In 1969 and 1970, American Motors offered five factory muscle cars that wore red, white, and blue paint schemes. That included two Americans, one AMX, one Javelin, and one Rebel Machine. The seller has collected all five, which may be the only collection like it around. They’ve all been either partially or completely restored by AMC restoration experts. Located in Phoenix, Arizona, this assortment is only offered as a package deal here on craigslist. The price tag? $599,995 (that’s $119,999 per car).
This avid AMC collector spent two decades finding, buying, and restoring these fantastic automobiles from the height of the muscle car era. One of the cars (the AMX) was featured in Motor Trend before its restoration which took three years to accomplish. The others are equipped with the Group 19 dealer performance package upgrade which is said to have added a minimum of 100 hp to each vehicle. Let’s take a quick peek at each car:
1969 AMX Super Stock #52
Records indicate that only 52 of these cars were built and this is the last one made. It’s fully documented including the factory window sticker. As the “American Dream,” it has a racing pedigree, having won three regional NHRA championships. This car has been fully restored with its decals reproduced to replicate its glory days. Video.
1969 Hurst SC/Rambler (Paint Scheme A)
This auto is one of approximately 1,000 built on an American platform, which was in its last year in 1969 before being replaced by the Hornet. It competed at Kansas City Raceway and was a class champion from 1972 through 1974. This machine has, too, been fully restored. Video.
1969 Hurst SC/Rambler (Paint Scheme B)
Two-thirds fewer of these cars were built than those with the other paint job, or about 300. This auto was sold new in Arizona by Randal AMC/Rambler and has only been partially restored. Video.
1970 Rebel Machine
This is one of the 1,000 or so mid-size Machines that were sprayed red, white, and blue at the factory (another 1,000-plus came in a variety of other, less outstanding, color schemes). This automobile only required a partial restoration to reach the state you see here. Video.
1970 Trans Am Javelin
Only about 100 of these cars were made in support of AMC’s efforts to compete in the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) competition. These cars are often associated with racer Mark Donahue. This vehicle required a full restoration to return to the status the collector desired. Video:
Really cool collection,but I’d think it’d be hard to
sell all to one buyer,especially at that price.
I’d also think the seller would do best to split them
up,& sell them at auction.I seem to recall they have something
like that coming up in Scottsdale soon.
I am the owner of the cars and they will only be sold as a collection to keep them together.
Those are very cool man. As a kid our local AMC dealer closed and sold his collection. It seems to me that he had one of the Hurst SC cars but I could be mistaken. It was red white and blue in Kansas in either the late ’70’s or very early ’80’s.
Srt8. My A Scheme SC/Rambler is from KC and was a class champion at the local dragstrip from 1972-1974 until the owner got a tear down challenge. The car was his daily driver so he had to pass and relinquish his title so he could go to work on Monday morning! LOL
Hi Dan, Very nice group of Cars, I agree they do belong together,
There’s a Javelin around the corner from where I live..Calgary, from what I can see decent appearance, stripes tight spot …they are a sharp looking car that’s for sure..Take Care.
Awesome collection. Did you ever think about including an AMC Hurst Jeepster? Paint scheme would have matched nicely!
Well Sir, it’s a very nice and unique collection. I wonder if I might have seen one or more of these cars at the annual AMC gathering in Boulder City NV over the past 10 years. Again, nice collection
There is no other way to sell them. They belong together. We had a 69 american in our town that has a modified 390 and it was a super fast car. I went to high school with the one who owned it. Very incredible collection. Thank you for all of your hard work & keeping this collection together.
LastCJ, I very heavily lean towards the performance car side of collectible cars so the Jeepster was not really a focus when building this collection. As I recall they had the old Buick V6 in them which was not of much interest to me. Equally important, my 6 cars garage is full so the Hurst Jeepster would have to be parked elsewhere. For some strange reason my wife thinks she deserves one spot for her little Honda CRV amongst all that Red, White and Blue paint! LOL
Good for you Dan.
Jimbosidecar, none of these cars have been present at the Denver shows due to their being in tne middle of their restorations. The SS AMX restoration was finished in the fall of 2022, the B Scheme SC/Rambler rebuild was finished in the fall of 2021, the Machine rebuild was finished in spring of 2021 and the A Scheme and Trans Am Javelin restorations were finished in the summer of 2020. As you might imagine, the acquisition of each car was many years prior to the completion of each of their revivals. For example, I first acquired the A Scheme Scheme SC/Rambler way back around 2004 or 2005 but work on customer cars at my AZ AMC Restorations always took priority over my personal cars so it took quite a while to complete them to the point where they are now. I say “to the point to where they are now” because no restoration is every really finished due to always being in the hunt for that last perfect NOS part!
It’s an incredible collection and I’m happy to see that you will only sell them as a set. AMC muscle cars were terribly underrated. Whoever ends up with this collection will be very fortunate. I hope they are put on public display somewhere so they can be visually enjoyed by lots of people.
Love the cars, always an AMC fan. Too bad the SC360 Hornets don’t get any love.
Bluenred, I am in discussions with an auto museum for the purpose of displaying this wonderful collection of Americana automotive history. With any luck they will be on display so that they can be viewed and enjoyed by many.
Good idea,but reality is that it’s really hard to
find a buyer that feels the same way.You’re also talking
about a HUGE amount of money (at least to me).
I like to see cars go to the right person,especially
when I sell them,but that’s not the way the world is.
Also,when you put expensive cars on craigslist,you
need to be able to accept criticism about it,.
Nice cars
Very nice
You might be keeping them all
Unless you find that one particular person
Very nice, I suppose only today in retrospect some of us can truly respect this automotive manufacturer for what they were trying to do. Totally outgunned and no where near the pockets of the big three, these cars were quite an amazing feat. Fast durable and looks, well today not near as gaudy today and they were American Motors! I have to agree a high end auction separately might be the best but I suppose the owner worked quite hard to get these fine examples together be tough to split them up. Had the privilege of getting the ride I won’t forget in a new red white and blue Machine. My pockets aren’t deep enough to own these but would like to. Screw a new Ferrari or Lamborghini had the bucks these would fit the bill!
