This 1969 Ambassador DPL, spotted by ActuallyMike, is remarkably basic for a proto-Brougham in plain white with no vinyl top (speaking of which, do white cars survive longer?). Typical for AMC, in terms of its restrained look, this rather austere DPL was no longer the top dog Ambassador in 1969. That position was taken by the more sport-themed SST the prior year, coinciding with the DPL’s availability as a four-door sedan and the introduction of the bigger 390 V8.
For 1969, the Ambassador received a four-inch wheelbase extension ahead of the A-pillar, as well as the addition of an even larger 401 CID V8 (which I doubt this rather basic-looking car has). The lack of gingerbread serves the owner of this car well since trim pieces for a 45 year old Ambassador are likely hard enough to find as it is. And thankfully, it looks like the workers at Kenosha did a fine job of affixing what trim exists to this car, which has all four of its handsome wheelcovers present and accounted for.
Not visible in these pictures, uploaded to the cohort by ActuallyMike, is the new-for-’69 front end with quad horizontal headlights, which belatedly took the car out of the mid ’60s.
If the outside of this DPL was kept rather plain, more money was spent inside where it counted, with individually adjustable seats with cloth surfaces and standard air conditioning. If there was one good thing to come out of the Great Brougham Epoch, it was that more buyers expected cloth upholstery in their cars, not that AMC’s ability to deliver in this regard influenced too many people to buy this stretched Rebel. There would be no more Ambassador after 1974, by which point its clean lines were nipped and tucked beyond the limits of good taste, and it wouldn’t be until the Concord was introduced in 1978 that Dick Teague’s work would show the proper degree of deference to buyers’ demand for ornamentation and convention. His work tended to edge toward the clean and sporty (think AMX, Hornet and XJ Cherokee), and nowhere is this more visible than in this car’s well-integrated and timeless door releases which say, “I can’t promise I’ll try to be fancy, but I’ll try to try.” So many years later, the disconnect between its maker’s modest legacy and management’s upmarket ambitions remains apparent on this sedan’s unadorned flanks.
Related reading:
1969 Ambassador DPL: Not-So-Bravely Stretching Forward & 1968 Ambassador SST: When Borrowing Is A Deadly Sin
That car is parked down the street from the apartment house where a friend of mine lives. The pictures were taken about a month ago when we saw the latest Spiderman movie. (I will admit to somewhat juvenile taste in cinema.)
When I came back to visit him last weekend, it was still parked nose-in. Too bad! I wanted to get a shot of that grille. (We were going to see the new X-Men movie that day.)
Clean and well-styled, in stark contrast to the oddities it would acquire in just a couple of years.
That’s a very Mopar looking rear end and tail light.Not the first time there’s been a similarity between AMC and Mopar cars.
These Ambassadors seem to have kind of an Australian flavor.
AMC assembled CKD cars in Australia.I’ve not read much on them but have seen RHD Javelins and Rebels in magazines.I don’t know what else they built down under
Skyliner dug into the downunder Rambler efforts fairly comprehensively from memory cars were exported to the UK from OZ.
We got Ambassadors and Hornets as well, but no Pacers or Gremlins. I think they left the AU market about 1974, but that could be wrong.
We got Ambassadors? I remember seeing Ambassadors in US magazines, but I never saw one on the road. Rebels and Matadors (and Hornets) were another matter. And the occasional Javelin.
The third picture (front view) is the twin to the 3rd car I owned, except mine had di-noc in the lower trim area instead of brushed metal. 343 4-barrel, charcoal brocade interior, air conditioning (standard on Ambassadors since ’68), cruise control, crank windows. 14 MPG on the highway. I owned it during the first OPEC fuel shortage; you didn’t let it idle as you were waiting in line for gas.
It was a very trouble-free car, so much so that I was not afraid to sell it to my boss. He drove it for quite a few years, and I actually got to ride as a passenger in it to St. Louis (from Kenosha) with him for a seminar. He loved that car, and never complained to me about a thing. Truth is, I don’t think he ever had any major trouble with it either.
This is the only picture I have of it, scanned from a bad Polaroid. Check out the Fenton mags.
That’s a nice looking car.
I also had one very similar to yours. Mine was a medium blue with a white top and grey interior. I believe it had every option available except for the 390, which for the record was the largest motor at that time. The 401 did not come out until 1971. It had the 343 with a four barrel and dual exhaust, power windows, tilt wheel, cruise, disc brakes, a factory 8 track tape deck mounted on the transmission tunnel, and the wire wheel covers as in the photo above. I obtained it from an elderly couple that had bought it new to replace their ’51 Cadillac. That was is 1986. I drove it every day for several years, and it served me well.
Over time it became very weathered, and I was in the family raising stage of life, and could not justify spending lots of money on an over twenty year old car, plus I did not have any inside storage available. When the transmission went out (no reverse) I gave up. I found a Rambler enthusiast and sold it to him.
I would love to have something similar now, as it was a nearly perfect car for me. The size was just right, and a nice simple three box design that you can see out of. The toughest part today would be the 10 – 14 mpg.
I know I have some photos of it, but they are too far away to retrieve at this time.
The Outback XT parked beside the Amby is a definite future CC. Fewer than 4,000 were built from ’05-’09.
The two pieces of lower trim especially the way the top one flows around the wheel arches and the flairs where the quarter panels meet the bumper are rather interesting.
The flared fender ‘bullets’ leading into the rear bumper ends look like an afterthought. Leaning towards the dynamic, on an otherwise very conventionally styled car.
The body looks pretty straight and rust free. A little ‘homework body prep’ and an inexpensive paint job, a set of seat covers and that would be decent driver. Really nice for 45 years old.
I would tend to think white cars would not survive longer, just because white tends to be the color that fleet buyers often go for.
The re-design of the tail end was one of the first that made the light go on in my young head that AMC was capable of a half-assed restyle. I knew where the taillights were on the 67–68 cars, and to just cover that area with a flat end cap (albeit one with a teeny chrome logo on each side) just looked stupid. (of course, the 70 Pontiac’s front end was also pulled from this playbook).
This front end on the 67-68 rear would have been a nice looking car.
Agree with you on those flat end caps where the taillights were before — lame! Yes, and the ’70 Pontiac was a letdown compared to the ’69, a sign of the decline to come.
Here in the SW United States when the clearcoat on your white car fades you can’t tell. After about 10 to 15 years the paint starts peeling off of the car.
Aw, my great uncle, an AMC partisan, had virtually the same car, only his was blue on blue. I was around 5 to 8 at the time he had it so I don’t know which engine it had, but he was a thrifty man so I would not be surprised if it was the six-cylinder. I am sure it was a ’69 though.