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No matter how slavishly devoted to a particular marque or model a car enthusiast is, it’s virtually an axiom that deep inside, they are far more egalitarian about other manufacturers’ offerings than they’d ever let on to their brand loyalist brethren.
I personally have no qualms whatsoever in admitting that I’m of this ilk myself. While most of you know that I am a certifiable Mopar nut, I have genuine respect, and dare I say passion, for various and sundry performance Mustangs, Chevelles, GTOs, GSXs, and the like.
The reason why this is true for me, and most likely for you too, is because on a very basic level, we are obsessed with automobiles in general. Think of it in these terms: how many times out of ten would you stop channel surfing your TV and watch if you came across a show featuring just about any type of muscle car? I rest my case.
For me, there is a manufacturer outside of Mother Mopar that I have always had an especially keen interest in because of their outsider status in the muscle car world. The brand? The American Motors Company. For not only did they produce some prodigious performance machines in the Golden Era, but they did them in a style unlike that of the Big Three of Chrysler, Ford, and GM.
Their top offering back in the day was a neat, compact, little rocket known as the AMX. Produced in fairly low numbers, to begin with as compared to Mustangs and Camaros, there was a variant of it that was so scarce and so cool that it virtually begs to be covered in the pages of Rare Rides.
So without further ado, let’s go ahead and have a look at it – the 1969 AMC Hurst AMX 390 Super Stock!
The 1969 AMC Hurst AMX 390 Super Stock. (Photo courtesy of conceptcarz.com.)
The American Motors Corporation, colloquially known as AMC, was founded in 1954 as the result of a corporate merger of the Hudson Motor Car Company and the Nash-Kelvinator Corporation. At the time, the deal was the largest of its kind in American history, and made the new entity the fourth-largest auto manufacturing company in the United States.
Throughout the second half of the 1950s and the early part of the sixties, AMC largely produced staid, compact, economy cars that were internally referred to as “dinosaur fighters” owing to the rest of the industry’s penchant for building gigantic gas-guzzling boulevard cruisers. AMC’s cars lacked flair though, and most notably, performance. Sales consequently lagged and a change in direction and image was clearly needed for the company.
The 1965 Rambler Marlin was AMC’s first attempt at shedding its boring image. (Photo courtesy of bringatrailer.com.)
CEO Roy Abernathy instituted a broadening of the model lineup that was realized in the 1965 model year. New cars included the full-size Ambassador series and a fastback called the Marlin that was aimed at competing with the Dodge Charger and Plymouth Barracuda.
Abernathy continued to flesh out the AMC lineup in the late sixties, developing the Javelin as a sorely-needed, though late-to-the-party pony car competitor to the Ford Mustang. Most pressing in his mind, though, was for AMC to have an entrant in the burgeoning muscle car segment.
The 1968 Javelin was a late attempt by AMC to compete with the Mustang. (Photo courtesy of Mecum Auctions.)
Under the auspices of lead designer Charles Mashigan, a wildly-styled concept vehicle was developed in 1965. Code named AMX for American Motors Experimental, the non-running fiberglass car was revealed at the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) convention in January of 1966.
The concept featured a deeply inset grille, bold character lines on the flanks, a bulbous, flying buttress-style rear, and most notably a “Ramble Seat” (AMC verbiage for an old-fashioned rumble seat) for two in the rear.
The first AMX concept car with the unusual “Ramble Seat.” (Photo courtesy of oldconceptcars.com.)
The public reaction to the concept was glowing, and demand for an actual, running AMX prompted AMC to produce just that. Built on a 1966 Rambler American chassis, the AMX prototype’s coachwork was fabricated in Torino, Italy at Carrozzeria Vignale, coachbuilder for many Italian marques including Ferrari. The car was fabricated in a scant 90 days and was revealed at the New York auto show in June of 1966.
The AMX prototype that showed at the 1966 New York Auto Show. (Photo courtesy of Mecum Auctions.)
A development of the concept car, the prototype’s looks and proportions were refined for production practicality should the public reaction to it be positive. Although it retained the fanciful and unviable Ramble Seat, the prototype’s design looked the part of an AMC muscle car, and reaction to it, as it turned out, was phenomenal. AMC had the mandate it was seeking to proceed.