The saying goes “These colors don’t run!”. In these configurations I’ll bet they do run. And fast!
they are indeed a very fast group of cars. They are all featured in youtube videos for each car.
Like many here, we scratch our heads, and think, can’t have one, got to have FIVE! It’s an impressive collection, no doubt, BUT, AMC has a limited following, still, and what this person holds dear, isn’t appealing to the masses, like say a hemi Cuda or some Chevelle monstrosity. I suppose I just have to accept, people have money. It’s such a shame, in MY book, with the world in such disarray, one of these neat cars should be enough. Wonder why the sale, need a kidney?
Its unlikely they’re needing money. Collectors with this kind of money probably just want to collect something different now.
Honey, I tried to sell them, but no buyers. Guess I have to wait for the market to improve.
Howard, I am the owner and can only drive one at a time so they mostly sit in the garage waiting their turn to get a couple of hours of exercise. I have other cars that I enjoy driving as well but none of them got even 200 miles on the clock in 2022 so perhaps it is time to enjoy more with less.
Hi Dan, boy, is my face red. I have a big mouth,( and admit it) and rarely are the owners aware their cars are being featured, hence the loud mouth accusations. I apologize, STILL, many here have little, if any chance of owning one of these beauties, so it’s a bit overwhelming to hear of someone with 5, and NONE getting used. Many times, and perhaps in your case, these collections are gained over a long period of time, and cars weren’t 5 figures. Today, with soaring costs, even ONE car is too much.
Again, AMC is a tough sell for most. They just don’t have the zing of what people want today. As a lifelong admirer of Rambler/AMC, I know full well what it’s like to be #4.
Holy crepe! Talk about a grail collection of AMC Muscle! 120k per car might be top of the range but for a collection all 5? Might not be a bad ask – if condition warrants.
No AMC collection should be considered complete without a Dominos delivery car. I’m guessing they all got destroyed but there was a large number of Javelins that were painted Red/White&Blue and ran pizzas for them.
Fantastic collection of AMC’s best. In 1977or 78 I bought an SC/Rambler from the original owner.
I sold it when I needed money. It eventually ended up with someone who claimed to be a collector, however it just sat in his yard with a Rebel Machine and a SS AMX
That was in 1980. Probably nothing left of them now days.
Personally I think it was a sin to let them end up like that.
You should be very proud of your collection.
Hopefully someone buys them and keeps them together
Drove a javelin with a cam, 390, 4 speed. It sounded wicked. The dealer, Doug Griffith Chrysler Plymouth was right next to the Baltimore beltway exit/entrance ramp. Got on the beltway, and promptly got rubber in 2nd and 3rd before letting off. Got off at the next exit and drove through some stoplights to get back to the dealer. At one stoplight, a chevelle ss was shocked that this javelin had a fender on him. The b code scrambler is on my bucket list.
600k?
You’re going to see Rex Reed JUNIOR first.
Hmm selling cars for 600 large on Craigslist?? Takes all kinds. Good luck.
Cheers
GPC
GPC. The huge auction week in Phoenix is next week. It is the best means of making these fabulous cars known. The proof in the pudding is that they have been listed in multiple places like Barn Finds all around the internet over the past week from one simple craiglist ad. This is not my first rodeo.
Sadly that line of reasoning has never registered on this site.
Steve R
Keep everyone here posted please. We’d love to know. Beautiful and unique collection. Glad to hear you’ll sell as a collection.
I’d differ w/Steve R as that’s just how a soc media maven just sold his 429 ford waggy (?just pre-covid?). He touted it out – over smuck[er]’s garage or whatever his contact was (an on-going uTube ‘show’ or other), then on both these channels (BF/BaT, and the many others) never once announcing sales, claiming ‘survivor’ (to avoid own investments) & got big bucks (6 mo of sales building, then, I think, toa hi end auction).
Here we have some sharp mo-chines, restored’n held in a grouping, out front w/sales intentions.
BTW: is DC a former driver, or sponsor or… or… Ur name seems familiar~
It is supposing to me how the two different paint schemes on the SC/Ramblers changes their overall appearance. My dad drove the same year Rambler. Unfortunately it was not red, white and blue. Green with a white top, straight six, auto and I would be quite happy to still be driving the more sedate version of one of my all time favorite automobiles.
DavidH, the Johnny Lighting “head to head” box set with a B Scheme SC/Rambler and A Scheme decals facing a red 69 AMX at a drag racing tree was one of my former SC/Ramblers that I sold in a weak moment during the Big Phoenix area auction week about 10 years ago. It was mostly unrestored and a blast to drive. Sure wish I had that one back!
$600K is just beyond top dollar for these cars according to the value guides. I can’t envision someone getting beyond #1 Concours value for this collection outside of a big-name auction setting.
Value guides are not up to date. Prices on collector quality AMCs have recently skyrocketed making the collection below current market values.
Every seller claims the value guides are wrong.
All you have to do is look at recent auction results where the prices have doubled or tripled over the past 6 months. The last two Rebel Machines at Mecum sold for $137K and $121K. One SS AMX without as good pedigree as this one sold for just under $190K. SC/Ramblers are now selling in the $80s and higher with some nipping at $100K. TA Javelins are so rare that they are rarely if ever seen for sale but when they do come up the are at least $125K and sometimes a lot more. Do the math and you will quickly see that the asking price for all 5 is below the top of the current market. Moreover, this collection is the first collection to ever have all 5 together which makes it totally unique. When I bring any of these cars to a show they are always very well received and the SS AMX literally draws a crowd wherever it goes. People seem to love them wherever and whenever they are shown.
