AMC AMX

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AMC AMX (1968) with "Go Package"
AMC AMX (1969) in "Big Bad Orange"
AMC AMX (1970) with "Ram Air" 390 cu.in. (6.4 ltr.) V8
AMC AMX (1970)

The AMC AMX is a passenger car manufactured by American Motors Corporation (AMC) between early 1968 and late 1970 .

The AMX was a shorter, two-seat version of the pony car AMC Javelin . The car had powerful mechanics and a powerful engine in the Gran Turismo (GT) tradition, but at an affordable price.

Origin of the AMX

The name AMX means “ A merican M otors e X perimental,” a code that was used for several early prototypes developed by AMC. They were part of the company's attempts to convert their image, which only built economical vehicles, into a more performance-oriented and youthful image. The original, large AMX models were developed by the AMC styling studios under Charles Mashigan in 1965 . In 1966 a concept vehicle was designed by an external consultant and named "AMX II". This was a plastic-bodied car that was part of "Project IV". AMC's CEO, Roy Abernethy , commissioned the Italian designer Vignale in Turin to design a real car. This delivered a functional car with a steel body in just 78 days. It was named "AMX Vignale" and exhibited in 1966 at the New York International Auto Show.

American Motors had two development programs at the same time: (1.) to build a production racer derived from the Javelin , and (2.) to develop a completely new car made of plastic. The first solution used existing technologies from AMC and their experience in building welded body structures and was therefore selected. Through fairly inexpensive changes to the Javelin, the Production Racer could be brought closer to the styling and proportions of the prototype. The AMX was launched just over four months after the Javelin.

He was the first American production racer with a steel body since the 1957 Ford Thunderbird . The only other two-seater sports car from domestic production at the time was the Chevrolet Corvette with a wheelbase of 2,489.2 mm, while the distance between the front and rear axles on the AMX was 2,463.8 mm. AMC managed to earn a reputation for being a capable racing car for the AMX as racers Craig Breedlove and Lee Breedlove set 106 speed records with the car. The new model was presented to the motor press at Daytona International Speedway . Even Playboy helped market the new AMX.

An American two-seater

The two-seater AMX was a limited edition that was built for almost three years after its launch on February 15, 1968. The sales figures:

  • 1978 6,725 pieces,
  • 1969 8,293 pieces and
  • 1970 4,116 pieces.

Of these vehicles, the 52 Hurst converted SS / AMX drag racers are perhaps the most sought after by collectors.

The AMX received an award for Best Engineered Car of the Year from the SAE in 1969 and 1970. One of the reasons for these prices was the first dashboard injection molded in one piece by American industry for safety reasons .

All AMX built up to the end of 1970 were available with V8 engines with 290, 343, 360 and 390 cui (4.75 l, 5.6 l, 5.9 l and 6.4 l displacement) and quadruple carburettors, all descended from the same block. The cars had a manual T-10 four-speed gearbox, special torsion bars , double exhaust pipes and wider tires for better traction as standard . The performance with the largest machine was outstanding, and so the AMX had its greatest successes on the drag strip, where it was the "Super Stock Champion" for many years. When AMC launched the AMX, the advice of Craig Breedlove was relied on to help set the national and international speed records. More than 100 records were broken, some of them by far, e.g. B. the one for 24 hours at 130 mph (208.26 km / h), which was previously 103 mph (165 km / h).

At the beginning of 1971 AMC transferred the name AMX to a more powerful variant of the Javelin , which was manufactured until 1974. The same procedure was used for the Hornet (1977), Concord (1978) and Spirit (1979/80) models .

In 2005, the “Speed ​​Channel Show American Muscle Car” drove an AMX 390 in a group test to select the greatest muscle car ever built . Although the AMX had significantly less power than its competitors (e.g., the Pontiac GTO Judge, Ford Mustang Cobra Jet, and Dodge Hemi Challenger ), its light weight enabled it to be competitive and to line up ahead of some much larger, more powerful vehicles.

There are many AMC clubs that take care of this car, and spare parts can still be found in large numbers.

Concept vehicles and show cars

AMX GT

The AMX GT was an AMC Javelin with a crest and was developed as a concept vehicle for the 1968 Auto Show Circuit .

AMX-400

George Barris converted a 1969 AMX. It was built for the second episode of the Banacek TV series . The car was lowered and its body significantly changed. Its roof spars were shortened by almost 25 cm and the whole car was lengthened by 46 cm. It became known as the AMX-400.

AMX / 1 and AMX / 2

A first fully functional AMX prototype was presented as part of AMC's AMX project in 1966 and has been exhibited in the Talladega Superspeedway museum for years in a well-preserved condition . The second derivative, the AMX / 2, was a non-drivable design study. Only two rollable prototypes were made. (An AMX / 2 spent many years neglected as an advertisement on a mast of a used car dealership).

AMX / 3rd

AMC AMX / 3rd

The 1970 AMX / 3 was a mid-engined, high-performance sports car intended for sale in the United States. Its design had been developed by AMC itself, while the chassis had been designed by Giotto Bizzarrini . It has been fundamentally revised by BMW . The AMX / 3 had an AMC V8 engine with 6,383 cm³ (390 cui), the 340 SAE-PS (254 kW) at 5,100 rpm. The individual vehicles developed had a specially manufactured OTO Melara five-speed transmission in a transaxle design. AMC planned to have the vehicle mass-produced by Karmann in Germany; the project failed in 1970.

A single copy of the AMX / 3 was introduced in 1971 as the Bizzarrini Sciabola . Series production could not be realized here either.

Performance data

The television show "Car and Track" in 1969 determined the following values ​​after test drives with an AMC-390 with quadruple carburetor and a compression ratio of 10.5: 1:

  • Acceleration 0–60 mph (corresponds to approx. 0–100 km / h): 6.5 sec.
  • Time for ¼ mile (400 m, standing start): 14.1 sec.

literature

Web links

Commons : AMC AMX  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Wolfgang Blaube : The X Files, Presentation and Development History of the AMC AMX / 3 . Oldtimer Markt , issue 4/2011, p. 42 ff.