Who knew the 1965 Rambler Marlin was such a “manly” car?! I’ve always liked them, and I knew that they came with a V8 (not this one) as an option, but a Marlin brochure touts them as “The swinging new man-size sports-fastback.” This example is listed here on eBay in Addison, Illinois, and the seller is asking $16,900 or best offer. Thanks to Curvette for the tip!
“Step into the big, bold, brand-new car for swingers who love fast lines, deep luxury, and man-size room for man-size comfort.” I’m not worthy of owning such a manly car. Man, AMC’s marketing department was really on a roll. Somewhere in the mind-controlled AI world, there’s a computer-generated chart that shows the breakdown of male vs. female ownership of the ’65 Rambler Marlin, but I’m not adding to the AI-generated nonsense; there’s too much of it now, in my opinion.
AMC offered the Rambler Marlin for exactly one model year: 1965. Most of us know that the Marlin was made for three model years, 1965, 1966, and 1967, but the initial model year was the only one with the Rambler name attached to it. AMC wanted to downplay the somewhat stodgy Rambler name, so beginning in 1966, they were known as the AMC Marlin. They only came in a two-door hardtop body style, but what if they had made a sedan? Here’s one I made a while ago.
The interior looks like new in this car, but there’s a reason for that: it is new. The seller found this car in 2020 and “brought it back to life,” and it sure looks great now. They say it’s wearing most of its original paint, and the previous owner did an incredible amount of work, including redoing the classic houndstooth fabric seats, both front and rear. The smallish trunk opening is fun to see. This car could have worked as a hatchback if they had strong enough struts in this era to hold up such a heavy hatchback.
The engine is decidedly the least “manly” version available this year: AMC’s 232-cu.in. OHV inline-six with 155 horsepower and 222 lb-ft of torque, and this one is backed by a three-speed automatic with a column-shift. The seller’s eBay ad is impressive, with a ton of information regarding the work that has been done to maintain this beautiful Marlin. Have any of you owned a ’65 Rambler Marlin?
Scotty: the brochure shot (Utilized to create your sedan) minimizes the awkward “humpbacked” side view caused by AMC’s management insisting that the car be built on the larger platform. Originally, it was supposed to have been built on the smaller Tarpon concept platform, IIRC! That “sedan” view is sharp, though!! GLWTA!! :-)
Said no one:
“Does this trunk make my rear end look wide”?
Did someone add side markers to this? They didn’t happen until 68, styling is so so add that six cylinder and it’s nap time, sorry.
I agree. Too bad about the side markers and the 6…
Only logical thing to do is add a turbo,,thats a tough 6 and it may add an extra 60 hp or more,then it’ll move alittle better
The word “frumpy” comes to mind, with this car.
I see no u joints.
Is that correct?
What is that drive train called?
LCL– It’s called ‘torque tube’ drive- the outside is stationary, and the rotation drive is inside the tube.
AMC was always around half a decade behind everyone else.
The car had a torque tube, which protected and made the u joints last longer. It unfortunately made it harder to change the u joints if they did go bad. If you’re into different engine conversions the torque tube would have to be cut out
Its a neat Marlin. I remember seeing these here and there as a kid and liking the rear styling. I had never realized until many years later just how tiny that trunk lid is. Scotty makes a good point about a hatchback design, I never thought of that, and that just might have worked. Scotty I remember the 4 door from another time and that actually could have worked. I hope this one goes to a good new home.
I like Marlins but the 6 is a letdown. Responding to the ad copy in Robby the Robot’s voice: “Must… enhance masculinity-must… enhance masculinity-must… enhance masculinity-Marlin….Marlin…Marlin…(or something like that).
After the Corvette Sting Ray, all naming of cars after fish should have stopped.
Excuse me? Barracuda?
Oddly it looks like this has a recent drum brake master cylinder installed (cap indicates same size front and rear reservoirs). The Marlin came standard with power front disk brakes for 1965. Of course with attention to bore size and residual pressure valves a drum master cylinder can work OK with disks.
The side marker lights are definitely not factory, there were none on these cars. Other evident non-factory touches include GM high energy ignition, an aluminum radiator, and of course gauges and a modern radio under the dash.
The original headliner, a foam material, looks to be missing in action. No real surprise there since the foam invariably falls apart and is not reproduced. The fancy 2-tone steering wheel is cracked. I believe under the dash on the left hand side is switch for optional 4-way flashers.
Price seems really out there for a very basic Marlin, albeit apparently in very good condition. It doesn’t even have power steering.
I owned a 1965 Marlin for about 35 years though mine was a bit better equipped with the 327 V8 and (thankfully) power steering.
back in the day front disk brake parts could not be found,bought a sedan and used the drum brake parts
I was wondering about that but I see what might be a brake caliper in one of the photos. Surprisingly today you can get those parts but it’s quite possible drums were substituted at some point. (It’s also possible to upgrade to a more modern disk setup.)
The rear drum brakes used with the front disks are a real problem, a unique “non servo” setup designed to reduce lockup under hard braking. Forget finding parts or even acknowledgement of that setup in parts databases. (There is no proportioning valve for the rear drums.) The cure is replacement with standard-type Bendix drum brakes and plumb in a proportioning valve.
Is this a repeat listing?
I thought we had seen it before as well, also the high asking price, though I would not mind the 6 cylinder engine, just at maybe $10,000. Is that reasonable?
I checked first, Gary, it hasn’t been shown before, at least here on Barn Finds.
https://barnfinds.com/?s=1965+marlin
I miss AMC.
Actually the picture of a 4 door Marlin was really sharp,,one of the best 4 doors I have seen,,would it have helped,,who knows
Beautiful 4dr., Scotty. I have always thought that the headlights on these needed to be flush or inset in the grille, and that’s all I would change. Well, the 6 banger on the feature car, of course!
Lovely car. I used to know someone who had one. Sadly he’s no longer living. The only one I saw in person.
The comment by Big C shows lack of education of Nash, AMC and possibly other car makes. Nash owned Kelvinater which made the first affordable and most practical A/C available in automobiles back in the fifties. Other auto companies eventually.purchased this from AMC for quite a few years. AMC was first to offer seatbelts and then make them standard equipment. The Corvette was first car to offer front disc brakes on a US car, then AMC was first to offer them on its whole line of vehicles. I’m sure that they weren’t always behind all other carmakers.
I had a 1965 Marlin in the early ’70s and loved it! It had the 232 six and a stick shift. In that form it had quite sufficient power compared to the average cars on the road and regularly achieved around 17 mpg in town and about 21-22 mpg on the highway. Who knows what it may have been capable with the optional twin shift transmission?!
I named the car “Mother’s Cadillac” because it rode so nicely!
The comment by Big C shows lack of education of Nash, AMC and possibly other car makes. Nash owned Kelvinater which made the first affordable and most practical A/C available in automobiles back in the fifties. Other auto companies eventually.purchased this from AMC for quite a few years. AMC was first to offer seatbelts and then make them standard equipment. The Corvette was first car to offer front disc brakes on a US car, then AMC was first to offer them on its whole line of vehicles. I’m sure that they weren’t always behind all other carmakers.
I had a 1965 Marlin in the early ’70s and loved it! It had the 232 six and a stick shift. In that form it had quite sufficient power compared to the average cars on the road at that time and regularly achieved around 17 mpg in town and about 21-22 mpg on the highway. Who knows what it may have been capable with the optional twin shift transmission?!
I named the car “Mother’s Cadillac” because it rode so nicely!
I thought Studebaker was the first American car to use disc brakes on a production car (Avanti 1963) not Corvette