There’s a collection in Canada that has the AMX/1, AMX/2, AMX/3, three SC/Ramblers including James Garner’s 4×4 Baja SC/Rambler, an SS/AMX, Peter Revson’s Trans Am Javelin, a Rebel Machine and a Matador Machine. No, this isn’t the greatest collection of significant AMC muscle cars that exists.
There may be a better AMC collection out there. This is the best collection AVAILABLE.
1turbobrick, I have been very active in the AMC hobby for over 50 years and have attended multiple national shows yet I have never even heard a hint about the Canadian collection you referred to. If there is such a collection, it must be a very closely guarded secret as nobody I know of within the AMC community is aware of it although I sure would love to have an opportunity to see it!
Dan,
I just sent you an email so that you can see the Canadian collection that 1turbobrick mentioned to you.
Thank you for your patience concerning the hateful, jealous, envious, and “SUPER HIGH IQ” comments that you have endured about your collection.
In order to enlighten, and hopefully not cause any heart attacks, I suggest that the commenters go to the following link of a private collection. The linked collection is one of the best, but not the only one like it in the USA.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cIDqAfOpwA
Have a Great Day Everybody!
Respectfully to all.
Is the collection in Canada for sale?
Beg the seller to seperate the AMX, re-paint it and restore it. The Mark Donohue Javelin could fetch restored around 50k at auction.
This factory race car SS AMX, one of 52 ever made, is fully restored and painted the way it was delivered to the dealer from the Hurst skunkworks where they created these amazing factory race cars. American Dream, Pete’s Patriot and Drag On Lady SS AMXs dominated the NHRA Super Stock classes they competed in for a couple of years.
There is no Mark Donohue Javelin in this collection. The Javelin ih this collection is one of 100 uber rare and highly sought after Trans Am Javelins with less then 50 know to still exist. All 100 Trans Am Javelins came with a Ram Air equipped 390 and T-10 4 spd and hurst shifter along with a 3.91 rear end ratio, heavy duty suspension and cooling, front disc brakes and the rear wing spoiler and all were clad in the identical Red, White and Blue paint job as this car. There were no options offered on the Trans AM Javelins. Contrarily there were 2501 Mark Donohue Javelins which could be ordered with AC, AM/FM, tilt column, 360 or 390 with or without ram air, manual or auto, and a variety of rear end gear ratios. In other words, Donohue Javelins were pretty much the same as any other SST Javelin other than the rear duck tail spoiler and a decal. Trans Am Javelins almost never come up for sale and when they do they are well into the 6 figure range. This one is a fresh restoration that took over 2 years to complete and is one of the finest Trans Am Javelins in existence. To purchase and restore one of these very rare cars would easily cost over $125k.
Have you contacted Rambler Ranch in Elizabeth CO to see if the have an interest in these cars? They have the most extensive AMC, NASH, and Ramblers I have ever seen. They three large buildings completely full and cover cars from the 30’s on up until the last. They are a pay to view museum by appointment. But it was the best money I have ever spent recently. They even recreated a 1950’s diner/malt shop complete with Kelvinator appliances. I saw the common washers and dryers, refrigerators and ovens growing up but did not know they had complete line of small appliances like food mixer’s, coffee makers, blenders, toasters etc. Well worth the visit.
Solderijack, the owner of Rambler Ranch was at the SS AMX’s debut in the southern Nevada AMC show last November but the subject of his acquiring and displaying my Red, White and Blue AMC collection never came up because I only had the SS AMX at the show. I will certainly be open do discussing that option with him in the event he expresses interest in displaying the collection at his museum although as far as I know, his collection is not focused on the muscle car side of the AMC sf Rambler family
“I’ve got an AMC collection of five cars,all in
excellent condition.Where should I sell them at?”.
“I know,I’ll put them on craigslist!”.
Probably just too cheap to pay the auction fees.
Craigslist is a great place to get exposure on all sorts of things including high end collector cars. You have to start somewhere and in just 10 short days this add has gone viral on the internet and I have also been contacted by Mecum regarding featuring this collection in their next big auction venue. This is not my first rodeo
Just guessing but maybe the seller is just fishing. This is a one of one collection and a benchmark for many true American Motors enthusiasts including myself. If you are in the hobby you know the man offering the collection if not it isn’t hard to find him. A very authoritive person as well as very respected. Not having seen the cars in person but knowing his reputation there is way more to each car than meets the eye. To put this collection together would take a lot more. The American Dream is a legit SS/AMX
AMCFAN, thank you for the kind words. This add is intended to increase exposure on this collection of amazing Red, White and Blue AMC muscle. Judging from the flurry of comments on this site PLUS the fact that Mecum reached out to me today to inquire about featuring this collection at a future major auction venue I would say the ad is doing exactly what I hoped it would!
There have been some interesting comments about my one of one collection of all 5 AMC factory Red, White and Blue AMC muscle cars featured in this write up. This collection is already well known within the AMC enthusiast world and this ad is the first step in spreading the awareness to the bigger collector car community. My AZ AMC Restorations builds award winning cars that are spread all around North America and multiple cars we have built are also being enjoyed by their owners in the UK and Europe. Today I was contacted by Mecum to see if I would be interested in having these cars be a feature collection at their next big auction venue so the ad is doing exactly what I hoped it would do. Here are a collection of youtube channel videos about each car and 4 of the 5 togther. I new Youtube channel video of the recently completed American Dream SS AMX should be available on Friday. Stay tuned for updates.
1969 A Scheme SC/Rambler – https://youtu.be/pn77Ovsk4RI
1969 B Scheme SC/Rambler – https://youtu.be/mj1unkDN12M
1970 Rebel Machine – https://youtu.be/X2w7RyyYsV8
1970 Trans Am Javelin – https://youtu.be/yWa_zLQ8hXs
above 4 together – https://youtu.be/BmLkZ8VvcUo
SS AMX at its debut AMC car show November, 2022 – https://youtu.be/dLw35o8GQgU (a much more detailed video will be out soon)
Not only is the Hurst Super Stock AMX legit, so aren’t all the others. All the tags and numbers match. As a long time AMC restorer and owner of some of the cars just like these this is a good deal. I have the http://www.superstockams.com website and I have some people just waiting for me to call to tell them I know of one for sale. Good luck Dan and no, it certainly is not your first rodeo!
