(EXPANDED FROM 9/8/2023) The 1975-80 AMC Pacer may have been a memorable car, but it was also a key factor in American Motors’ demise as an independent automaker. What’s particularly tragic is that the Pacer’s […]
(EXPANDED FROM 7/31/2023) American Motors’ purchase of a four-cylinder engine from Volkswagen was one of CEO Roy D. Chapin Jr.’s last big decisions during his 10-year leadership of the automaker — and arguably his final […]
(EXPANDED FROM 10/10/2018) Seven years ago I came across an advertisement for a How Stuff Works quiz about vehicles from the 1970s (Tyler, 2018). The promo stated that “no one is getting a perfect score […]
Indie Auto commentator Peter Wilding (2025) raised a good point when noting that he “never understood the idea of deliberately decontenting a car to be able to advertise a lower price, when hardly anyone actually […]
Since last summer’s departure of Daniel Strohl from Hemmings, I have mainly been drawn to its website because of a Pat Foster column. He has become one of the most prominent U.S. auto history book […]
Automotive News’ obituary of Gerald C. Meyer treated his tenure at American Motors with kid gloves. Meyers died on June 19 at the age of 94. Presenting a largely upbeat narrative would make sense if […]
Dan Strohl (2022) has posted a photograph of what could have been a Gremlin wagon prototype. His story and comment thread offer a number of plausible ideas about what AMC had in mind, but I […]
(UPDATED FROM 4/20/2022) The AMC Gremlin may be one of the most memorable cars of the 1970s, but it was a bad idea for four often-forgotten reasons. I grant you that what I am about […]
The most poignant part of Javelin Photo Archive is a set of proposals for a lovely Gremlin-based hatchback intended for introduction in 1973 or 1974. The designs look like they could have sold quite well. […]
The most strikingly quality of American Motors’ car designs developed in the mid-60s was how quickly the automaker ditched the Rambler look in favor of styling mostly indistinguishable from the Big Three. This was a […]
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