No one ever brings AMC’s to SEMA–even the guy who runs Kennedy American AMC parts says he’s only ever seen one in his 14 consecutive SEMAs, and it was an AMX. So I just about lost it when I saw this ‘73 Gremlin X sitting in the PRAUTOGY booth. The humble Grem is serving as a demo vehicle for PRAUTOGY’s new Halo application, a curious piece of gizmology that allows you to operate your vehicle’s electronics–including, in this case, power hood, rear hatch, and doors–from your iPhone. (Because, you know, somehow popping a hatch or pulling a hood release just isn’t cool anymore unless you can do it using a Mac product–kids these days!) In any case, apart from the electronics, air-bagged suspension, and suicide doors, the Gremlin was basically stock-looking, nice and refined. It was running a freshly-rebuilt 258 straight six and had even been repainted the same Golem-clay color it came with from the factory, along with the correct hockey stripes. Love it! See pics and video below the jump.

Continue reading "Oh My God, A Gremlin! At SEMA!" »

So we know the Hungerford Rocket Car still exists, and just this week, we got a call alerting us to the fact that the AMC AMVan (a concept vehicle highlighted in Pat Foster’s article in the September 2009 issue of Hemmings Classic Car on AMC’s Concept 80 cars) still exists. Joe Bortz, he of concept car collecting fame, said he got the AM Van from Chrysler when the company was going through AMC’s inventory shortly after the buyout in 1987. He notes that it’s just a fiberglass styling buck, not a functioning vehicle – so the wheels don’t turn, nor do the doors open. And, as you can see, AMC decided not to go with the bubble window for the cargo hatch, opting instead for full glass.

Oh my god: I need a woodgrain Concord wagon with a built 5.0. I’ve been cruising around thinking my 75-dollar sedan is pretty sweet, but I’ll be the first to admit that it doesn’t hold a candle to this monster. Bravo to Frank on an ultra-clean build–the attention to detail is amazing. See more at his ride page!

With all the photo shoots, shows and general running about this summer, I’ve hardly made any progress on Project HMX. In fact, looking back over my blog posts on the project, I see now that I’ve spent all summer trying to get the AMX rear suspension and rear axle ready to swap in place of the Spirit GT suspension and axle under there now. One last thing I wanted to do before that swap, though, was rebuild the AMX rear brakes. Continue reading at Hemmings

I spent my weekend covering several venues all over Southern California, putting at least 300 miles on my Corvair for Saturday, and at least a couple of hundred miles in a Pontiac Solstice on Sunday.

The alarm rang at 5:15 AM Saturday morning, and I wanted to be out the door by 6 AM so that I could grab a parking spot at Cars and Coffee just about an hour away. I decided to take the Corvair simply because I love driving it so much and after spending time the previous week in a half dozen rental cars, including a six-cylinder Camaro, and on too many airplanes, I thought rolling down the windows for the early morning drive would be invigorating and clear the cob webs out of my brain.

Continue reading "What Did You Do This Weekend?" »

Welcome to another installment of the CarDomain Obscure Muscle Car Parking Lot, a regular feature which aims to expand the definition of what a muscle car is, and to get readers to exclaim ”WTF” in the process. American Motors was once again in the middle of a financial meltdown, desperately trying to find the right product, while at the same time cutting development costs to stay afloat. One way of bringing in the showroom traffic the dealers so desperately needed was to offer a performance model built from an existing model. However, by the late 70’s, most of these performance models were merely tape stripe and wheel additions, and without any real enhancements to the engine, or the handling. AMC did manage to offer a pretty good V8 option for the Hornet, and the hatchback two-door Hornet body style was only three years old, and still looked sharp. But because of AMC’s financial situation, there were actually based on three different models. Let’s take a look at the 1977 through 1979 AMC AMX.

Continue reading after the jump!

Continue reading "CarDomain Obscure Muscle Car Parking Lot – The 1977 – 79 AMX by American Motors" »

It’s a little-known fact that George Barris tried to capitalize on the two-seater AMX’s like-no-other-car look by offering mildly customized versions of the AMC sports car. That effort apparently went nowhere, but Barris did enjoy quite a bit more publicity with another AMX customization, what AMCers now refer to as the Banacek AMX or the AMX-400.

Built for one episode of the early 1970s TV detective show Banacek, in which the title character investigates the disappearance of Project Phoenix, a prototype automobile, Barris not only chopped the roof of the 390-powered 1969 AMX by four and a half inches, but also lengthened the schnoz 15 inches and added a louvered grille and matching rear strakes.

