A new documentary is currently in production and promises to be of interest to many of our readership. It’s about everyone’s favorite underdog automaker, American Motors Corporation (1954-1988)! Pride of Kenosha, Wisconsin. The team behind the production of The Last Independent Automaker is assembling a deep dive into the brand’s history, which started in 1954 when car and refrigerator manufacturer Nash-Kelvinator Corporation acquired Hudson Motor Car Company, and formed AMC.
The newly-formed American Motors Corporation initially found its niche in small and fuel-efficient vehicles, chasing a corner of the market that was almost completely ignored by The Big Three and their large, thirsty vehicles. Think of the Metropolitan, one of the first American subcompact economy cars.
AMC continued to innovate throughout its history, while it simultaneously struggled to compete via a much smaller budget than its domestic competition. The cars AMC produced in the Eighties were largely reworks of their products from the Sixties, with new styling and new names. The fancy Eighties Concord was a Hornet underneath, a compact that entered production in 1969 for the ’70 model year.
Eventually, AMC would fall under Renault’s control and invest in the development of vehicles like the very successful ZJ Jeep Cherokee, and the very unsuccessful Eagle Premier. The latter of which cost a lot of money, and was sourced primarily from then-owner Renault.
All very interesting stuff. The Last Independent Automaker promises to cover AMC not only from a general historical perspective, but also through the lens of the people who worked in Kenosha, Detroit, and Toledo for AMC. From the women who braved the rampant sexism of an American auto plant in the Fifties to those who had white-collar positions at the company’s offices, and the various discrimination issues that were so prevalent for so long.
The series will also focus on the economics of AMC – relevant for a company that continually struggled with its finances, and had to design and build its vehicles on a tight budget. Despite its money problems, AMC was known as an innovative automaker and made impressive advancements in unibody manufacturing, four-wheel-drive in passenger cars (gasp!), and air conditioning technology for automobiles.
Fuel economy remained a consistent focus at AMC, and the company’s engineers made strides toward better fuel economy and cleaner emissions at a time when it wasn’t de rigueur to do so. Such a focus on economy and emissions was helpful to AMC when events like the oil shortage of ’73 sent gasoline prices through the roof and meant consumers were desperate for more efficient cars. AMC was ready with the most unconventional Pacer for compact economy car duty. And that went well.
The series will also take a look a the role the government played in major new safety standard mandates, which affected all automakers to a great extent during the Seventies. Engineering around the requirements on a limited budget (and often with dated platforms) meant AMC’s employees had a slightly more difficult task than other Detroit automakers.
Though still in production, the people behind The Last Independent Automaker have scoured the AMC archives from every possible direction and secured about 100 hours of footage via the archives at the Kenosha History Center, as well as 20,000 historical pictures. Interviews with more than 25 AMC employees are presently being conducted, and the production has already recorded over 30 hours of material. Notable interviewees include two CEOs from AMC, MotorWeek legend John Davis, longtime AMC designer Vince Geraci, and Mitt Romney. Romney’s father George was the CEO of AMC from 1954 to 1962 and was responsible for the implementation of a new idea: A profit-sharing agreement with employees.
Broken up into six half-hour segments, the series is set to air in the spring of 2024 and cover the entire history of AMC. Episodes will be segmented by time period. The production team has already secured a distribution agreement with Maryland Public Television (which also produces MotorWeek) which will conduct the marketing and send all six parts out to PBS stations. The series will also be available for streaming online upon release.
The trailer for The Last Independent Automaker trailer is above, and more information is also available on their website.
[Images: The Last Independent Automaker]
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As a young teen, I had the thrill of touring the Kenosha AMC plant in 1974 (followed by my first airplane flight home to Pittsburgh). I seem to recall lots of Matadors and Hornets in the rework area.
That plant’s closure saddened me, but of course, it was inevitable.
Some bad luck and bad timing appear to have doomed AMC. With the Eagle Wagon 4×4, the Jeep brand and the development of what became the LH platform (based on the Eagle Premier) and AM General (original developer and manufacturer of the Hummer/Humvee), AMC actually had perhaps the best product mix of any brand for the last decade of the 20th century and going forward into the 21st.
Unfortunately it did not make it that far.
