be nice.
American Motors did not go out of business. In fact they were never stronger when Chrysler bought them. Their business model is still being followed today.There is a nice Wiki article about the legacy of American Motors. I urge those with an open mind who appreciate all automobiles to take a look. AMC is very misunderstood.
That is one nice survivor car with a great story. The red does’t hurt it at all. However if it doesn’t have PS/PB it will be a real handful to drive. That aircleaner bent snorkel is jarring, you’d think someone would have made the effort to find a new one. Looks like a recent bend too. Rust isn’t the problem, but I’d be checking out all the rubber, including tires and fluids unless the documentation shows regular replacement. It isn’t all chromed up and has nice lines, but you better love red. I like it. I still have my Trans Am Javelin ( a still in the box AMT model of the red, white and blue Trans Am racer). AMC was in many ways ahead of the market, too bad it worked out for them the way it did.
I was hoping AMCFAN would check in. I like this car. The lines are simple with a touch of swept elegance thrown in at the roof line. This is a once in a (whats left) lifetime chance to obtain a not so common vehicle.
I just cannot believe the condition…………just lovely.
Yep, appears the guy is a flipper…….but so what……..he just got there before the rest of us.
The shape of the car works……what doesn’t is the width of the wheels. Had they done 7’s it would have filled in the wheel wells a little better. Yes, you can manual steer on 7’s.
Fun stuff if you look at the ebay pictures and notice the photo withe the shifter and speedo. Notice that the shift selector after neutral is then 2,then D, then 1. Few folks are aware,(with the exception of our fo;ls here of course) that 2D would start moving the car in 2nd gear as opposed to running through all 3 gears, Why? Well it reduced tire spin for driving in the snow. Another fun thing is the Briggs and Stratton keys…they always were teased about that, and I used to know the connection, but it now escapes me
oops “folks here ” not fo;ls sorry
The car in the original picture has bumper guards on the front bumper, and looks like a different grille. Why is that?
good catch
The whitewall tires are not the same, either. B & W picture shows a very thin whitewall and the color pics, including the ones on ebay from 1967 show a wider whitewall.
An amazing find and an amazing story.
I TOO WAS LOOKING FORWARD TO WHAT AMCFAN HAD TO SAY.HE IS VERY UP TO DATE ON THE HISTORY OF AMC AND IF I WERE TO EVER FIND ONE I WOULD SEEK HIS ADVICE BEFORE BUYING IT.THIS ONE IS VERY WELL CARED FOR AND I WOULD BE INTERESTED IN IT IF I HAD ROOM FOR IT AND WAS ABLE TO CARE FOR IT LIKE THE LADY WHO WON IT DID.
Why do I never find cars like this?????
Andrew in England
~ not my favorite AM (i do actually like most all of them) but this one’s condition is spectacular. i’m glad to see this was so well maintained. seems there was a time some years ago when low-mile, little-old-lady type, Ramblers were not too difficult or infrequent to find. i bought several myself, including a (right next to the) barn find ’64 American convertible. i wish there were more of them still available.
. i noticed the gravel roof as well. now, why is everyone objecting to fred expressing his opinion.
~ should have made clear, ‘why is everyone objecting to fred hughes expressing his opinion?’ and not FRED. please excuse.
fred never has a good comment . Always negitive. may be thats why!!!
Naturally I was a bit surprised to see the car show up with such an appropriate seller name. The trustee approached me to buy the car from his aunt’s estate a few blocks from me. I totally screwed the pooch by catching my breath long enough for it to be sold. I was a little disappointed in the seller by his clever camera angles that managed to hide some admittedly minor flaws. Torn driver’s seat, damaged trim and some corrosion. Once a used car salesman, always a used car salesman (;-). It had a dead cylinder during my inspection and I can only hope that it has been addressed. Kudos for the presentation, though.
Interesting Bruce Great info on the seat and dead cylinder. Also, we all have “the one that got away” kinda like fishin I guess
Just a short history lesson on gravel roofs…………
They are a dumb thing to do, but, if you grew up in SoCal, these roofs were as common as clueless elected officials working in government.
Even now if you go through Palm Springs, some people have their roofs redone with the procedure just to preserve the look.
Good pick on the missing bumperette’s and tear in the seat……..dang used car salesmen, so crooked they could hide behind a corkscrew………..
Andrew Minney………I spend four to five hours a day online looking for certain cars. I find one, that is a hit, once or twice a year at best.
How is pancho tc?
;)
Vacuum wipers!!
The presentation, photo’s, and and history of this car are absolutely the best I have seen on e-bay or anywhere else!! The floor pans are unbelievably clean.
Gill, I think the bumper guards are easy enough to explain. My guess in the first picture of Mrs. Long with her husband recieving the keys most likely a different car that was brought to their house for the promo shot. In the second pic she is again recieving keys from the Rambler dealership. She had opted out of those thin whites the picture says. Another funny thing that is priceless is that on the JC Penney Automotive invoice it says Watch paint on car..Handle with care! I can imagine Mr. Long staying in the service area to keep an eye on the car while Mrs.Long shopped…wearing the mink I would assume.
Looking again at the ebay ad I missed the red tape on the seats. It is there as pointed out. Sad he did not take a direct picture of it. There is a lot of red to look at and is hard to see. Being a California car I would expect worse sun damage as far as condition of the interior as I have said. I would believe it was stored indoors as the seller claims. A seam split could be addressed. The tape on the cloth inserts will be a problem.
Any corrosion issues would have to be very minimal if any. If you look at the underside shots that is about what you would expect to see. It is a bonus that the seller did NOT spray cheap spray paint or undercoat on the car.
Hopefully this car will end up at the Rambler Ranch Museum in Colorado.
I always like to hear a car end up with folks who are knowlegable & appreciate the car for what it is . I am rooting for you.
Why are there almost no old cars in the deep south, where I reside in Mobile,AL
Sold for 25k everybody wins I think