On Fri, 24 Mar 2017 22:42:48 +0000 (UTC), John McCoy
wrote:

wrote in news:lcu8dc1fcbhpfdd1i213prqgk9r3m0i0on@
4ax.com:

I worked for a short time for an AMC dealer back in '72, and they were
actually pretty good cars when compared to products from GM. Ford, and
Chrysler at the same time.

Well, yes and no. They had some good engineering, but
production quality was all over the map - sometimes great,
sometimes abysmal - perhaps not worse than GM et al, but
not different enough to be called "good".

Friend of mine had a pair of AMXs - a 69 with a 390 that
he used for drag racing, and a 70 with the 360 that was
his daily driver - at least, when he wasn't rebuilding
the transmission (the 4 speed manual was a bit underspec'd
for that engine, and ate first gear fairly regularly).
He had a long list of stuff he'd fixed on both cars when
they were new, but after correcting all the factory
mistakes he figured they were good cars.

John
The AMC V8s are some of the most under-appreciated engines of the
sixties and seventies in North America - both as far as reliability
and performance.

Our family owned a fair number of "rumblers" - a 62 American, a '63 or
'64 classic, '66 Classic, 68 Rebel wagon, 72 or '73 Ambassador wagon
and '75 Pacer. Dad owned the American, and my brother inherited it,
Dad owned the rebel, my sister owned the 63/64, I owned the 66 and the
Pacer. All were bought used - the rebel was sold as a demonstrator
but we found out it was a Budget Rent-a-car - all the rest were well
used and abused. The 62 was a bell telephone car that dad bought and
used as a truck for his electrical business. He traded it in on
something else, and ended up buying it again about a year later.
Couldn't kill that miserable beast - as ugly as they come.