| Detail differences from a later Vignale-built running model include
pull-up instead of pushbutton door handles, silver instead of red
taillight lenses -- and, of course, no interior. Tunneled backlight and
"flying buttress" roof treatment survived in modified form to the 1968
production AMX. |
Favorable public reaction to the Vignale AMX convinced American Motors
to translate the concept into reality -- or as close as possible given the
company's perennially tight budgets. AMC's designers and engineers were
able to approximate the prototype's styling and proportions by making
fairly inexpensive modifications to the Javelin, and the 97-inch wheelbase
AMX was introduced to the public a mere 4- 1/2 months after the Javelin
went on sale.
YES, the AMX is a true sports car!
(March 1968 Motor Trend)
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According to Tom McCahill, ... It
is hairier than a Borneo gorilla and not the thing for Ma Peter's pie
delivery route... High-styled... the AMX looks like it's doing 100 when
parked... The AMX is the hottest thing to ever come out of Wisconsin...
They have it suspended so that you can whip through corners and real hard
bends better than with many out-and-out sports cars... (Mechanic Illustrated, March 1968)
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Popular press advertising for the AMX emphasized its
sports car characteristics at a low price. American Motors was the first
automaker to picture actual competing models.
However, rather than
contemporary models this ad shows the '68 AMX against both the Corvette
and the original 2-seater Thunderbird.
By 1968 these original sports
cars had increased way beyond the AMX's suggested under $3,500 base
price.
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Craig Breedlove's Speed Records
Just prior to its public debut at the Chicago Automobile
Show in 1968 a team of drivers headed by world land speed record holder
Craig Breedlove, piloted two AMX speedsters to smash a series of
automobile record marks.
In Class C, the AMX established 90 new records, including
a 24-hour average of 140.79 mph set by Breedlove and his wife Lee. Sixteen
records were rewritten by the larger engine Class B AMX, including three
new marks for the 75-mile flying start at 174.295 mph, and five new
records for 173.044 mph for 100 miles from a standing start. The Class C
AMX was equipped with the standard AMX 290 V-8, with the standard 4-speed
transmission. For the Class B car, AMC's new 390 V-8 was "blueprinted" and
teamed with the optional 3-speed automatic.
"Driving the AMX was really like a dream," Breedlove
said. "In fact, I'd never driven a car quite like it. The steering and
roll-resistance were excellent, and it ran and felt just about
perfect."
The cars used for the record runs were certified as stock
by USAC inspectors and were prepared by Breedlove's "Spirit of America"
crew and Traco Engineering. High speed safety features were added to the
already excellently designed AMXs, including roll bars and rubber fuel
cell gas tanks. Breedlove said no attempt was made to lighten the weight
of the AMXs. "As a matter of fact, we were probably running somewhat
heavier than stock (3097 lbs.) because we were using a 37-gallon fuel
cell-type gas tank," he said.
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The Super Stock "SS" AMX
The best known special edition AMXs were modified for AMC
by Hurst to meet NHRA Super Stock class drag racing regulations. This was
AMC's offering to the muscle car horsepower wars of the era. The infamous
"69 AMX SS" -- perhaps the best (race setup) -- Detroit ever offered in a
production vehicle. Fifty-two AMXs with 390s and 4-speed transmissions
with virtually no change to the suspension, received special equipment
including Edelbrock cross-ram intakes, dual-quad Holleys, and 12.3:1 Crane
modified heads. They were drastically under-rated at 340 "official"
horsepower. The first out-of-the-box AMX's were running 11 second et's at
over 120 mph. These AMXs were "turn-key" race cars. Later that year with a
little tweaking and backing by AMC, these cars dipped into the 10 second
range. Shirley Shahan's "Drag-On-Lady" was most famous of these
cars.
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The two-seat AMXs and Richard
Teague
The true AMX 2-seater went out of production after the
1970 model year, but from 1971 to 1974 American Motors used the "AMX" name
on the top-of-the-line Javelins. In later years the name was used on
variants of the Hornet, Concord, and Spirit models. Management's decision
to cancel the 2-seater AMX was a big disappointment to the late Richard
Teague, AMC's head of styling from 1962 until 1984. He said this in a 1986
interview published in Special Interest Autos:
- SIA: Granted, the AMX was never a volume seller. But
we've always regretted that they killed it after only three
seasons.
- Teague: I made a hell of a run for keeping it in for
1971 by putting the blister-type fenders on it. In fact, I built up my
own car to make the prototype, and I did my damn'dest to sell it to Bill
Luneburg -- who was a dear guy, by the way. But he was a manufacturing
man and he said, "Well, it's cluttering up the line. It's a lot of work
to build that car, and it's not selling well." So he killed it.
- Teague: I feel very strongly that the AMX could have
kept going as a two-passenger car. It just needed a little bit more
development. As it was, it gave the Corvettes a really hard time in some
of the local races! If it had just had a little more development time,
and had been kept in the picture for another year or two, I think sales
would have started back up and it could have hung in there. Because the
Corvette didn't do so well the first couple, three years, either! It
takes time to develop these things. It's like a business. It may not do
too well at first, but you've got to stay with it!...
- Teague: ... what I've always regretted -- that they
didn't keep the AMX as an image-builder.
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Kenosha Power! |
The AMX Model Years
The 1968 and 1969 models were very similar, but the AMX received
significant styling changes for 1970, including a different grille and
hood, as well as a new interiors. The '70 models also got a new front
suspension, a new AMC 360 V-8 as the base engine, better-breathing exhaust
ports, and a new 4-barrel carb.
2-seater AMX production and option statistics are available at this
AMX-Files web page.
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