Did anyone wake up today wishing to look at some old AMC/Jeep dealers? If so, here’s a gallery to appease those desires, with this mix of AMC/Jeep dealer photos from the 1970s.
The images come from postcards, snapshots, and a few promo shots. We start with the 1975 Pacers above, in an unknown dealer, but according to the uploader located on Old York Road in Jenkintown, PA.
AMC Fincher, Miami, FL.
Kennedy Auto Market, AMC & GMC, Iowa City, IA.
Mockingbird American, Dallas, TX.
Hinkle Jeep, Pickens, SC.
Unknown dealer, but from the same batch of photos with the 1975 Pacers in the lede photo, and this one featuring a 1960 Willys Wagon.
Southside AMC/Jeep, Philadelphia, PA.
Auto Village, AMC/Jeep, Bel Air, MD.
I love all of these photos. And those “orange juicer” wheel covers on the Pacers in the lead photo were among the best non-mag wheel looks for those.
Those wheel covers were used on the 1975-77 Hornets, too, along with the 1977 Gremlin.
They were surprisingly heavy too.
I grew up near Jenkintown, PA, and though I don’t remember what the building looked like, the local AMC dealership was Abington AMC. I’m assuming the lead picture is of that dealership.
I think Abington AMC went out of business in the late 1970s. Later on (in the 1980s), there was a Hyundai dealership at that location… I can’t remember if they reused the earlier building or constructed a new one.
Here, let me pull an Eric703 on this one, since it’s in my neck of the woods.
It appears as though the building (and the trees, and the width of Belair Road, and….) is gone, but it still appears to be a dealership, only they sell BMW(s) now….
That’s great!
I lived in Bel Air in the mid 70s and remember that dealer. Ended up buying my Aspen at Waters Dodge down the street. The area was just starting to grow then as the Harford Mall had opened the year before, with an E.J. Korvette store. I don’t think I’d recognize Bel Air now.
Love the 1973 Fincher Miami ad!
Yes, I did wake up this morning wanting to see an AMC dealership. That 1973 Matador at Fincher is the same blue-silver that our 1972 hardtop was.
Looks like a low spec model with dog dish hubcaps, hopefully in Miami it’s got AC.
There’s a parking lot now where Fincher was. That area has been redeveloped with condo towers.
I’d a been after the “Hornet” hatchback..
Those Pacers in the first photo probably didn’t stay on the lot for long…Pacer sales were actually strong until the summer of 1976. By that point, everyone who wanted a Pacer had bought one, and sales declined rapidly.
Plucky little independent!
Chicagoland was a vital market for two independent auto companies, AMC in Kenosha, and Studebaker in South Bend, both companies were located within a hour drive of the Loop. Consequently, we had a lot of both brands well represented in town. By the time I show up, Studebaker was disappearing as a brand in Chicago and AMC was severely struggling by 1966. As kids, my generation grew up in Ramblers and AMC products as daily rides.
We had our neighborhood AMC dealer in Lansing. Just two blocks from the Indiana border. It was a very small dealership in downtown. Springer AMC. It was little more than a glorified corner filling station. I don’t recall any established-looking dealerships. There were impressive dealerships around the South Suburbs, but none of those were AMC.
By 1966, AMC was broke. The US Post Office saved them. Abernathy’s Ambassador and Marlin gambles bankrupted AMC. From that year forward, until AMC made it to the first Gas Crisis, it really wasn’t much of a going concern. The cars were sold on price and looks. AMC products were cute, often quite modern, attractive – but dang if they didn’t sit on OLD mechanicals. Back then, cars lasted about 3-5 years, so keeping a cute AMC product that was dependable because of ancient engineering wasn’t a big deal.
By 1970s – AMC was offering free air conditioning on their Ambassadors. They put all the options on these cars and sold them inexpensively. They also offered the “AMC Buyer Protection Plan”. This was an extended warranty not offered by the competition. Knowing that you could have an extended warranty on a rather dependable AMC product boosted AMC sales during this time.
Yet, AMC still sold the same old-same old for too long. Cute cars in trending Levi interiors, but still riding upon cars that dated back a decade or more. AMC treaded water for a long time. What it couldn’t do is make ugly cars. So, when the AMC Matador Coupe and Pacer showed up. The limited resources to create those cars had been expended and AMC ran out of gas once again.