Two contemporaneous development programs for a production AMX were launched. One relied on a modified Javelin platform that was shortened by almost two feet, and the other was a ground-up bespoke chassis. Ultimately, the first project was chosen, as it saved considerable money by relying on existing tooling and unibody manufacturing.
In crafting the AMX’s body, designers in Charles Mashigan’s advanced studio made a two-seat coupe from the clay model of the four-seat Javelin. They heavily altered the grille, hood, roofline, door glass, quarter panels, and rear of the model into something that fairly closely approximated the prototype.
Dual headlights outboard of the grille were designed for a muscular look up front, and the Ramble Seat in back naturally went the way of the Dodo. What remained though was a decidedly muscular, yet well-proportioned car.
The 1968 AMC AMX. (Photo courtesy of Barrett-Jackson Auctions.)
New AMC CEO Roy D. Chapin Jr. liked what he saw and authorized the production of the AMX for the 1968 model year.
The 3,100-pound AMX could be had with a trio of related, “Gen-2” V8 powerplants that could provide for good to superb performance depending on which was opted for. The base engine was a 290 cubic-inch, N-code with a 10.0:1 compression ratio and a lone 4-barrel carb that was good for 235 horsepower and 300 lb-ft of torque.
Next up was the 343 cubic-inch T-code V8, again featuring a single four-barrel, but benefiting from larger valves and a slightly higher 10.2:1 ratio. It produced a solid 280 ponies and 365 lb-ft of torque.
The 390 V8 was the top engine offering in the AMX. (Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.)
The high-end powerplant was the fabled AMC X-code 390. With a 10.2:1 compression ratio, forged steel crankshaft and connecting rods, and a 4-barrel carburetor, it put out 316 horsepower and a stump-pulling 424 lb-ft of twist. Every AMX came with dual exhaust.
Regardless of engine choice, all AMXs came standard with the Borg-Warner T-10 four-speed manual. Borg-Warner also supplied the optional M-12 Shift-Command, floor-mounted, three-speed automatics for the car.
Selecting the Shift-Command automatic also gave you a center console. (Photo courtesy of Hemmings News.)
Putting the power to the ground was an AMC Model 20 differential that could be equipped with 2.87:1, 3.15:1, 3.53:1, or 3.91:1 ratios. A limited-slip differential called the Twin-Grip was an available option.
Independent front suspension featured lower control arms mounting each spindle with a ball joint. The top of each spindle used a trunnion pivot linked to an upper control-arm assembly. Coil springs were mounted above the trunnion, and an anti-sway bar connected the control arms.
Out back lived a solid axle with leaf springs and traction link bars to mitigate wheel hop during hard acceleration.
For stopping, the AMX came with 10-inch drum brakes front and rear. Stamped steel 14 x 5.5-inch wheels were standard, with Magnum 500-style 14 x 6-inch wheels available as an option.
The Go Package added a host of niceties including over-the-top stripes and upgraded wheels. (Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.)
Mechanical options were legion on the AMX, but the most popular of them were grouped together in the Go Package, which consisted of heavy-duty suspension elements, power front discs, the aforementioned Magnum 500 wheels mounted with Goodyear Polyglas E70-14 redline tires, the Twin-Grip LSD, a heavy-duty radiator, seven-blade Power-Flex fan, fan shroud, and an over-the-top, black racing stripe.
Inside, AMXs shared their interiors with the Javelin from the twin bucket seats forward. Behind them, the AMX had bespoke quarter trim pieces. Automatic-equipped cars received a floor console, while four-speed shifters rose from the carpet. Goodies included an 8000-rpm tach, a 140 mph speedometer, and faux-woodgrain dash and door panel inserts.
The AMX’s interior. (Photo courtesy of Hemmings News.)
Leather seats, a choice of radios, a center armrest for four-speed cars, air conditioning, tilt steering, power steering, tinted windows and remote mirrors were amongst the AMXs interior options.
Owing to its lightweight and prodigious mechanicals, the 390-equipped 1968 AMX was a genuine runner for muscle cars of the day. A period magazine tested one equipped with a four-speed and the Go Package, and logged a 0-60 sprint in 6.6 seconds and a quarter-mile in 14.6 at 92 mph. Certainly not Hemi car numbers, but excellent for a car with a base price of just $3,245.