Hey Tom, thanks for chiming in. For those who are not AMC enthusiasts, Tom is an AMC officionado who has provided worldwide AMC enthusiasts with factual information about AMCs long before the internet existed and at one point had the most complete library of AMC dealer notices and documentation in existence. All of us within the AMC enthusiast world know and appreciate the knowledge and information Tom has generously provided to anyone who asks over the past 5 decades. In fact, Tom’s SS AMX website was the place where I first heard about American Dream after which by chance I became friends with its original owner who offered the car to me 5 years ago. I jumped at the opportunity and spent the next 4 years carefully and painstakingly pieced the car back together.
I admire Dan, had the chutzpah to stand up for his cause, even though, it’s the wrong place. The staff will disagree, but the original concept of BarnFinds, was dusty, forgotten classics in a barn and attracted those folks that were looking for such things, usually for not a lot of money. It has since morphed into “ALL FINDS”, where anything goes, and I have to disagree, CL is not the place to sell a 1/2 million + dollar collection. I highly doubt the folks attending a Mecum auction, also shop on CL.
Again, BarnFinds does have a marketplace, not too many 1/2 million dollar clients, I don’t think, but better than CL. I’d almost be embarrassed to say I bought a high end classic from CL. This site does however, have a lot of exposure, so it can’t hurt your cause, but if you really want that kind of money, Texas, Vegas, Florida, THAT’S where the money is, not from us “armchair” buyers in assisted living. Good luck, man. Coming from my hometown, it’s an impressive sight.
Howard, in a previous life in the corporate world I owned product announcement for a very well known American technology company so I know the announcement and media process well. The biggest part of making a splash with any new announcement is to create awareness which my little Craigslist add is doing in spades. I also have a commitment from Hemmings Muscle Machines to do multiple articles on the cars together and individually and I am talking with Hagerty to do a feature article as well. I appreciate your point of view but also please understand that there are multiple other things going on with these cars in addition to the Craiglist ad. I was unaware that Barn Finds had posted this article until I saw it posted on an AMC facebook page where there were many dozens of comments. Ideally I would love to see them end up in a museum where they could be viewed and appreciated by a lot more people than the local car shows which is what happens with them now. I brought all 5 to our annual AMC car show for the first time this past spring and it was a VERY long two day exercise of shuttling drivers back and forth as well as loading and unloading a couple of cars on and off my trailer. What is more interesting than that show itself is where the show took place at the Martin Auto Museum in Phoenix which has a huge indoor warehouse with a couple of hundred beautiful cars on display. I recently initiated discussions with the owners about putting the se 5 Red, White and Blue beauties on display inside the museum.
Howard… yes Barnfinds is about dusty forgotten cars which are getting few and further between. But features of collections like this… well should I say “dare to dream”? To me this inspires others to seek projects and restore one single car. From 50 feet, it might even look like one of these. His strategy of listing it on Craigslist is genius. It does not mean that the final sale will be on Craigslist. For some odd reason, the less common cars invoke these reactions, but the mainstream collector cars do not. Seems to me that it should be the other way around. While I appreciate them, I have grown a bit tired of another Chevelle, Mustang, or Camaro……
yup, a computer bought this site and slightly changed direction from B4 the sale (well, not a puter, but try’n talk w/the co now is like a puter owning the site). I see no detriment to their listings now (that’s not the sales forum, but this “display/comment on’em” area). The planes, trains’n boats added, the exotica (lambos, etc) don’t scare me off. I get some oohs’n awe’s, plenty of guwffs. Chit man, ahma car guy so ‘it’s all good’ to me.
Everybody forgets there are people who pay 3 million for 1 car ! 600,000 is not out of the park for Tom Brady or any number celebrity or well off people just the average Joe
After Brady’s performance last night, he may not want to put his remaining eggs in this basket.
Dan, my hat is off to you for the graciousness you’ve exhibited in responding to some of the lesser than kind remarks made here. I was also in the corporate world, in marketing, and you are correct. It’s all about exposure, getting the word out by whatever means are feasible. Best wishes for selling your outstanding collection.
I completely agree, steve. Dan’s replies
are more than gracious. A number of slightly uninformed comments will be
taken with the proverbial ‘grain of salt’.
That written, I’d love to own any; or all in
this case. Too bad for me I wasn’t more
aggressive to purchasing in my youth.
Dan; my good wishes go to you!
Dan you have a beautiful collection there. I just wish I had the $$$ to buy them all. Glad your getting the exposure on these beauties so when you take them to Mecum or Barrett-Jackson you will easily get your price plus more than cover the fees to sell them. As a car nut I would like to see your collection go to someone that would appreciate them as you do or as you say go to a museum so more people can understand that despite the odds a good and fast vehicle can be produced on a shoestring budget compared to the Big3. GLWTS!
Zero interest even if I had the cash & storage space. Ridiculous prices, both one & all. Auction comparisons are unrealistic & this guy knows this. He’s in AZ & he gets carried away with all these absolutely crazy auction prices. When he decides to sell any of his cars, his prices are way, way, Ridiculous. I recommend stay away!
