1967 was a major turning point for AMC. It finally saw the light and realized it was going to be necessary to change their dowdy image, and join the kids in the sandbox who all had high performance compacts and sporty cars. The Javelin and AMX were still a year off, so the quick and expedient solution was to offer the 343 Typhoon V8 in the Rambler American.
And two years later, they stepped up their game with the over-the-top Hurst SC/Rambler:
Not that any of the hot Rambler Americans did much good, in terms of saving AMC’s bacon, which was getting fried mighty hard in 1967, with a painful $75 million loss that year. Sounds like chump change now, but that was a hard blow to AMC at the time.
The Rambler Rogue, started with the 290 V8, but any of the V8s bolt in.
I grew up in northeastern Illinois (near Kenosha WI) and Rambler Americans were common. It’s hard to say if there were any V8 Rogues running around, but the Hurst SC/Ramblers sold fairly well and were obvious to spot. I’m not sure what the pricing was on these earlier models and why you might buy one vs. a Nova SS or Dodge Dart GT. It would have been a tough sell if the prices were equivalent as there weren’t many AMC aftermarket speed parts available. There were also a good number of AMX’s and Javelin’s running around but at least you had great styling to fall back on. Not that the American was a bad looker, but it wasn’t better than a Dart or Nova either.
About 1973 or so, I was at a family gathering and an older cousin (maybe 18) mentioned that he had gotten his first car. “What did you get?” I asked, expecting something cool. “A Rambler Rogue” was the answer, offered half sheepishly and half with a resignation that nobody would have any idea what it was. I understood perfectly, and being a car-crazy adolescent understood perfectly. Now I would kind of like it.
AMC had worked the sensible economy shtick so well and for so long, they had a tough time establishing credibility with cars like this.
I’ve driven several Rambler Americans, but they all had the inline six. Those were rather nose heavy, I wonder if the V8 Americans handled appreciably better since the motor was 40 pounds lighter and the center of mass had to be further back than the six.
The Rouge ad confuses me.
One guy has the carburetor in his hands, the other is removing a tire.
Are they crooks stripping the car?
Or the owner who just can’t leave well enough alone?
They’re demonstrating their manly skillset to the pretty girl in the passenger seat, and it looks like tire guy is ahead by a fair margin.
+1
For many years the original owner of a 1967 Rouge with the 343 V-8 brought it to the big Das Awkscht Fescht car show in Macungie, Pennsylvania. He had raced it when it was new. The car is in excellent shape. I can’t believe there are many left. There certainly weren’t many sold in 1967.
From what I’ve read, the American’s body wasn’t strong enough to handle the power of the 343 V-8. Repeated hard use resulted in cracks to the windshield.
AMC was obviously desperate in 1967. In addition to stuffing the 343 V-8 in the American, the company debuted a completely restyled Ambassador, Marlin and Rebel. The “senior” cars also sported a new drive line (no more torque tube) and rear suspension.
These cars, with much smoother styling, were supposed to be the company’s savior. Early quality bugs hurt the new cars, and the interiors were a step down in both assembly and material quality compared to the 1965-66 models. The Ambassador did record a modest sales increase, but it apparently came out of the Rebel’s hide, and the Marlin experienced a decline. Combined sales of the three cars were down for 1967, compared to the prior year. AMC was thus facing bankruptcy by early 1967.
Older brother had a 69 Rambler Scrambler, I learned to drive a stick with that car. Don’t remember the engine size , it was a V8. I do remember the quick release recline front seats. Mark Donohue Javelin blue.
Great ride and fast enough in a straight line.
Was going to pass it on to me when it was hit while parked by a drunk. Brother decided to get a Cortina.
It is an interesting ad. Often ad people aren’t car people, so they envision what car people actually do – the movies and TV are in the same boat. The smudge of grease, holding a hammer (?) or some other odd tool.
Another interesting point is that the Rambler has a Michigan manufacturer plate. So, are they stripping parts off of a company car on the weekend? The least they could have done was put on an AMC logo plate or made up a plate that made sense. Leaving the M plate on is just lazy!
I can’t get past that ad picture. In it we have a fellow shown putting a 4 bbl. carb onto a Rouge. Another guy is in the back tightening or loosening lugs with a tire next to him but no sign of a jack. Last we have a woman sitting in the car watching him tighten the lug nuts.
The ad reminds me of the indy film Swedish Auto from 15 years ago (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0800228/), set in my current residence of Charlottesville, VA. Near the movie’s opening, the owner of an independent Volvo and Saab repair shop is shown emerging from underneath the front end of a Volvo 240. The car is on jack stands and he’s holding a band-type oil filter wrench. As if!
