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Origins
George Romney's American Motors bet everything on the idea that cars had grown too big, and the 1958 Rambler American was the cheapest way to prove it. It was a revival rather than a new design — the 1955 Nash Rambler's tooling pulled out of storage and freshened — which let AMC sell a full car at a price the Big Three could not touch. The timing was perfect: the 1958 recession sent buyers hunting for economy, and the American became famous for winning Mobilgas economy runs. Three generations ran to 1969, the last styled by Dick Teague with a clean, boxy simplicity that aged well. It gave AMC its identity as the sensible company, and its floorpan lived on under the Hornet and, remarkably, into the 1980s under the Eagle.
'66 Rambler American Convertible · Bull-Doser · Public domain
