American Motors redesigned its “mid-size” cars in 1963, the Classic and Ambassador. The cars were so well-received by Motor Trend that they bestowed “Car of the Year” honors on these Ramblers. The 660 was the mid-trim model of the Classic, with the 550 aimed at fleet purchases and the 770 for buyers wanting a nicely decked-out vehicle. This ’63 may be a 94,000-mile survivor, though the paint looks too nice to be six decades old. Located in Avenel, New Jersey, this AMC is available here on craigslist for $5,500. An attaboy goes to Jack M. for this tip!
AMC invested heavily in redoing the Classic and Ambassador in 1963. They were slightly smaller, and the two series shared the same platform and wheelbase, unlike the 1961-62 models. A lot of buyers in 1963 went with an inline-6 in the Classic 660, but this car’s first owner did not. A 287 cubic inch V8 likely resides under the hood, and it’s paired with an automatic transmission rather than a “stick shift”. The owner also sprung for power steering and brakes, more like a 770 customer would do.
According to the seller, this Rambler is a TV and movie star, having appeared in an assortment of productions. These include American Horror Story, Godfather of Harlem, and a few that have yet to be released. We’re told this is a good running automobile that starts up and goes right to work. The seller adds that a fair amount of work has been done over the years, and there are receipts to back it up, but this work is not outlined.
The body and maroon paint look darn nice, and the interior is also good, though at least one door panel is going to need repair. This was a radio-delete car, but the seller has a correct unit you could install; its working condition is unknown. This Rambler is not perfect, but for the asking price, you can get into vintage car collecting without breaking the bank.
I just love those Rambler features, makes me feel right at home,,( takeoff on another great Lynyard Skynyrd song, Mr. Breeze) Movie star car, you say? Amer. Horror Story, you say? We’ll see about that. My daughter was the production designer for those shows and never mentioned a Rambler. Regardless, it doesn’t add squat to the value, and the seats, Russ, don’t forget the front reclining seats, the absolute butt of all car jokes. The “CoTY” award was our moment in the sun. I still say there was phoofery afoot, with cars like the ’63 Riv, or GP, I think old Roy had a favor coming, but it did little for sales. It was still a Rambler.
This is a fantastic find, it won’t be here long. If my living situation wasn’t so sketchy right now, this would be on its way to Scottys driveway. Maybe next time around, pal, if any.
Very nice example, my first car was a ‘63 Rambler a lot like this one but was a station wagon in turquoise with a 6 cylinder. Got a lot of jokes but not when it was time to haul the hockey gear.
Nice car! Gotta love the delete plates in the dash for radio and clock. Those screamed “cheapskate!” to passengers back in the day. Being in NJ you’ll definitely want to check underneath for chassis corrosion. (Is that a rust hole near the passenger side hood hinge, or a shadow?) Also due to a design flaw these cars are susceptible to serious rust in the heater box area causing water leaks and ultimately a rusted floor on that side.
As I recall for 1963 power steering was via a hydraulic assist cylinder on the manual steering linkage. (Integral power steering gear came in for 1964.) I could have sworn that a generator was standard on 1963 models as well but an alternator could have been installed somewhere along the way. And what’s with the aftermarket turn signal switch?
In addition to the Rambler-exclusive reclining coil-sprung seats you have a dual-circuit brake system years before the feds required it. The ad says “power steering and breaks (sic)” but there is clearly no brake booster.
The car should move out well with the 287 V8, but it’s a heavy lump which induces corresponding levels of understeer. However these were not intended to be sports cars and they are nice comfortable cruisers.
Always enjoy your Rambler/AMC input, couple things I read. The alternator was available that most people got, however, there were some “holdouts” that got generators. Don’t forget the vacuum wipers in plain view. I didn’t see the turn signal, a “chrome “Signal Stat 900”, or cheap knockoff, standard issue for old trucks, just never chrome, and probably saved pulling the steering wheel off. I never knew that about the P/S ram, I read almost impossible to find today. The biggest issue with these is the front trunnions, that we can’t see. Usually if the shock tower is intact, and looks like it is here, the trunnions are okay too. Rusted trunnions were the kiss of death for many a Rambler, including my grandfathers ’61 Classic with 40K. Perfect body and motor, but nobody would repair the front end. Not sure about the “cheapskate” part, this was no road car, and merely a “Sunday go to meetin'” car, and the A&P food store afterwards, but wasn’t intended for anything else.
