Car Spot: 79 American Motors Spirit

AMC's replacement for the Gremlin As much as I love American Motors, there were times when they rode with a model too long. Take, for example, the Gremlin. Introduced in 1970, they made changes, but should have moved on way before 1978. Sales were strong early in its production, peaking at over 170,000 units in... Continue Reading →

November 16, 2025 3

Car Spot: 71 AMC Hornet SC 360

Second rarest of all AMC cars One of the reasons I love AMC is that, as the underdog of American car manufacturers, and with limited funds for development and marketing, it consistently came up with a conversation-starter in the automotive arena. Case in point is this week’s spot, a 71 AMC Hornet SC 360, which... Continue Reading →

October 5, 2025 0

Car Spot: 73 AMC Levi’s Gremlin

The start of an automotive fashion movement I get a lot of abuse for being such an American Motors geek. Part of it comes from my dad working there for 27 years in the Parts Division located in Milwaukee, but just thought they were cool. I know, it's a relative term. They always were able... Continue Reading →

August 31, 2025 0

Car Spot: 57 Rambler Rebel

America's first muscle car In the 1950s, American Motors ads boasted: “Why don’t we enter high-performance Rambler V-8s in racing? Because the only race Rambler cares about is the human race.” This was the George Romney era at AMC from 54 to 62, and his focus was entirely on compact and economy cars, showing no... Continue Reading →

August 3, 2025 0

Car Spot: 69 AMX

Sporty performance at an affordable price In the 1960s the one thing that American Motors needed was an attention getter, something to pull the younger “in crowd” into the dealer showrooms and shake that stogy image of making cars your parents wanted to drive. That car was the AMX, a 69 just like this week's... Continue Reading →

March 23, 2025 0

Car Spot: 58 Studebaker President Starlight Hardtop

Making the most with limited dollars I love the story of an underdog. You regular followers know about the special place I have in my heart for all things American Motors. The same holds true for Studebaker. With limited funds, they did a remarkable job doing battle with GM, Ford, and Chrysler just like AMC... Continue Reading →

March 16, 2025 0

Car Spot: 1978 AMC Spirit AMX

When American Motors was still winning in motorsports AMC will be forever known for being able to squeeze out new designs on a limited budget. This week's spot is a great example of when the Spirit replaced the aging Gremlin. The automotive journalists recognized this and loved it. AMC's designer Dick Teague's "more-conventional" design of... Continue Reading →

January 10, 2025 0

Car Spot: 85 Renault Alpine GTA

Almost rebadged as the AMX in the US ... American Motors was trying its best to make the partnership deal with Renault work when the two connected in 1979. My dad was there at the time making sure parts got to every zone office throughout the country, and he was somewhat happy about it. It... Continue Reading →

November 15, 2024 8

Car Spot: 2000 Jeep Cherokee

American Motors hit a home run ... While the passenger car side of AMC wasn't exactly putting the world on fire in the mid-eighties with its Renault Alliance/Encore and Eagles, the Jeep side was humming and the purchase of it in 1970 was paying off dividends. Its modernization of the full-size Jeep (SJ) Cherokee and... Continue Reading →

June 21, 2024 0

Car Spot: The AMC Mighty Mite

The Jeep before they bought Jeep. Being an AMC guy, I get a fair amount of abuse but I remind those abusing me of the innovative vehicles the company came out with in response to the market. One example is this week's car spot, the Mighty Mite. Found this example at the Russell Military Museum... Continue Reading →