When I was eight years old a friend of the family showed up at our house with his new 390 4 speed AMX in a beautiful green color. My dad and older brothers along were car guys (GTO, Jag and a very quick small block 55 chevy at the time) and they were all impressed as was I. It had everything I (we) liked. It was great looking, sounded great, was the right size (small to us at the time) and plenty quick. They still look good today!
We had hit a robust amount of HP and Torque by the 60s. We just hadn't figured out how to do it without drinking an ocean of dinosaur juice and spraying a mountain of smog into the air yet.
I've loved watching all these old cars when they were new. Thanks for putting all these videos up. My favorites have been the Buick Riviera and this AMX one.
Love this car , My wife and I are in the process of restoring one right now, same white with red stripes color code and was a 390 California matching numbers car. Hope to have it ready for car shows in the spring.
This is an early prototype,notice that had the gas cap on the side of roof,this was the original concept but when production models started they put the gas inlet in the back of the car,I am glad they changed this gas cap for having it on the side broke up the clean lines of this beauty.
I just drug home a 1969 AMX in Big Bad Green. One of about 280 made. Last registered in 1988. Solid high desert CA car. Stored inside for last 12 years, maybe longer. Can't wait to make that 390 roar to life and get it back on the road! Thanks for the video!
Watching videos like this shows ya how technology has advanced into today. 14.5sec et 1/4mile for AMX 390 back then and today in 2013 we got 4cylinder and 6cylinder engine cars running those time down the 1320! Sweet times!
If I ever hit the Lottery I want one like this in red with white stripes !!! My uncle Rick took me a ride in one he had rebuilt the motor in ...I can still feel my neck pinned against the seat !!!...One of the fastest cars I have ever rode in !!!...and back in the day I rode in some pretty fast cars !!!!
The 1969 AMX AMC is my all-time fav although I also love the 1969 Mustang Mach I. Would love to have one with a solid body and interior and not necessarily a 390 cid and four-speed either at my old age now. Smaller engine and AT would do me just fine. Would cruise in it on Sunday afternoons. Ah, the looks I would get. Some younger guys might now even know what it is.
No one is cooler and better at it than Bud Lindemann.. everyone else sounds cheesy. Edit: sorry so late on my comment, but it's never to late to give respect to Bud Lindemann
Love the Rockford maneuver at 1:01. My first car was a 1972 Javelin SST that was as old as I was, but I miss the big brute now. As for the 2-seater AMX, I always found it a bit disproportionate, like it had too much tail, but now I'm starting to appreciate it, not as a thing of beauty (that big tail), but as a cool and interesting design.
By the late 60's I had become a Mopar fan. The big Dodges were really awesome back then. But when the AMC brought out their hot numbers they earned my respect. Not far from where I lived there was a long, lonely stretch of road that was home to many a races. We met in town by 'cruising' and would follow each other out to 'the strip'. The AMX guys embarrassed a bunch of racers back then. I fear it is getting hard to find replacement engines so folks can't risk blowing one up.
Chrysler attempted to compete against the AMX with the Griffith GT, the predecessor to the Dodge Viper. It replaced the Sunbeam Tiger. It's body was designed in Italy by Intermeccanica. It had similar geometric and detail proportions to the Viper. Ford had the GT40, GT road-going counterpart and the De Tomaso Mangusta. After that the GT and Mangusta were replaced by the Pantera. The AMX that followed for 1971 was now a 5-passenger performance companion of the Javelin. It shared the same basic Javelin body with unique grille and a racier interior than the standard Javelin. And there was also the Pierre Cardin, which was like AMC's very own "Mustang Grandé."
May have stopped quicker if the rear wasn't locking up before the front... (seen it atleast twice in the vid) and the et 1/4 mile was better...alot better with a 4spd.....13.4 I think it was. These are alot nicer than a Jav any day.= and the only nice/good thing AMC built IMO.
i owned one of the two hurst amx's sent to canadian dealers in 1969. i raced the car until it was destroyed in a fire in 1975. after that i built a 1968 amx into a replica hurst amx.it is now in new zealand.i still have most of the pictures and information in my posession on the hurst amx's built at the hurst factory. jim
What's interesting about the test is that this was Teague's personal car which underwent several variations in his quest to see the two-seater concept live on at AMC. Ultimately, he was unsuccessful in achieving that goal, however, bits and pieces of the design theme that the production AMX represented, popped up time and again over the years on various AMC models. The culminating modern era marriage of these ideas came together in 1981 and that contest winner went on to become an Indy pace car.
I wonder how many AMXs' still exist? Official numbers say 19,000+ were made. I'm sure in the first 10 to 15 years attrition took its fair toll on them. But I think people realized pretty quick that they were something else & a lot of well worn ones were given new life with restoration work from the '90s 'til present. There seem to be quite a few of them out there these days, in all kinds of configurations. A true classic.
At AMC car meets, AMXs are the most numerous single type represented. As a college student, I greatly enjoyed watching AMXs being assembled at the Kenosha plant in 1968. I knew that one day, I could have one. I have 3. 😊
"docile enough for your favorite girl to take on shopping trips" Like, the favorite one of several groupie girlfriends a real man has, according to 1969 standards xD
And all that Torque going down on 14” tires. Incredible. Never forget, the manufactures always underestimated hp numbers for insurance purposes, so the young folk could buy these.