Joe, we restore these cars for a living and know very well what it cost to make them new again. More importantly, nearly all the cars we restore belong to customers that bring them into our shop and they can easily spend as much as the value I have put on these cars just to restore a car they already own. It is not uncommon for my shop to spend $50K or more on parts, materials and third party expenses like machine work plus every restoration requires at least 1,000 hours of work and sometimes a lot more. If you were lucky enough to find 5 additional cars like these (which would be nearly impossible given some of them have only 30 or 40 remaining in existence) and all were in need of restoration in order to make tem as nice as these 5 cars, you would be dancing in the streets if the total cost of acquisition and restoration “only” came to $600k. Moreover, I am not sure what you are talking about regarding selling cars with ridiculous prices as I have not put any of my cars up for sale for at least 15 years so perhaps you have me confused with an AMC vendor here in AZ who sells AMC cars and parts. Regardless, our restored cars win national awards at both AMC and all brand shows and many have won best in show against 600 or more cars many of which cost 10X what the little Nash Ramblers that won best in show cost to restore. We have restored GTOs, Chevelles, Firebirds, Mopars and a bunch of 50s vintage trucks and all of the cars we have restored are enjoyed by their owners all around North America and even a few in Europe. Additionally, many of our restorations have been featured in Hemmings Muscle Machines as well as on multiple cars are featured on premier Youtube Video Channels. Our reputation for being fair and honest is well known throughout the AMC community as well as within other brands collector car communities and we treat everyone that comes into our shop with honesty and respect. In fact, we ALWAYS advise every customer that they will likely spend 50% less than it cost to restore their car by simply buying a car previously restored rather than having us restore their car. We have a 15-18 month backlog with people who have put in deposits to get in our restoration queue and we also have more than a year backlog for AMC and Jeep engine builds. All of that happens for a reason which is very contrary to your unfounded and inaccurate comments about my cars and my classic car restorations company. I am not sure why you are so angry but your comments and ire seem to be misdirected at me and my cars for no apparent reason.
Mr. Curtis,
Thank you for sharing, you are a gentleman with an unbelievable strength of character to put up with the uncalled for and mostly rude comments. I personally don’t care what armchair, self-appointed, wannabe experts think about value, but love to read the “hands on” personal experiences and in-depth knowledge.
If commenters were more polite we might get more owners be willing to take the time to educate, but I doubt we will every have a man with your patience. Again, thank you.
Joe,
Talk about hubris, do you honestly believe someone that has $600,000 to purchase this marvelous collection needs or wants your advise on much of anything.
I recommend you stay away from adult conversation.
Joe, sadly your irrationally angry comments greatly diminish your credibility to those who read those same comments and I suspect you will live a lot longer if you stop being so angry about silly things like this thread that for whatever reason gets your undies all knotted up. We have never met, you have never visited my restoration shop and you have never laid eyes on any car we have ever restored yet you somehow believe your criticism is warranted? I am pretty sure I speak for all other readers when stating that we don’t understand why you feel compelled to be so negative about something that not only does not involve you but more importantly that you literally know nothing about. The quality of the cars we restore at my shop speaks for itself and everyone we restore a car for is thrilled with the results. We do this stuff for a living every day and I am pretty confident we have a very good understanding of what it takes to make a old pile of junk new again to the point that people are willing to wait in line to have us do the same thing to their beloved cars. I am sorry that those irrefutable facts are not to your liking so I would like to extend an open invitation to you to come and visit us any time to see the magic we conduct to make unloved old cars beautiful again.
(I feel it’s so very important for us to read of someone’s utter disdain towards a listing here, especially when absolutism is emphasized to drive home the reasons.)
Why would you recommend “stay away” just because YOU have zero interest? You can’t afford them anyway–who are you kidding?
Great group of AMC’s
Hi Dan, yes great collection, if you find someone to buy all, then they will be able to split them up or do whatever they want with them. Good luck on your sale.
Not necessarily.
The seller can assure contractually that the collection stay together for a reasonable period, and even demand a performance bond be issued. Or most any other agreed conditions, it is even common with art collections, which I present this sale is one.
Dan my congrats to you and the very fine collection you have built, it’s very impressive and I admit I have never seen another like it! I think you position on selling them as the collection they are is very sound since the value of each is supported by the others! I do not believe you will have a problem selling these they are by themselves beautiful and as a collection pure awesome! I wish you good luck and this collection is going to someone very happy!
It is called marketing. Dan understands this as CL gets mega exposure. Lots of eyeballs on CL now it has migrated to BF and will find another gear head site etc. Attempting to keep the collection intact will be far more difficult to sell, along with finding the right buyer.
The TA Javelin is a rare bird. There was one parked in the Cal Poly Pomona student parking lot off and on when I attended there in the early 80’s. Many times he parked his next to my Boss 302. I never met the guy. Most likely the car was from Riverside Raceway. Since only 100 were produced it is only one of two that I have seen outside of a collection this past 40+ years.
This has been one of the most interesting threads in BF in quite some time. Yea I like the crusty dusty stuff but I also enjoy seeing these really nice examples of AMC history. All the comments make for an interesting afternoon read for this old car guy. One of the things that I like is that each day when I open my BF feed is that “box of chocolates” feeling: you never no what you’ll find.
Dan, AMC owner and AMO member here. Thanks for putting yourself and your collection out there. I own a 40 Hudson and a 74 Gremlin x( 304), I get and understand the comments here. We have always tried harder in the collector community.
Your selling of your cars will remind the hobby that one can only see so many Mopars and SS 396’s before boredom sets in. Thanks again for the AMAZING collection and publicity for AMC!!
Cheers to AMC for doing patriotic themed cars.
Wouldn’t be allowed today….they’d say it was h speech or w supre_ _ _ _
Yea I’ve made fun of the Pacer (even thought we had 2 wagons) and the Matador……but I luved the Javelin, the AMX & the Rebel. (bone take note)
Hey Rebel….who would have thunk that ! Did they make one in just blue & red, bars & stars ! lol
Dan, I understand driving them all can be an issue.
If you want to ship one to me in Kentucky I’d be happy to put some miles on it for you. : )
67Firebird_Cvt, please send me your address! LOL
That’s sad about Mark Donohue, I hadn’t thought about him for decades, I remember him winning the Indy 500, when i was just starting to get into watching races on TV. And finished 2nd at LeMans in a Ford GT for Carrol Shelby’s Ford team. And he won 2 of the 4 races of the initial IROC series of great racers, including Emerson Fittipaldi, Peter Revson, AJ Foyt & Richard Petty
He was only 38 years old when he died I see…..when he died on a practice run for the Austrian Grand Prix in 1975. :(
Donohue was also known as the master of the Porsche 917.