Thanks for clarification on the generator! It also could be that it was primarily the American (still a restyled 1950 Nash Rambler for ’63) that was primarily equipped with a generator.
A quick check for trunnion condition is the front springs should be straight. If they are bowed out it means the trunnions are shot. Replacement parts are available but they are expensive and there are hardly any mechanics around any more that know how to work on “Satan’s idea of ball joints”. (Usually they
Strut rod bushings used to locate the ball joint lower control arm are another problem. Tough to find good ones.
Oops, I accidentally cut off my post. On the issue of trunnions I meant to say that usually they will last practically forever if kept properly greased. Without regular greasing you’re going to have problems. If the trunnions get to the point where they won’t accept grease they’re borked inside and not long for this world.
That’s for the larger Ramblers, Classic and Ambassador. Starting in 1964, rubber-bushed “lifetime” trunnions were used on the American that did not require lubrication. Of course the factory was not looking at the lifetime of the car being 60+ years!
https://theamcforum.com/forum/very-important-tip-for-trunion-equipped-cars_topic34415.html
Actually changing a trunion is pretty easy. All you need is the correct spring compressor. I done several and it was very easy.
Those ARE NOT delete plates. They’re “block-off’ plates. A radio & clock were OPTIONS. You CANNOT ‘delete’ options! The buyer just abstained from ordering those 2 particular options.
One of my pet peeves. I know “radio delete” is hip and fun to say, but it just shows ignorance of the way things were in the 60s. My ’40 Ford coupe has neither radio or heater, but neither item was “deleted”.
Plain simple easy going people mover, what else could you ask for. Rambler, AMC, Studebaker, love this era of these car companies. Still banging out nice products while fighting the big 3. All are gone and Chrysler is owned by a foreign car company! What a turn of events.
Anyone interested in this car should check the gas tank. I know from past experience that they were prone to rusting out.
Once upon a time had a 63 Ambassador wagon in this same color (with white roof). Nice car with a V8, but had nothing but problems with the Holley 2bbl carb. I think it was rebuilt at least 3 times with little success.
What is the apparatus on the left fender liner under the hood?
Might that possibly be the servo unit for an aftermarket cruise control?
There aren’t any fuel or vacuum lines attached to it, nor do there appear to be any tie-ins with the speedometer cable or throttle linkage.
It almost looks as if three or more engineers who had designed cruise controls, electric fuel pumps and alarm horns collaborated and created quite a monstrosity!
nice clean ride needing minor TLC. i would lose the flow master muffler
I’m I seeing vacuum operated wipers?
Throttle up and they stop working.
Coasting they run really fast!
Not necessarily… Some cars of that era had compound fuel pumps- fuel on one side, vacuum pump on the other to augment manifold vacuum. I know that GM used such in their post-WW2 up-scale models.
I wondered about those gubbins on the inner fender wells, too. The one on the right well even has two unconnected pigtail wires. Huh? If this really was a movie car, I can imagine that they may have had some function for under-way shots. Just a guess…
Remember was the first car I’ve seen that updated to an alternator and actually had an “ALT” light on the dash instead of a “GEN”.
Most all of the other cars still kept the generator light and eventually changed to “volts”.
Cool and with the v-8. Too bad it doesn’t have a std tranny & 3 pedals in it.
Love the budget turn signal stalk, first thing I saw looking at the dash which itself is pretty awesome in it’s own way. From reading the comments though don’t think I’d want to ponder a front end rebuild. Probably worth researching at the least.
Bottom line, cool cruiser with clean simple lines that looks to be in great, rust free shape at a reasonable price.
What are you guys seeing mounted on the inside the fender I see two horns mounted and weird positions or are you talking about some other location?