For three years, the Marlin would be a halo car for American Motors. It’s considered a personal luxury automobile much like the Dodge Charger which followed it in 1966. From the windshield forward, it was a Rambler Classic. But from there back it looked a bit like the Charger or Plymouth’s Barracuda, which came to market a year earlier. This 1965 edition looks like a sound survivor but has had the engine rebuilt along with some other tweaks. It’s spent most of the last 16 years in hibernation, but the seller has it ready to go again in Durham, New York. Available here on eBay, the Buy It Now price is $7,500 and you can try the Make Offer function if so inclined. A nod of the fedora to Larry D for another great tip!
The Marlin’s fastback roof design was first seen on the 1964 Rambler Tarpon show car, an offshoot of the compact American. The 1965-66 versions were based on the mid-sized 2-door hardtop Classic, but a rework came along in 1967 when the car received the new, longer Ambassador full-sized chassis. Even by AMC standards, it wasn’t a huge seller. Out of 17,392 built over three model years, the Marlin had its best year in ’65 with 10,327 units. During its run, it migrated from being a Rambler to an AMC product as the company was moving away from the Rambler name.
This car had an earlier restoration, as recently as 2004. That’s when the previous owner rebuilt the 327 cubic inch V8 and automatic transmission. It saw 50 miles after that and then went into storage for the next 16 years. That’s when the seller came along, adding a Holley Sniper fuel injection, and new brakes, alternator, and radiator. But he didn’t stop there, also redoing the windshield wiper motor, tires, trunnion seal, fuel lines, and rear shocks. The flexplate, though, has a missing tooth and that’s been left for the buyer.
We’re told the floors and undercarriage look good and we don’t see any rust to worry about. There are a few scrapes and scratches that have accumulated in the turquoise paint over time and the paint isn’t as shiny as perfectionists would want. A little pitting may also be at play on the bumpers and the floor of the trunk has some surface rust that should be sanded and primed. The seller mentions that the car needs a little more work but doesn’t go into those details. If you were looking to hook a fish like this, it’s one of the nicer examples we’ve seen on Barn Finds of late.
Not a bad car for the money especially if you want to drive something different from the Chevy-Ford-Mopar crowd. It looks like rust isn’t an issue and it has factory A/C, power disc brakes and steering. Quite a few new parts, too. The interior is filthy but some time spent cleaning/detailing should show good results. The exterior colors are attractive and even though not perfect I’d buff out the paint, chrome, stainless and drive it as-is. Somebody will like it and for what the seller is asking, it looks like a pretty good deal.
My first choice would be the early Charger but I also like the Marlin for its styling cues. I agree with Fordguy I think the price is within reason and it’s definitely a head turner.
The local car show in my town couple weeks back, was relatively disappointing for a guy like me. Naturally, I was happy to see even a diminished interest, for many reasons, I’m sure. The one car that generated a lot of interest, was a ‘blue ’65 Marlin very similar. It was spotless, and turns out, the gal who was showing it, it was her mothers car she bought brand new.( wheels added later, she said) Our town did have a Rambler/Nash dealer until the 60’s, so it could have been a local car. I asked if I could see the motor, the gal reluctantly said “sure”, I could tell she had no idea, nor anyone standing around the car, knew how to open the hood. They were looking inside, uder the bumper,, I was the big hero,”it’s right here”, pointing to grill. A 327 that wreaked of gas. It was the only car I took a picture of.
While the F.l. is welcome, IDK, I paid like $220 bucks for a rebuilt q-jet for the truck, and it runs great. Great find on a car that will always generate a crowd, guaranteed.
He must have dropped the price on the listing, as he has it at $6200 now. Ford Guy pretty much summed the rest up. Clean and polish and it’s a pretty cool and unique ride.
Agreed. This is a cool find. Pardon my ignorance, what is a flex plate?
Another word for a flywheel, its been awhile since I had any dealings with an amc car but didn’t they use torkflights for transmissions and if they did the starter ring would be on the convertor so it if had a tooth gone its a lot more work to replace
A stick shift transmission has a clutch and a flywheel, whereas an automatic transmission has a torque converter and a flex plate.
AMC began using a reconfigured Chrysler TorqueFlite transmission beginning with the 1972 models. AMC called it TorqueCommand. It was Chrysler’s transmission in a slightly different case to make for an easier connection to AMC’s engine blocks.
Good writeup as usual, Russ. I thought I recognized this Deja Vu Fishmobile (it was featured last month as well), and I hope this time around it can find a new home. I’ve always liked Marlins and would love to see this two-tone Seaside Light Aqua and Marina Medium Aqua beauty restored.
My first experience in Kenosha was a visit to the Dealer Drive office which was in a converted gas station office. At the time my car of choice was those slick looking American convertibles. The next summer the Marlin showed up and I was hooked. They were deemed so “exclusive” by my Dad that I had to go get him or Mom to drive it out of the wash bay into the showroom, something I had done with Ramblers or Internationals since I was ten. However, in my opinion, the Ambassador based car of “67 was the best looking. I agree this is a very good buy. But I also remember many swear words coming when trunnions went bad. And later, parts were unobtanium. Still beautiful and representative of the time.
tiny trnk lid, today would open acc the whole. Wonder if conversion would do? How bout up to above the window? Like to do that to the fairlane (torino, LTD, etc) fastback to. A huge expanse on those cars wasted.
the factory carb if it was like our 990 ambassador was a holley. It worked great . gave excellent fuel mileage and moaned rather well when opened all the way. The amc 327 was a good motor and there is more power to be had without a whole lot of work. The right set of wheels would really dress up this one and at 6K in a few years if just maintained it will be a10k car
I never was an AMC Marlin fan, but I like this one a lot – maybe it’s the colors. This would be a pleasant ride. Nicely equipped and at a really reasonable price.
Looking at the underside pics, is that the fuel filter above the exhaust?
I always thought that one of these would be a great starting point for Chip Foose. I would love to see the finished results!
flex plate is easy to change.hard part is that the transmission has to come out to do it.
i recently foiund one and would liuke to refurbish trhe engine.. help