JLHudson, Mark Donohue was by far the most talented driver of his time. He was a winner regardless of who he raced for
Dan Gurney & Mario Andretti keep the great Donohue from being “By far the most talented driver of his time”. A case could be made (and has been) he was the most talented, but there was not much shade between them.
https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/articles/us-scene/indycar/spotlight-dan-gurney-mark-donohue?v=7516fd43adaa
A fellow who did not get much credit for his ability: Ike Knupp
This is such a cool and unique collection! I add my kudos to Mr. Curtis for the grace he has shown when folks spout off about things they know FAR less about than the owner. The odd marque that I enjoy has also shown a precipitous increase in value in recent times, and at first, I thought “you would have to be nuts” to pay that much. However, I paid attention to the offerings, auctions, CL, etc., and came to realize that this old geezer did not understand the modern world.
Great collection of unobtanium AMC niche cars that I’ve heard of but rarely saw in person. I’ve always been interested in the oddball AMCs like the Matador Oleg Cassini and Barcelona cars. Almost bought a new 78 Pacer Wagon but couldn’t pull the trigger. Too old now to mess with them but still a big fan. I never was interested in going real fast, just loping along.
I tried to sell them honey, but no one bid on them. Guess I’ll just have to keep them for awhile.
Craigslist?!… After my last experience selling a vehicle on that platform I vowed never to do it again… seemed like every bottom feeding psychopath in a 100 mile radius showed up in my driveway… I even had a guy insist I sell the car to him and he left a cash deposit… then went dark and never came back… disappeared… left the cash. A bunch of weeks later I donated it to a charity… for karma’s sake. I hope Dan has a much better experience… GLWS…
Dan, I love your AMC collection. I am a proud member of AMOA and GLCAMC. I have a 70 AMX which is painted as a tribute to the AMC Employee SCCA AMX. Would love to have met you at this years Motor City Muster in Detroit. Its great going to the local car shows and cruises and being the only AMC there amongst all the Camaro’s, Mustangs, GTO’s, Chargers etc. Thank you for the topic of my sweet dreams tonight.
I know Dan Curtis, I was with him when he bought the machine out Davis California.
You would be hard prest to find anyone who knows more about AMC products. He has a near encyclopedia knowledge of AMC engines. He is not just some rich guy that pays people to restore his cars. He knows how turn a wrench.
I’ll bet he wrenched on evey one of these engines.
As for the cars anyone who can afford this collection knows what they are.
I am so glad to see AMC cars getting there due.
Dan,
Appreciate your focus and determination! Job well done. When I win the lottery, I’ll contact you to build one of my dream cars – ’67 Marlin, 401, T-10!
Scottymac that would be a custom job. The biggest engine available from AMC in 1967 would be the 343 Typhoon which was a fabulous mid range engine. A local AMC club member who is getting on in years has one that he would be willing to sell and it is 1 of 1 67 343 4 spd Marlins with manual steering yet with power disc brakes. It is frost white with a black vinyl top and black and charcoal brocade cloth upholstery and it is a real stunner
I can’t thank Dana and Tom Schlitter enough from the youtube channel “If this car could talk” for making this fantastic video about my Super Stock AMXs, American Dream race car. It is #52 of the 52 American Motors race cars made in 1969 and was a 3 time National Hotrod Association regional champion. What a wonderful tribute to this amazing piece of American automotive racing history
https://youtu.be/5miYXqO4tW4
Dan, thank you for visiting us here at BF and making these great comments.
Yes, lots of negativity here for using CL, yet I’ve sold every car I’ve ever put on there with a minimal of fuss. I believe it’s all in the marketing – great pictures, links to more information, useful wording, etc. That usually will weed out the scammers.
When I first read your ad, I thought what many think – this collection does not belong on CL, it needs to be in a major auction where it can be properly hyped. If that happens, I don’t see why it can’t bring the money you are looking for, easily.
It wasn’t until I read your comments that I could appreciate the brilliance in the CL strategy – bravo!
PRA4SNW, thanks. As PT Barnum was know to say, “there is no such thing as bad publicity” LOL
Hi, everyone, from K-Town. There’s still an AMC dealer here, incidentally.
I worked at AMC until ’69 and left to start a broadcast career. Still at it.
Someone here had an SC/Rambler with the WI license plate “HI OFCR”. Another one wore the plate “ID WIN”.
Cheers …
Dan:
Were you the guy that sold the 1976(?) yellow AMC Hornet Coupe, with the Black Vinyl Landau Roof, 4.0L Fuel Injected Jeep 6 and (AX-15?) 5 speed on Bring -a-Trailer last year (or so)?
Jakespeed, I have never sold anything on Bring a Trailer. I tried to put a Canadian friend’s (he was stuck in Canada with his car in Phoenix during the Covid pandemic) really nice 67 Rambler American convertible with a 343 and a very well done retrofitted 700R4 auto on BAT 2 or 3 years ago and the damn fools would not accept my minimum price for the car. I sold it through a broker for far more than the minimum price less than 30 days after they refused to accept the price I wanted for the reserve. In my nearly 70 years on this earth I have NEVER, not even once, heard of an auction site rejecting a vehicle for sale because the auction site thinks they are the ones dictating the price of a car.
Dan:
I’m sorry to hear you had a poor experience with B-a-T (and “NO!” I’m not affiliated with B-a-T). With the amount of money cars command that are sold on that platform, this sale should have been a natural pairing.
Those are a unique gathering of individually rare, beautiful cars!
Good Luck With Your Sale/Auction. !
altho a javelin hater – cuz it killed the AMX (I think I got that right, tho nota mopar guy) THIS one might come in 2nd of the 4 on this page.