IN 1982 I HAD A 1969 SCARAB GOLD 390 4-SPD AMX AND MY NEIGHBOR HAD A 69 HURST SS 390 4-SPD AMX,WHITE/RED STRIPES. IT WAS THE 1969 PIKES PEAK HILLCLIMB PACE CAR! OUR LOCAL AMC DEALER WAS THE SPONSOR FOR PIKES PEAK THAT YEAR! DECAL ON BOTH DOORS SHOWED CROSSED CHECKER FLAGS WITH "PIKES PEAK HILLCLIMB" ABOVE THEM & "RACE TO THE CLOUDS" & "JULY 4TH.1969" BELOW THEM. THE GUY GOT MARRIED AND SOLD IT. NO IDEA WHERE IT WENT TO?
I tell ya, i seen some guys get their asses kicked by a AMX. I seen a few GTO's and Corvettes get kicked by this car. In the right hands and that person is a nut for AMC stuff, he could make this car run with the best of them. Years ago, i saw a AMX running against a 69 Camaro SS 396 4 speed and that camaro just didnt have a chance against the AMX!!!! I had a Pontiac Grand Prix and i knew i wouldnt go up against THAT AMX!
the V8 engines from amc were really tough they used one block for the 20 up to the 401. realizing that in 1965 that would probably the last time they had the money to engineer a brand new engine i think the sixes were from 1965 too
+emil sponga My first car was a Javelin 1968, SST with a V8 343 ci. This V8 had a problem of overheating when stopped in a traffic jam. Overheating till 160 000 miles and sold for 400$ in 1975. After lots of spinning and smoking tires at the green light with the 3.83 differential, wheels locked-up as an option, this car gave me lots of fun, plus a wife that was attracted first by the car. Today, a transmission would not endure what the 3 speed auto. "Borg &Wagner" did at that time. Not mentioning this V8 in the red line, steaming, shacking, for so many times during the time I had this car.
James Slocum In 1968, the AMX was the best looking car around. The 390 ci. did not have the overheating problem. My brother bought a AMC "Rebel" with the 390 ci., a real gas guzzler. If you can find an AMX with the 390, il would be a vey good option. Very expensive if in very good shape.
Yes. I used to have one set-up exactly the same. (Also had a 390 4spd AMX). The 343 Auto was an excellent choice for handling, scoot, and long-distance. I hope you bought it.
@@chargermaster586 Yes, because a pony/muscle car from the late 1960s from a now-defunct manufacturer is in any way comparable to a modern performance car with full dealership and aftermarket support. You are absolutely brilliant, mate.
you got to remember that the tire technology isn't near what it is today. the tire aren't even radial, their bias-ply. they mentioned the 1/4 mile time was with alot of wheel spin. with today's tires, high 13s would be easy.
Absolutely true! You put the test numbers into proper perspective. How much slower would the numbers be on today's new Pony-Cars if they had BIAS-PLY tires?
Late but loved the AMX. Pretty sure it would do very well if they re-released it today. But no would not draw more ooh and ahhs that an Playboy Bunny on Saturday Night.
Comparing the performance of these old cars to new cars is unfair. These cars were all about raw power. They roared through a carburetor. Plus, the power curves were extreme... much less refined and smoothed out like cars today.
Not the fastest in a straight line but on a curvy road its going to eat up a 383 Roadrunner . Handling is the calling car here and it's got plenty of that
"We warmed up all 8 holes...." I'm sure that was in reference to the 4 little ladies Bud the cameraman, Sound man and the driver picked up after the shoot
Haha I know what you mean, my car is red with a red interior and I'm tossing in a set of black seats (with red accents so it just doesn't look like the unthoughtout half assed idea it is) just to break it up a little bit.
I worked on a Javelin and half of the stuff on the engine was GM/AC Delco. Rambler American was a small company,and just like Checker,they eventually became Chevys in disguise..
Accessories (alternator, power stering pump, A/C compressor, etc.) came from the same sources, but the engine was always AMC's own design. I think they used Chrysler TorqueFlight transmissions and Dana rear ends, both really good parts. Amc was able to survive until 1984 by using the parts bin strategy to build whatever was in demand. The door handles on this car survived until 1984 on the Commedor, Hornet, and Spirit.
Hey Uncle what are you talking about "became Chevy's in disguise" AMX(s) ate Chevys for lunch; guess what you're trying to say "You are what you eat". Long Live AMC and her AMX's.
I have no doubt at all that when a major company had to send some parts to AMC that some were less than perfect. Saginaw and delco/ etc. were probably seeing a little palm greasing as to who gets what parts too. Saturn is just the latest American car company to get the ax for being innovative and challenging the status quo. I had heard of shift command before but didn't know whose trans it really was. Thanks for the info, now I'll be on Wiki all day.
Ronald Colman I am judge and jury..I hereby sentence you to Wiki hell...to complete your sentence you must have at least 3 windows open for cross-referencing...lol Thanks
Not Chevies in disguise. They had a few AC/Delco and Saginaw parts, but the engines were AMC designed and built, right to the end of AMC, with Eagles having AMC 258 sixes and 304 V8s.