I think their lack of cash forced them to be more innovative, which of course was only beneficial if you could get the customer into the showroom.
AMC was a long shot. It was run like a Detroit automaker, but didn’t have the resources to “cover the bases” in terms competing in every segment (Chrysler shared this problem, to a much lesser extent though) and it didn’t have the resources to cover all auto systems (like wind noise, or better engineering for ride and handling–by Detroit standards). The Japanese also lacked GM and Ford’s resources, but they managed what they had much better.
So in the 1970s, AMC had to go for the “gimmick” (like the Pacer, or Matador Coupe, or Gremlin)… Jeep had credible products, and the Hornet, the ultimate Rambler, was a solid car. Not exciting, but reliable, decent looking, and the Sportabout was a good size–a good gimmick.
The “Eagle” was a good attempt to cobble together a clever car, despite the tacky ersatz “luxury touches”. The Eagle, the last AMC, helped persuade Renault to bail out AMC, which enabled the pockets of brilliance in AMC to get the means to develop the great 83/84 Cherokee (which helped persuade Iaccoca to buy it and bury in in Chrysler)
Well, AMC is gone, but Subaru lives on, and to me, has inherited the place in autodom held by AMC in the 1970s.
Having made the transition from Japanese weirdness in the 1970s and 1980s to everyman/woman 4wd, spending time with a Subaru Impreza has made me see it as a Japanese AMC Hornet–a combination of good/clever (the Impreza is versatile, like the Sportabout, good ingress/egress, good forward visibility, and surprise, excellent rough road ride) and half-baked (the most lifeless power steering of any car I’ve driven, more importantly, seats that punish the driver after 45 minutes, and while the shifter precise and the clutch is smooth, the actual changing of gears reminds me a a budget 1970s Detroit mobile, as it’s hard to shift smoothly due to mediocre engine driveability–the hyperactive 1800 rpm idle also brings back memories of 1970s emissions).
AMC was aimed at frugal/budget. Subaru Imprezas are too. So the spirit of AMC lives on in cars that hail from Indiana vs Wisconsin
Corey it did but the Pacer about finished them off. AMC had spent a princely sum on the Pacer and was planning on using the GM rotary engine and then the GM V-6 but when GM decided not to sell AMC their engines AMC had to scramble at the last minute to use a straight 6. First year sales were 145,528 but subsequent years sales fell. During the third year, Pacer sales fell to roughly 20,000 and then under 8,000 in the fourth year. Corey the history of AMC would make a great series especially the introduction of the 1958 Rambler American which was a hit during the Recession of 1958. The 1958 Rambler American was one of the cheapest new cars that could be bought during that time and was an instant hit. It got Ford, GM, and Chrysler to design and introduce their own compact cars for 1960 MY. The Rambler American represented a shift to compact cars not counting the VW Beetle, Mini Cooper, Nash Metropolitan, English Ford or the Renault Dauphin (all of those were imports). The Rambler American in itself would make a good series of articles. American manufacturers became interested in making their own compact cars.
The Pacer doomed AMC. How could they develop a brand new car around an unproven rotary engine not even in production! When Gm canceled that engine, AMC was forced to put its old straight sixes into the Pacer.
There was this weird notion in the early ’70s that the rotary was the engine of the future. General Motors, NSU, Mazda, Citroen, AMC, and others all seem convinced pistons would soon be passe. In actuality, I think AMC may have dodged a bullet. Wankels tend not to have much low-end torque, which wouldn’t go over well in the rather heavy Pacer. And we’re talking about a company that couldn’t make a simple Vega engine reliable, how well would the GM rotary’s rotor seals have held up? NSU and Citroen’s experiments with rotaries were disastrous, and it took years for Mazda to get them right. I think the Pacer and Matador coupe drained funds AMC needed for their bread and butter sedans that would have given them the volume they needed to stay afloat if they were more modern. AMC’s one masterstroke was to buy Jeep in 1970. That ensured their survival into the ’80s, when AMC abandoned their passenger car line and spent their money on the XJ Cherokee, Wrangler, and in-development Grand Cherokee, which time has proven was an excellent move.
