Does anybody here remember AMC?

[BillM]

My dad and I are working on a 1964 Rambler American 440 2-door coupe. It’s got a 196ci straight 6 in it. Pretty neat car that’s a competitor with the Ford Falcon and Chevy Nova.

My uncle had a Ramble American with a DeSoto V-12 in it that he'd race for titles out in Cali back in the day. When asked what was in it, he'd say "new sparkplugs and clean gas."

I had one of the Levi Gremlins, a 1974, in1976. Had to put fender washers over the door latch strikers so the doors wouldn't rattle from all the cracks in the beer-can metal door frame. Traded it for a 68 Dodge Dart with the slant 6. Wasn't much prettier, but reliable as heck. Unlike the Gremlin.

 

[BillM]

Jeep is a great vehicle

Was. Now they're just cars that look sort of like Jeeps

 

[TerryMiller]

Jeep is a great vehicle

Was. Now they're just cars that look sort of like Jeeps

Yeppers...

...now, Jeeps are just Fiats.

 

[Bixby Sooner53]

Who could forget their Gremlin? It looked like a station wagon that had been severely rear ended. It may be where Ford got the idea for the Pinto.

 

[MacFromOK]

Who could forget their Gremlin? It looked like a station wagon that had been severely rear ended. It may be where Ford got the idea for the Pinto.

And/or where Chevy got the Vega...

 

[SlugSlinger]

Yeppers...

...now, Jeeps are just Fiats.

I'm not defending the Wranglers, but they still have solid front and rear axles, lockers and an extremely low range transfercase. The people developing the Wranglers know what the public wants.

They are easy work on and to modify. I modified and installed a Ford Superduty high pinion Dana 60 in the front and a Chevy Corporate 14 bolt in the rear of my JKU.

That being said, there is no way I would ever buy a new Jeep. The prices are stupid for what they are actually selling, which is a lot of marketing.

However, compared to a new Bronco, the Wranglers are a bargain.

 

[AlongCameJones]

Correction: AMF, not AMC, built Harleys from late '60's - early '80's. Willie G. Davidson and Vaughn Beales did not like what American Machine & Foundry did to the former Milwaukee Iron, so they partnered in 1981 and bought the outfit right back from AMF. Those mini bikes and trail bikes badged AMF Harley-Davidson in the '70's were actually imports. American motorcycle factory workers and engineers still did not know how to build dinky super-light small-CC engine sporty machines. The best they could do was put an AMF Harley-Davidson gas tank decal on lightweight foreign-made stuff the way Chevrolet was put on the tailgates of Japanese Isuzu-made Luv trucks and FORD was put on the tailgates of Japanese-built Courier trucks. Dodge was put on the body of the Japanese-made Colt.

American car companies tried to even make their own dinky subcompacts in Detroit but those were an epic failure like Vega, Pinto and Gremlin/Hornet (actually made in Kenosha, Wisconsin by AMC). Chrysler earlier on was at least smart enough to import small stuff from Japan from the get-go like Dodge Colt, Dodge Omni, Plymouth Arrow and Plymouth Champ. American auto workers had been long accustomed to designing and building those heavy gas-guzzling boats. Harley workers on American soil traditionally built those heavyweight oil-leaking dinosaurs. Starting in the '70's, American car companies did this trendy importing of dinky stuff and AMF did the same for the entry-level "American-brand" motorcycles. I don't think even the small stuff imported for American motor vehicle companies ever had the same level of quality as stuff actually built by foreign motor vehicle companies with the foreign company's own brand. Certainly Honda and Kawasaki were superior over those small AMF Harley imports and Toyota Hilux trucks were superior over Chevy Luv by Isuzu, Ford Courier by Mazda and Dodge D-50 by Mitsubishi. The Mercury Capri and Buick Opel (certainly not Volkswagen/Audi/Mercedes/BMW/Porsche quality) from Germany were pure junk but I digress.

The AMF Shovelhead Big Twin models were still American built. In the early AMF years, engineer Willie G. Davidson pioneered the first "factory custom chopper": the FX Super Glide series circa 1970. This would spawn many Big Twin "factory custom" models to follow. Willie G, upon the great buyback wasn't having anything to do with light motorcycles or foreign-made bikes once one or more Davidson family members were to take back the corporate reins again. It was big-twin fever all over again by the time the Evolution motor came out nearing the mid-'80's.

 

[p238shooter]

I was impressed of how AMC got their hot rod Javelin to work supercharged using the stock standard carburetor. They built a box to pressurize the entire existing carburetor system rather than coming up with a new carb style. All they had to change was seal the cable and hose inlets and bump up the fuel pump pressure to make it work. Pretty slick cheap way of making it work.

 

[OHJEEZE]

American movie classics

 

[Bocephus123]

You can get a basic Bronco with Sasquatch package for $30,000 according to Ford. jeeps have gotten tooo fancy for what there supposed to be. axles are still good wish they would ditch all the plastic and electronics.