Buying a vintage car online without seeing it in person first is sometimes a risky venture, but it’s less of a gamble when a seller provides a large number of photos that show every view of the car, including the exterior, interior, engine, undercarriage, and any close-ups that pinpoint defects. The seller of this 1970 AMC AMX provides only two pictures in his listing here on eBay, and while I’d still likely request more before spending the buy-it-now price of $50,000, what we can see certainly seems to show a top-notch, mostly original muscle car that appears to remain in stellar condition overall. This beautiful two-seater is in Marble, Pennsylvania, and has a credible, interesting backstory to go with it. Curvette, thanks a lot for the great tip here!
Those into drag racing may remember the name Ken Dondero, a legend in the sport who won two AHRA championships driving a Pro-Stock Vega in the seventies. The seller reports that this AMX was once part of his automobile collection. Sadly, Ken passed away in 2014, but it appears this GT-style car was well cared for during his ownership. The paint is said to remain original, and this one’s also stated to have always been kept in a garage when not in use, which has helped preserve the finish far better than most vehicles that have been around this many decades. The sheet metal reportedly has no rust, and I’m leaning toward preservation as the goal here, since there’s not much that jumps out to suggest this AMC has any exterior needs.
It would be great to get a shot from under the hood, but my guess is it’s in clean, orderly condition. Thankfully, this AMX is equipped with the largest engine available, a V8 measuring 390 cubic inches. The seller tells us that the car has 61,000 miles, but the engine has only been operated for about 5,000 miles since it was completely rebuilt. The 390 retains the original carburetor and intake, and its performance is described as strong. This one is also equipped with the desirable Go Package, and while I would have thought Ken would have preferred a 4-speed manual, the future owner will have to live with an automatic transmission handling gear changes.
The only clue about the interior is that it has black leather seats, so we’ll just have to imagine what the rest looks like, though we do get a small glimpse of the dashboard in one of the provided photos. Based on the exterior still having the original paint and its condition, I strongly suspect that most of the inside components are likely in excellent shape, especially given the confirmation that this one has spent so much time in a garage. There’s also the option to submit a best offer, and while I have no reason to expect nothing but the best here, I’d still want at least three additional photos before making any commitments- one of the interior, another from the engine bay, plus a picture from the underside. Are the two supplied photos enough to pique your interest in this 1970 AMC AMX?
The Shift-Command autoloader option. Should be a quick car, Go pkg, pretty liteweight, 325hp/420lb-ft. Nice 👍🏁
$50,000.00 2 PICTURES!! Good Luck!! 🤦♂️🇺🇸🐻
For the people interested, this car is known.
@Eric in NC
“Known” for what?
I agree, as there does not appear to be a pride of possession here. No “look what I have here!” pride. You want it? Here it is. Other possibilities are that they are trying to hide something. Just because of the lack of pictures and the automatic transmission doesn’t help.my cause. This would be a hard pass if I was in the market. And I love AMXs.
There aren’t many AMX’s. That’s really the formula.
50k is steep for an AMX already and the low effort listing is certainly not going to help its case. Two pics…LOL. I take more pics than that when I am selling a wrench…
Only 2 photos?? Sellers feedback (2). I bought three vehicles online, and all were great.
Maybe the paint is still wet. A green one identical to this was recently stolen in WV from a hotel in transit to a car show. Truck, enclosed trailer and AMX. Police found the truck as it was being painted, but the car and trailer were gone
Car and trailer were recovered intact.
Those were some stressful moments wrought with dread and despair until the hoped for resolution became reality followed by some great relief experienced by the owner(s). I hope they caught the thieves.
More pics on Ebay now.
Still not a lot of pictures, but he’s included some really important ones now. The interior looks pristine! So does the engine bay. Not sure of the going price for an AMX, but if a really nice one is worth $50k, this might be one. Very pretty car.
The seller still needs to provide some underside and some closeup pictures for that price!
Very nice AMX. A benefit of the 1970 model is that it has full ball joint front suspension, the Company finally abandoning the ancient trunnions in all models that year.