Also, no one has been able to figure out how to make a rotary get great fuel economy, and the need to inject oil into the rotor chambers to lubricate the tip seals on the rotors hurt emissions.
And Mazda showed just how bad of an idea a full-size American (or an Australian) sedan with a rotary engine is with their Roadpacer AP.
I was thinking there was a late 70s large sedan prototype/concept from Rover that had a rotary too.
Can picture what it looks like but I can’t for the life of me think of its name.
Edit: Was the Leyland P76 from Australia. Flop of a sedan to compete with the Roadpacer and etc.
I was thinking Rover too, so they were experimenting with turbines *and* rotaries?
I remember in the early 70s reading an article about GM’s development of their own Wankel engine which if I remember correctly GM developed seals for the Wankel that lasted well over 200k miles but they were too expensive plus it made the engine last too long and when GM tried to get seals that would not last as long they only lasted less than 100k miles. GM couldn’t hit their target of making those seals last just over 100k and during that time people were looking for cheap fuel efficient cars and GM could not develop a cheap Wankel engine and get good fuel economy so GM shelved the development of their own Wankel. GM ultimately made the correct decision. GM at this time was practicing extreme cost cutting to be competitive with foreign auto makers but did a little too much cost cutting on the Vega especially the engine. During this time the new full sized GM cars (1971 MY) and new midsize cars (1973 MY but originally targeted for 1972 MY) were being designed sharing many components among the brands to save costs. The early 70s was the beginning of the decline of GM and through each new model the quality was reduced. This was beginning of when GM started to lose market share to now where GM does not have the majority of the market share. GM cars peaked in quality and design in 1965 and 1966.
AMC was still competitive in the early 70s but by the late 70s they were bleeding. AMC never fully recovered from the Pacer and the 2 door Matador which they spent massive amount of money to develop both never recovering their costs.
The Last Independent Automaker, until Tesla…
I’m in, unless there are XVII episodes, then no. :-)
Last picture:
Please don’t stand on buckets. And don’t leave tripping hazards around on a smooth floor.
(Source: ToolGuy, who has gone zero days without a work-related injury. Pay no attention to the trail of blood across the driveway. Corey wanted fewer plastic parts at the front of the vehicle? Well the radiator support and the hood latch are steel and will slice into your noggin if you bump into them at the right angle.)
“I’m in, unless there are XVII episodes, then no. :-)”
RRRRRIP!
I am committed to thorough coverage of topics!
I’m definitely looking forward to this. My parents bought a brand new ’66 American 440 4-door, and it was our first car car with air conditioning, so the line in the article, “…and air conditioning technology for automobiles” got my attention. Our American had factory installed a/c, which meant a Borg-Warner York compressor, and a semi-underdash unit with three large rotating vents and a temperature control knob that had “DESERT ONLY” as its highest setting (that sounded to me like a marketing guy’s idea). It was a decent, solid car with a 232 2-barrel six and a Borg-Warner three speed automatic (when Chevy still just offered the two-speed Powerglide in the Chevy II).
The ’66 American was really just a ’63/’64 Rambler Ambassador/Classic with revised sheetmetal, after the new, larger Ambassador and Classic were released for ’65. The front suspension still used a trunnion as part of the front upper control arm, instead of a ball joint (that wouldn’t change until the Hornet).
While Packard bought Studebaker, Hudson most definitely did not buy Nash-Kelvinator. Nash picked up Hudson as the latter was about to go broke. Remember that Nash’s smarter-than-your-average-bear boss, George Mason, instigated the merger and would have taken in S-P had he not died and then Romney (another Nash guy) and S-P prez Jim Nance had not disliked each other so thoroughly. A further indication that Nash took over Hudson: the ’55 Hudsons were lightly reworked Nashes built in Kenosha, not at the Hudson plant in Detroit.
Fair point.
Speaking of AMC, if ToolGuy doesn’t acquire a hand-built Cadillac Celestiq (unlikely) or a GMC Hummer EV3X (improbable), I might find myself one of them XJ Cherokees and do an EV conversion on it.
(The back end is light so perhaps we’ll go two motor. Or will the weight of the battery pack solve that issue? You’re right — it depends on the battery chemistry.)
Note to self: Also budget for a 5×8 trailer.