1964 Rambler American |
|---|
|
| Topic Navigation |
|---|
|
Wikipedia: Rambler American
Return to Rambler American History Photographs |
History
The following section is an excerpt from Wikipedia's Rambler American page on 5 January 2016, text available via the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
Third generation
For its third generation, the American emerged with what would be its only completely new design. The entire line was treated to neat and trim lines with pleasing simplicity (compared to the more boxy predecessors) with characteristic tunneled headlights with a simple horizontal grille between them. The Rambler American's wheelbase grew by six-inches or 152 mm (to 106 in or 2692 mm) and the interiors were made more spacious.The station wagons in the restyled 1964 series came with four doors and gained 17% more cargo space compared to the previous design. They all featured a new roll-down disappearing rear window for the bottom-hinged tailgate. Full coil front springs along with soft rear leaf units, gave the new American an unusually smooth ride, better than many larger domestic cars. The new models also incorporated various parts and components (such as doors) that were interchangeable with AMC's larger cars. In essence, the new body was a shorter, narrower version of the previous years new Rambler Classic.
The new styling was the work of designer Richard A. Teague, who would go on to design the 1968 Javelin and AMX. Many viewed the newly designed station wagon as the best looking of any American wagon, with its new, trim lines and ample passenger and cargo room. Led by the top-line 440-series convertible, they were arguably the 1964's most attractive Detroit compacts. Car Life magazine titled its road test of the 1964 Rambler American: "The Original Plain Jane Compact Car Just Got Back From the Beauty Parlor".
1964
In addition to the top-of-the-line 440 models, the cheaper 330 and 220 models were also available, and Rambler American sales soared to a record 160,000-plus. The old 195.6 cu in (3.2 L) I6 was a gas stingy champ in the Mobil Economy Runs and available in 90 hp (67 kW; 91 PS), 125 hp (93 kW; 127 PS), and 138 hp (103 kW; 140 PS) versions.
However, American Motors focused its marketing on the economy of the new models, an advertising of a kind that was previously only popular during the Great Depression. The company's series of "Love Letters to Rambler" advertisements included "ordinary user testimonial" about the economy and reliability of their Ramblers, rather than in pursuit of buyers in the whole compact car market segment, a strategy that was copied ten years later by Datsun.