Returning to the AMX lately has been a real joy. For me the top merican ‘sports car’ is the glass truck they call a Vette (’56/60 only). AMX is second but they might as well B shoulder to shoulder in my world. Esp an early model B4 the back seat. Any motor and transmis is OK w/me too. Often thought of a removable hrd top (w/ or w/o rag top) /OR/ the opposite – a sweet lill hatch in there.
What a rig ! Y did they ever kill THAT one !?!
Modern components, same great style… automotive bliss
(with beemer 507 & the mb 300SL). These are 4 cars I dream of.
chrlsful, as I have gotten older I have grown to appreciate how much better a Javelin drives compared to an AMX. The biggest difference is that the Javelin has much less interior wind buffeting with all four windows down compared to the AMX with only two windows that go down. Additionally, the longer wheelbase Javelin is less jouncey than the shorter wheelbase AMX.
As a lifelong AMC fan, I’m in awe of your collection. These cars are nearly impossible to find today. Some have said they might be hard to sell and that may be true but not everyone worships Camaros, Mustangs and Corvettes. To the true AMC lover, these are priceless! Thank you for preserving these rare cars. I tried to buy an American SC/Scrambler from a friend many years ago but he wouldn’t sell it. Unfortunately he totaled it.
Hi Dan, Thanks so much for showing off the collection! I have been a fan of AMC cars since I was a toddler. My grandfather, Balis D. Evans, worked at AMC Kenosha from 1941 to 1975. His last position with AMC was in the Design Engineering dept. He bought the first 1968 Javelin built at the Kenosha Plant in late 67′. He told me that he had walked down the line with his car as it was being built and thanked each person who worked on it. At the end of the assembly line a bunch of workers gave him a yellow hard hat with 2 black stripes and a pair of welding goggles that look like racing type goggles. He drove to Chicago after work that day to show me his new car and give me a ride in it. I was 5 years old. My grandpa would just be in awe of your collection! He really loved his AMC cars and took great pride in seeing them out driving. My family not only all drove AMC cars, but most all of them for 3 or 4 generations worked at AMC. I met and bowled with grandpa’s friend, Charlie Nash one night in 72 at a Kenosha Bowling alley. Charlie was family to the founder of it all. The only thing I can think that would be better than you selling your collection to one investor, would be if that investor thought those amazing cars should be headquartered back in Kenosha, and not so far from home. Thanks again for sharing Dan!
Ray Works, I would love to see this collection end up in a museum in Kenosha
Me too! An interactive museum would probably be asking way too much! But nonetheless, the city of Kenosha is a big part of the story of America’s cars. If the name and some of the paint schemes offered on their cars didn’t already drive that point home. I will watch out for news as to where your five beautiful cars find a place to relax and increase in value. Thanks Dan!
Just for fun: these cars should be on Bring-a-winning-lottery-ticket. A mint condition Grand Waggy goes for about $100K these days, so any of these cars should be at least that much in a perfect world. Used to be that one could not give away a GW. A few things in the write-up: there were about 500 B scheme SC/Ramblers out of a total of ~1500. SS/AMXs came from the factory in Frost white & were then painted by the owner.
JLHudson, a friend wrote the book Hurst Equipped and he interviewed the family of the gentleman who did the black pin striping on the A Schemes for AMC. He was paid to pin stripe somewhere around 1215 – 1220 A Scheme SC/Ramblers. There is also verified documentation that 1512 total SC/Ramblers were with both schemes combined. The math of 1512-1215 (or up to 1220) results in less than 300 B Schemes made. There is quite a bit of Urban Legend in the AMC world and one piece of urban legend referring the SC/Ramblers is that the “second” run of 500 SC/Rabmlers were all B Schemes which has been disproven by tracking door tag line numbers showing B Schemes intermixed with A Schemes in all three runs. Another friend is the original owner of a very early B Scheme that is irrefutably from the first 500 SC/Rambles made as indicated by the door tag line sequence number on his one owner car. We have restored 15 SC/Ramblers at my restoration shop and when comparing their door tags to the copy we have on hand of the 1969 AMC line production records, the production records show 3 or 4 of the A Schemes we restored were in the second run of 500 SC/Ramblers. Urban Legend suggests that the second run of 500 were all B Schemes so clearly the urban legend is incorrect.
The claim of 500 B-scheme SC/Ramblers is made in a number of places, including Larry Mitchell’s book. As you have observed, the notion of A versus B schemes is not so cut & dried and B scheme cars are not easy to find. Since it seems that A & B cars were mixed on the production line, i ponder what factor decided the paint scheme? As for the SS/AMX paint job, i do not consider a paint job by Hurst as “factory”; the Hurst paint application could have been better than factory applied paint for all i know. What is true is that the R/W/B paint schemes found on many SS/AMXs are quite variable in the proportion of the colors. Which ones are Hurst & which are owner paint jobs would be interesting to know…..as for great drivers from that period, i would also suggest one Parnelli Jones. Another driver, who was basically an amateur, took an untested car on a shoe-string budget and whipped Corvettes, 289 Shelbys and many others: Ike Knupp.
JLHudson, another piece of Urban Legend is that all SS AMXs were painted by the owner which is not correct. The original window sticker for my SS AMX AND the documentation sent to dealers from AMC AND the documentation between the dealer my car came from the AMC zone office lists the RWB paint job from Hurst at a charge of something around $79 (the book with all the docs is in the car rather than here at my desk). All SS AMXs were indeed sent from AMC to Hurst in frost white but if the dealer ordered the SS with the optional Red, White and Blue paint, Hurst painted them in Ford Rangoon Red, Appliance White and Chrysler Corporate Blue which are the well documented colors that Hurst used to do the quickie RWB repaint jobs. We used those same paint process and colors when my restoration shop revived this SS AMX featured in the ad. Painted the entire car in Frost White followed by painting over the exterior frost white with Applicane White in the middle followed by Chrysler Corporate Blue on the back followed by Rangoon Red on the front. The very tedious paint job that we worked hard to recreate the Hurst created overspray, took over a week to complete. We added the opposing blue and red pin stripes because that was my personal preference and what I would no doubt have added had I owned and raced the car when new. I have been building AMC muscle cars for 50 years and have been researching and building restoration knowledge since the early 90s.