From the Hurst SC/Rambler ad, 14.3 second quarter mile for $2998 ($22,301 in today’s inflated dollars) was pretty cheap straight line performance.
I don’t know. You could get a new Road Runner for the same amount. Granted, it would be a strippo (which, for a Road Runner, means ‘really’ stripped) but, still.
IIRC, the SC/Rambler was a real aftermarket parts special. My most vivid recollection of that is they came from the factory with a Sun tachometer that was actually radiator hose-clamped to the steering column.
Also the Dart Swinger 340
It’d be a tossup between a Swinger 340 and a Road Runner. If you didn’t mind the smaller size and wanted an automatic, it was free in a Swinger 340 (it was extra cost in the Road Runner). Plus, you also got front disc brakes where the RR had drums all around. And the Dart also got a SureGrip as standard when it was extra in the Plymouth.
So, if you wanted more equipment for the same price in a smaller Mopar package that was just as fast (or faster) than the Road Runner, the Swinger 340 was the way to go.
But the ‘real’ cheap, hot ticket would arrive the next year. The Duster 340 had drums all around, a 3-speed, and open differential, but it was a measly $2547. Now, ‘that’ was a musclecar bargain.
More to the point if you were in the market back then for a under $3000 supercar and found the Roadrunner too big the SC/Rambler still would have been a distant choice. 60s-70s AMC, to me, always seemed to have a problem with elephants being in the room when it came to cars that failed to catch on, I could see the appeal of a hot American in isolation or against the Falcon(which seemed to shed its performance aspirations in the wake of the Mustang) but you basically had to be an AMC or independent supporting person for these to grab your attention, and with the SC/Rambler I’m not sure that Sox &Martin aping paint scheme attracted anybody. For as whimsical as the Roadrunner was it was really actually pretty subtle in appearance, and I suspect(at that time) was a selling point in the segment, same reason it probably outsold the Superbee at Dodge, which was a bit more liberal with their executions of scoops and stripes.
I miss the wild colors once available .
-Nate
Little known fact, Two Lane Blacktop is based on this ad. The guy in the back is James Taylor changing tires to slicks, guy under the hood is Dennis Wilson changing the jets, and the girl is a drifter in a short lived love triangle with them
All it needs is GTO (Warren Oates) next to them revving his 455
I guess The Car had a 427?
No kidding?
@Matt ;
Which, the book or the movie ? .
-Nate
I saw 1 of of these SC’s, going through a roundabout, next to US-31, in Carmel IN., just this past Sunday. I would’ve followed it, but I was wrapping up my drive from FL, back to MI.
The Sensible Spectaculars, followed by The Now Cars!
Swing and a miss! Strike two!
The 1967 campaign has an air of desperation about it.
As part of its turnaround effort, AMC fired its ad agency, and hired Wells, Rich & Greene, which would get it right with the 1968 campaign.
It helped that, in 1968, buyers interested in something stylish and sporty could walk into an AMC/Rambler dealer and choose a Javelin or an AMX instead of an American Rouge or a Marlin.
Beep beep, beep beep…
Can’t help thinking that ads like this muddied the image of Rambler/AMC, while not fooling the performance crowd. There’s been some discussion here in the past that perhaps Rambler in the 1960’s could have pursued the market that was shifting to Volvo, and even Mercedes.
The American market should have been large enough for a company that focussed on sensible size, good engineering and build quality, and a reduced focus on annual styling changes. But who knows?
AMC did lower the price of the American late in the 1967 model year by about $200, resulting in a base price of around $1800, and pledged to forego the annual model changes for the car.
It was a case of too little, too late.
The muscle car world was a tough barrier to crack for AMC. GM and Ford were into it pretty deep and along came Chrysler with the hemi and umpteen models of muscle at pretty attractive prices. They also came with some pretty sleek body lines so the market was pretty full. Compounding AMC’s handy cap in this market was their relatively short dealer network. So as good as their cats were, and they were fast, the deck was heavily slanted against them by this time.
To be fair to AMC, until 1969, Ford had never been a serious musclecar player. Until then, it was always between GM and Chrysler, specifically Chevrolet, Pontiac, Dodge, and Plymouth. Ford was late to the game.
And AMC? Way too late. They simply didn’t have the engineering prowess or resources for it.
My parents had a ’67 Rambler Ambassador family car. It had a 327 ci engine with a Rochester 4-barrel. The car was very light and it ran like a scalded dog. When that country song says “how fast a Rambler goes”, I did find out in ’71 that it would top 100 mph. I also would out-drag other cars with my mom’s 4-door. Good thing dad didn’t know half of what I did in that thing.