1979 AMC Spirit GT

This year’s AMO convention traveled north of the border for the second time in AMO history, descending on Kingston, Ontario. Not too many Americans showed up for the truly international celebration of American Motors products, which just meant that plenty of Canadians brought out their cars and proved that they had just as much enthusiasm for the cars from Kenosha.

One such Canadian AMC that I kept coming back to was Harm van der Veen’s 1979 AMC Spirit GT. While entirely AMC, Harm hardly left it stock. To begin with, he dropped the Spirit three inches over the stock 14-inch TurboCast II wheels and added a Competition Engineering anti-roll bar. He said the Goodyear Eagle STs stick in any corner and never rub, even with 245-width tires. An AMC 360 provides power enough for the little hatch.

The bodywork, however, really sets this Spirit apart. Spirits tend to look a little unstable without their bulky front bumpers, but Harm solved that by extending the valance panel outward. He then repeated the valance extension to the rear, boxed and extended the rocker panels and added a custom cowl-induction hood.

The boxed rocker panels add stiffness to the unibody structure, as does the rollcage and the bar that ties the front shock towers together. Harm then ripped the stock bucket seats out and added Recaros and five-point seat belts to keep the driver in his seat in the twisties. The most frustrating part, however, is that Harm had the Spirit GT for sale for $12,500, and I didn’t have nearly enough loonies or toonies to bring it back home to the States. Two more pics after the jump.