Plucky little independent, AMC lasted a lot longer than I believe most within the industry thought it could. Today, where Springer Rambler used to sit – there is a parking lot for Aldi.
Those “orange juicer” wheel covers were among the ugliest I have ever seen; they look like something out of a J.C. Whitney catalog. For some reason, AMC had this ability to create some really ugly wheel covers.
It’s conceivable that that the ‘unknown dealer’ photo is of the Hi-Way Service Garage of Cross Plains, Wisconsin. It was perched on top of the north bank of Black Earth Creek on the east side of town along US-14. Hi-Way was a diminutive, stand-alone AMC only affair that held on until the bitter end, ultimately turning into Dodge Dealership. None of the original buildings are standing and the entire intersection has been reworked quite a bit over the years.
AMC’s 1970’s/1980’s branding was very clean, and well-conceived. The signage with the vertically written ‘American Motors’, and corporate logo at it’s top, was especially memorable. Graphically, more modern than what the Big Three competitors employed. Dealerships looked professional, and well-presented. If on a much smaller scale, than the major car makers.
Kennedy Auto Mart! Thank you for reminding me of the name of the Rambler/AMC dealer in Iowa City. But it had moved to the outskirts of town (like all the dealers did) when this picture was taken in the mid ’70s. It used to be just Kennedy Rambler in the ’60s. It’s where I would go back then if I wanted to check out Ramblers, and where I had a bit of a shock to find a flathead six under the hood of the otherwise all-new ’64 American. Oh my! That’s retro!
Yeah, they weren’t in any hurry to give up that “work horse”, engine. My mom’s “cuz” had a “65-6 Classic”.
I believe it had that powerplant.
She had a garage so her cars always stayed so nice.. The interior, I recall was an “odd, baroque, cloth/vinyl combo.
Shades of blue.
The “Lincoln Mark” and the “Charger” , on the lot, in “BelAir MD” stick out.
Unknown dealer featuring a 1960 Willys Wagon:
In the background is the AMC logo adopted in 1969.
The Willys wagon ended production in 1965, but this example looks to be in excellent condition for its age. What a find!!
Thanks for posting these. Recently I’ve been regretting not taking more pictures of my home town back when I was a kid, since so many of the daily sights are long gone now. But I suppose filming ordinary businesses might’ve seemed strange then, if not suspicious. We did have a pretty cool AMC/Renault dealer, though; sorry I missed it.
I should have bought a Gremlin when we salvaged them out, extremely reliable little putt – putters .
-Nate
The 1960 Willys looks like it’s in front of the former Corwin AMC/Jeep in Hickory, Pa. It was a victim of the Chrysler bankruptcy.
We had an AMC dealer in my little town. Wasn’t a fancy one like a lot in the.photos, old brick building with a two story garage area. It only had a showroom big enough for two cars and the lot was across the street.
Quite a few residents living there bought from them, mainly elderly people. The service guys used to come to the customers houses, pick up and deliver the cars for service. One neighbor had a 68 black ambassador 2 Dr that was well kept and had a nice V8 exhaust sound.
Some old AMC Dealerships from the seventies ! I never liked those AMC Pacers ! That car was ” UGLY “:then , and is UGLY now . It looks like something out of a cartoon or worse yet , something a 2nd grader would draw up . The new Concord was ” nice ” looking and sales improved considerably . If your gonna compete in the auto world , you better design something that people are going to like and purchase . Right ? Happy Motoring ! Mark Switzer
I was an AMC / Jeep dealer in indianapolis ind , Northside AMC 5500 North Keystone
I think some of the cars were ahead of there time! I think AMC could have made it with
proper manangement ! Look At Jeep over all the years, as you know Jeep was sold to
Chrysler ! Could AMC , with the manangement , financing made it ? I just think so!
Thanks for reading .Retired multiple new car dealer ! Bob Butler Sarasota Fl .
When your smiling in a Rambler the whole world laughs at you.
I still go into the recycled AMC/Rambler dealership building in downtown Portland Oregon, the old Wentworth and Irving location is now a used bookstore.
Those vertical AmMo signs on the fancier dealerships kinda have a clean 2024 looking vibe to them
I cannot believe I found this photo. Fincher AMC 1973, Miami FL. I’m standing next to the Hornet. I was the assistant manager. I was 26 y/o. Wow! Memories