Note the vacuum wiper motor in the engine photo. All AMC cars came with standard vacuum wipers through the 1971 model year, no matter the model or what other options may have been selected. Electrics were not standard until 1972. Can’t tell from the engine photo if the factory-type dual-action fuel pump with vacuum booster is present. (That’s supposed to keep the wipers going when engine vacuum falls off.)
Judging by the master cylinder it looks we have power front disk brakes here, which is a plus.
Not all AMC cars before 1971 had standard vacuum wipers. at least some V8 Rambler Americans, such as the S/C Rambler, had mandatory electric wipers. AMC had three levels of wipers: vacuum with foot pump was standard. There was also electric with foot pump and electric with electric pump.
Pretty decent looking AMX, but it sure could use that third pedal.
Looks like a clean straight forward ride. I don’t know a whole lot about AMC vehicles, or their pricing. The only thing I remember is someone telling me the 390 was a better motor than the 401. The 390 had a lot of forged internal components. Just my opinion, $50k sounds a bit high to me.
As I recall the 401 also used forged internal components.
The main differences between that engine and the 390 are that the 401 is one of AMC’s later series V8s that have a raised deck to allow a longer stroke, as well as improved head design. (The 290/343/390 engines thus became 304/360/401.)
Interestingly the 1st-generation AMC V8s introduced in 1956 (250/287/327) also used forged internal components. This was mainly due to their being developed in crash program with no time for lengthy testing of weaker components. The component sharing “gentleman’s agreement” with Packard that had AMC buying V8s from Packard in 1955 had gone sour, so AMC developed its own V8 engine in 18 months from decision to production.
In 1970, the 390 was also the taller deck block. The important difference between the taller deck engines are the 1/2 head bolts versus 7/16 and the vastly better flowing Dog-Leg head. Forged rods were commonly used in many of the early V8s because the metallurgy and casting processes were not good enough for reliable con-rods.
@JLHudson – That’s right, I’d forgotten about that. The Company considered “AMX 390” to be a valuable trademark so in 1970 continued producing the engine in that displacement despite the raised deck. That’s a one-year only engine.
The better-flowing heads and larger head bolts were definitely upgrades over the earlier engines. (I own AMC cars with both the pre- and post-1970 V8s.)
cool ride but not a lot of pics for the 50k asking. love the color.
No thanks at $50K it would have to be a 4 speed for me.
A good friend of mine had a Bittersweet Orange with a Black interior just like this one, except his was a 4 speed…Mickey Thompson N50/15’s on the rear…The fastest car that I ever drove on the street…It would chirp the tires and snap your neck in 4th gear…Unfortunately the car died in 1973 with my friend inside it…RIP
I had a AMX 1969 390 close ratio 4sp, 4.11 rear same color Bittersweet. Go package Worked head ports, valves, roller, torker manifold with a 850 Double pumper, bottom end stock. I would make a chirp with the outside tire. Crazy Though I always wanted a 401 in my1969. AMC/Chrysler Retiree YES chirped through all 4 gears. Sorry for your lose. I totaled mine doing about 15 miles an hour after turning the car around on my block to go back to get a watch my girlfriend at the time lift at a party, she wanted that 5 dollar watch, I said I pay you the five dollars, she started to punch me in the face I placed my hands up to push hers away second gear pressed on the gas pedal hit a parked car about 15 foot away to my right, the car had so much torque in second gear I pushed the parked car up on their lawn to ten feet from the front door. Her farther was a Captain in the NYC police Department. Brought at 14 lost it at 20.
Thanks John…We were next door neighbors and friends since birth it seemed…He had the AMX and I had a big bad green 1972 Gremlin X…232..3 speed on the floor…it had the cool chrome air deflector on the roof…and not to be outdone, LOL…it had high jackers with Mickey Thompson rears and ofcourse a Cherry Bomb…what fun we had back then…It seems that you suffered quite a loss yourself…my condolences to you also…
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