We mention all this because the Banacek AMX will head to Mecum’s St. Charles, Illinois, auction early next month, crossing the block on October 3. No pre-auction estimate is listed. See more pics at Hemmings

Welcome to the CarDomain Obscure Muscle Car Parking Lot, a regular feature which aims to expand the notion of what a muscle car is, and to expand your mind while doing so. After the success of the Hurst SC/Rambler for 1969, and with the continuing popularity of the Javelin, the product management team at the smallest of the US based automakers decided to put into production a car that has been lurking around in prototype form for at least two years. It was also a car that carried a nameplate steeped in American Motors history, as the first model to carry the “Rebel” name in 1956 surprised everyone with it’s performance. Introducing the 1970 Rebel Machine by AMC.

Continue reading "CarDomain Obscure Muscle Car Parking Lot: The 1970 Rebel Machine (by AMC)" »

Eager to witness the brutal destruction of a pile of neglected cars, I attended the local county fair demolition derby this past weekend.  My expectations were met and exceeded as the killing blows were dealt to nearly all vehicles, most of which had entered the event hanging onto life by only a thread.  As is always true with any good demo derby, the un-muffled roar of engines filled the air blending with radiator steam, oil-burning exhaust and mud.

What I did not expect to see was an orange, reasonably straight AMC Gremlin complete with header relief in the hood, and all the other demo derby trimmings.  I always love to see an obscure piece of automotive history, but I had mixed emotions. The announcer begged it be withdrawn from the derby and restored and I couldn’t help but wonder if this little Gremlin is representative of Chrysler Corporation’s fate.

Continue reading after the jump!

Continue reading "Chrysler’s Fate?" »

As with most weeks, I got cool stuff sent to me. “Hey Fireball! Whatta ya think of my (fill in the blank).” And with that kinda traffic coming at me, I get the privilidge of seeing the best of what’s out there. Sort of.

Well, not all of it is lip smackin’ goodness. Some of it is downright cheese of the Limberger nature. But, without more dumb explanation, here’s what’s cool in design this past week. And no, you can’t buy the Phat Boy Can from me. It’s on “special order” from Iceland.

THE BUGATTI BORDEAUX

Big and beautiful, but they’re only building them for the richest MoFo’s on the planet. So, if we get to “see” one, it’ll cost about 10K.

Continue reading "Fireball’s “Cool Designs of the Week”" »

Welcome to the CarDomain Obscure Muscle Car Parking Lot, a regular feature which aims to expand the notion of what a muscle car is, and to re-discover true performance machinery while doing so. 1969 was close to the pinnacle of the Muscle Car Era. Almost every car company in America had at least one “muscle” car. And they were offered in all sizes, from compact to full-sized, to everything in between. With Chevy alone offering the Chevy II SS, Chevelle SS, Impala SS, and even an SS version of the El Camino car based pickup, it was no wonder that the number four car maker, AMC, felt they needed to get into this lucrative market. After tasting success with the AMX and Javelin performance cars, they decided to expand into the budget-muscle arena, with the help of a famous performance parts supplier. Introducing the AMC Hurst SC/Rambler.

Continue reading "CarDomain Obscure Muscle Car parking Lot – The 1969 AMC Hurst SC/Rambler" »

Keep pecking away at the components for the rear suspension and rear axle swap. On the axle front, I spent a good part of the last three weeks scraping caked-on grease from the pumpkin, then went at it with some Simple Green and a scrub brush until I felt that primer and paint would actually stick to it. For a paint color, I was thinking bright yellow, just like the monster trucks of the 1980s. Continue reading at Hemmings

As mentioned last time, my next big project on the HMX is eliminating that taildragger stance thanks to a rebuilt front suspension (with stiffer AMX springs) and an old, busted, saggybaggy rear suspension (with softer Spirit GT springs). So with a complete set of rear bushings in hand, along with new shocks and the Spirit AMX’s rear springs, I have my work cut out for me. Continue reading at Hemmings

What’s better than a red, white and blue AMC for the 4th of July? Tony Lazzarini bought his AMX new in 1968 at age 22 and started racing it in SCCA A-Production Classs four years later. The car then sat in storage for over 20 years before he took it out and rebuilt it to run in the Vintage Series. Check out his ride page for more pics and details!

There were actually three Pacers on the Power Tour in 2009. Ours, a somewhat beat-up 77 station wagon, and a built 76 coupe with a Mopar 440 under the hood. We had actually met the 440 guys two years ago when we did our first Power Tour, and this year they came back with a fully rebuilt car. From day one we knew that there was going to have to be a Pacer on Pacer showdown, and on the final day at Bristol Dragway in Bristol, TN it went down. Full story at MotorFanatics