So, there is basically no way to tell if a S/C Rambler is A or B scheme from the VIN or door tag code. IIRC, door tags paint codes came in two types: 00 or Spec.
JLHudson, the build sheet, if found, specifies whether the car is an A Scheme or B Scheme as does the window sticker. There are also little telltale signs on original cars like the blue decal on the rear panel under the windshield being under rear windshield trim or the original B Scheme decals being inside the rolled lip on the front fenders and quarter panels. Larry Mitchell, God rest his soul, and a variety of old school AMC enthusiasts were often the sources of some of the now debunked urban legend trivia about AMCs. Although AMC was not great at keeping records, it turned out that many former AMC workers saved information that eventually made its way into the public domain once the internet enable showing photos of factory documentation. One of those pieces information is the break down between A and B Scheme SC/Ramblers resulting from the receipts held by the gentleman who painted the black pinstripes on the edges of the red on every A Scheme SC/Rambler made by AMC.
I appreciate the links to other collections with all sorts of fantastic cars including a couple of Red, White and Blue AMCs. My focus has always been to drive whatever cars I own rather than put them in a beautiful showrooms too just look at them and sadly, with just one of me and 7 or 8 cars that need to be driven, there is not enough available spare time to drive them all. It is my hope that a collector or museum will put these 5 cars on display together so that more people can enjoy seeing them for what they are, a collection of all 5 AMC factory Red, White and Blue that demonstrates an a remarkable time in American muscle car history. I updated the Craigs list ad to show all 5 of them photographed together from a photo shoot we did yesterday on a beautiful clear blue sky Arizona winter day. The RWB cars in combination with a crystal clear blue sky behind them is a sight to behold. Here is the Google Photos link to a couple of yesterday’s photo shoot. I also posted the same pictures on a couple of facebook pages and they have already received hundreds of comments and likes. https://photos.app.goo.gl/wZ9VCVEkmfdxhLmPA
Rambler Ranch does not have an S/C Rambler or S/S AMX. Recently i asked about this and could see from the response that the wheels are turning. How fast? I do not know.
thanks for relaying the information JLHudson. I asked a former intern from the Rambler Ranch to reach out to the owner of Rambler Ranch. Time will tell if anything comes out of opening up communications about hosting these cars at the Ranch
These are all beautiful cars with unbelievable restorations. I have always heard that your shop was THE place to have your AMC restored. I have a 71 SC Hornet that I would love to have worked on by your team. My lifelong dream, however, is to own one of the 52 SS AMXs. I was wondering if yours still has the 1970 front end sheet metal and paperwork that the factory shipped to all SS owners at the end of the year in 1969? I am friends with the late Jerry Schinkus’ brother (SS #47 which was initially Shahans’ second car) and have heard enough stories about these cars, and see the way the market is taking off to know that this is an amazing deal for any AMC fan, investor or museum. See Hagerty’s top ten classic cars to buy for 2023.
Although #52, American Dream, was the only SS AMX not disqualified when converted to the 70 facia conversion (there were not enough cars in its class to compete in the Pacific Northwest so NHRA made an exception for only this car), the 70 dash was no longer with the car when I took ownership. That is fine with me because oddly enough the replacement VIN tags with the 70 upgrade were not in the same sequence as the original VINs so they were meaningless with regard to the production sequence of the 52 cars. I still have the 70 hood with the fugly hood scoop, 70 fender and rear quarter panel extensions, rear tail light panel and tail lights, front bumper and grill. The 70 hood will become a piece of wall art for my restoration shop
It is interesting that AMC would make both A & B paint schemes at the same time. How was it decided to make a car one or the other? Were S/C Ramblers all made on the same assembly line? S/S AMXs were sequential and Donohue Javelins are thought by some to have been made within a short time span, although not sequential. Inquiring minds want to know!
JLHudson, some dealers had a hard time selling A Scheme SC/Ramblers, far more so in larger urban areas. It was first thought the the B Scheme as in response to those more difficult sales area but AMC documentation has determined, and internviews with former AMC employees have verified, that the B Scheme was planned from the get go. For what it is worth, the B scheme is my personal favorite of the two. All SC/Ramblers were made on the same assembly line but unlike the SS AMX with sequential serial numbers, the SC/Ramblers were intermixed with other models made on the same line. 1970 TA Javelins were all made between around mid September to October before the big strike during the 70 model year that ran for over two months through Thanksgiving. The Donohue Javelin was created after the end of the strike in order to meet the new Trans Am race series homologation rules
Here is the new youtube video released this morning, January 20, 2023 discussing all 5 cars together. Enjoy. https://youtu.be/miX2rAThE6s
Dan, you mentioned an AMC museum in Kenosha. Ideally it should have been in the 1896 Jeffery headquarters. People were asking Chrysler to not demolish that building in 1995, but it went right ahead and razed it anyway without a word of apology. There are pictures of it on the Web.
Dan, As you know your collection made the Robb report. Brilliant sir
Given that I have written about two of the cars in Dan’s collection. I was on hand when Dan acquired the #52 SS/AMX which I reported on for Muscle Car Review in the June 2019. Dan B-Scheme SC/Rambler was owned for two decades by my best friend and co-author with me of three books, Hurst Equipped, 1970 Maximum Muscle, and Hemi Under Glass: Bob Riggle and His Wheel-standing Mopars, Mark Fletcher.
Dan put out a tremendous effort to assemble and restore these pieces of AMC history. I agree with Dan’s sentiments that they should be sold as a collection. They deserve to be together.
I’ve assembled both stories in a single PDF which you can download and view at the link below.
https://bit.ly/AMX_SCRAMBLER