1966 AMX Prototype

edited by David Barth, 30 January 2009.
Courtesy The Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum in Cleveland, Ohio, USA.
Photos were taken in January 2009.

American Motors was the result of a 1954 merger between Nash and Hudson, two of the largest independent automobile manufacturers. By 1958, American Motors dropped both the Hudson and Nash nameplates. Instead, the company adopted the Rambler marque from Nash, and all its models went by the Rambler name for several years. With a simplified production line, and one of the only compact cars on the market, AMC was fortunate to have strong sales during the 1958 recession while other manufacturers saw their sales slide.

AMC had tried to go sporty with the 1965 Marlin, but the attempt was half-hearted due to the company's conservative styling. Dick Teague, AMC's vice president for styling, pushed the company to take some risks, and with AMC management approval, AMC designers began playing with ideas for a sporty car. Limited by the fact that they had to use existing AMC frames and components to save money, the designers were still able to come up with a unique-looking sports car that Dick Teague dubbed the "AMX," the "X" standing for "experimental."

A prototype pushmobile (a fiberglas body with no engine or drivetrain) was built and displayed at the 1966 Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) conference in Detroit. One of the interesting features which caught the public's eye was the "Ramble Seat," a modernized version of the old "rumble seat." In the AMX, the rear window flipped up and a seatback folded up, to allow passengers to sit in the rear area and get fresh air.

The AMX prototype received a warm reception at the conference, and soon Teague was able to have a single operational model built by the Italian coachbuilder, Vignale. Like the prototype, this model featured the Ramble Seat, which proved to be an unfeasible design and raised safety questions about the rear passengers in the event of an accident. Nonetheless, the Ramble Seat was viewed by automotive critics as an example of the risk-taking that AMC was willing to take. The operational AMX made its debut at the New York Auto Show in April 1966, and was joined by other AMC "dream cars," including the Vixen and the Cavalier.

This vehicle is the original AMX prototype pushmobile shown at the 1966 SAE conference. It was donated to the Crawford Auto Aviation Museum by the American Motors Corporation.