The 1968 AMX was unveiled to the press in February of that year, and despite being billed as AMC’s muscle car, journalists couldn’t help but to see its sports-car leanings and compare it to the Corvette. Not only was it a two-seater like the ‘vette, but it handled more like a sports car and was similarly sized.
Craig Breedlove breaking records in the AMX. (Photo courtesy of Hemmings News.)
A private test of the AMX saw Craig Breedlove take to Goodyear’s Texas testing track. Using specially modified cars, Breedlove set no less than 106 speed and endurance records in the AMX, and later unofficially topped 200 mph at the Bonneville Salt Flats.
Changes for 1969 were minimal. The car’s interior received a revised instrument cluster, redesigned door panels, upgraded carpets, and leather if so optioned. All four-speeds came with a special Hurst branded shifter.
A 1969 AMX in Big Bad Green. (Photo courtesy of Mecum Auctions.)
Outside, three bold paint schemes, similar to Chrysler’s “High Impact” colors, could be ordered. They included Big Bad Blue, Big Bad Orange, and Big Bad Green, and when optioned, even covered the bumpers.
Far and away though, the biggest news associated with the ’69 model was the introduction of the high-performance, drag strip-oriented AMC Hurst AMX 390 Super Stock model.
The 1969 AMC Hurst AMX 390 Super Stock. (Photo courtesy of Hemmings News.)
The Super Stock version of the AMX came about via the desire of AMC’s top brass to take on the Big Three in NHRA competition at the drag strip.
To create their warrior, AMC subcontracted Hurst and engine builder H.L. Shahan, to do the mechanical work.
At the time, NHRA rules required a minimum of fifty examples to be offered to the public for homologation, so fifty-two AMXs, equipped with 390s, T-10 four-speed manuals, and TwinGrip differentials with 4.44:1 gears were taken off AMC’s Kenosha, Wisconsin assembly line and shipped to the Hurst facilities in Ferndale, Michigan.
The spartan interior of the AMX Super Stock. (Photo courtesy of Mecum Auctions.)
The cars notably lacked radios, heaters, heater controls, clocks, one of the two horns, rocker moldings, grille supports, seam sealer, sound insulation, undercoating, and fender bracing.
The engines were removed from the cars and sent to Crane in Florida, where Shahan modified them with JE pistons, Crane cylinder heads with 2.080-inch intake, and 1.740-inch exhaust valves, a Crane R2741393 solid roller camshaft, an Edelbrock STR-11 Cross-ram intake, dual four-barrel Holley 650 cfm carbs, Thorley headers, and an aftermarket exhaust. The engines were sent back to Hurst and installed in the cars.
The heart of the beast – the AMX Super Stock’s modified 390 cubic-inch V8. (Photo courtesy of Mecum Auctions.)
Hurst also removed the front anti-sway bar, installed a unique crossmember to allow quick access to the oil pan, revised the rear suspension link geometry, replaced the stock axles with forged axles, added stiffer Rockwell springs and Cure Ride drag shocks, relocated the right front rear leaf spring pocket, moved the battery to the trunk for better weight distribution, added a hood with a massive, custom scoop to better feed air to those dual carbs, and mounted 14-inch Cragars shod with high-profile drag slicks.
The custom hood manufactured by Hurst. (Photo courtesy of Hemmings News.)
The cars were then painted at Hurst in either Frost white, or AMC’s corporate racing colors consisting of those iconic red, white and blue bands.
In addition to the iconic red, white and blue livery, Super Stocks could also be had in Frost White. (Photo courtesy of Hotrodders.com.)
Upon the Super Stock’s announcement, AMC stated that its engine was good for 340 horsepower. In reality, though, the modified 390s churned out something more akin to 420 ponies.
AMC listed the Super Stock for sale to the public at $5,994 without any form of warranty – a hefty premium over a base car’s price. Nonetheless, all 52 cars were sold and were soon tearing up the streets and strips of America with 11-second quarter-mile times at over 120 mph. Insane numbers for 1969, and certainly respectable even today.
A Super Stock at the drag strip.
In NHRA SS/D and SS/C classes of drag racing, the cars began to slay all comers with mid ten-second runs, and track records began to fall to AMX Super Stock runners on a weekly basis.
Today, only 40 of the 52 cars are accounted for and rarely hit the auction block. I for one can understand – if I was lucky enough to own one, I doubt I’d ever part with such an awesome Rare Ride.
