Rare Rides: Ultimate Americana Via the 1970 AMC Rebel, The Machine
With Independence Day nearly upon us, it seems fitting that Rare Rides take a look at a car wearing its red, white, and blue theme very proudly. It’s a rare version of the AMC Rebel: The Machine. Get your sparklers ready.
The Rebel was a short-lived lineup for Wisconsin-based AMC. Introduced for the 1967 model year, the Rebel replaced the dated looking Rambler Classic, which was sold as the company’s midsize volume model between 1961 and 1966. AMC grafted the Rebel name onto its new model after the Rambler Classic wore it in its final as a trim level.
The new Rebel had some big shoes to fill, and rode on the company’s largest “Senior Cars” platform with the flagship Ambassador. During its development, AMC underwent a management change. The new guy in charge, Roy Chapin Junior, wanted to get rid of the dusty image AMC had gathered. He made sure advertising promoted the Rebel’s high performance and modernity. To that end, eight different engines were offered in inline-six or V8 configuration. Displacement ranged between 232 (3.8L) and 390 (6.4L) cubic inches. Six cylinder power plants were a continuation of those offered in the Rambler Classic, but the V8s were brand new. Transmissions were three- or four-speeds and manual or automatic. Body styles included a two-door sedan, convertible, and hardtop, as well as a four-door sedan and wagon.
AMC’s desire to spur customer interest in the brand lead to several special versions of the Rebel. In 1967, wagon variants (called Cross Country) were sold in limited special editions according to region. Coastal areas had the Mariner nautical themed wagon, while the south and east had the Briarcliff brougham version. Areas west of the Mississippi had the Westerner, with wood plank exterior trim paired to white paint.
Meanwhile, AMC was working on a bit of collaboration with Hurst Performance, to develop a new high performance halo Rebel. In 1970, The Machine was new for the Rebel’s final model year. The most patriotic examples were painted red, white, and blue, and had reflective stripes manufactured by a small US-based company called 3M. The Machine debuted at the National Hod Rod Association’s drag race finals in 1969. AMC sent 10 cars to Dallas, and drove them directly from the parking lot onto the drag strip.
All examples of The Machine came with the largest 390 V8, and were rated at 340 horsepower and 430 lb-ft of torque. The four-barrel carb had an high compression of 10:1, and required high-octane fuel. All this meant zero to 60 in a zippy 6.4 seconds. A total of 2,326 The Machines were built for 1970, as Rebel leapt aside for the new Matador.
Today’s striped Rare Ride is for sale in the very patriotic state of Texas. Already restored to original glory, it asks $48,000.
[Images: seller]
Interested in lots of cars and their various historical contexts. Started writing articles for TTAC in late 2016, when my first posts were QOTDs. From there I started a few new series like Rare Rides, Buy/Drive/Burn, Abandoned History, and most recently Rare Rides Icons. Operating from a home base in Cincinnati, Ohio, a relative auto journalist dead zone. Many of my articles are prompted by something I'll see on social media that sparks my interest and causes me to research. Finding articles and information from the early days of the internet and beyond that covers the little details lost to time: trim packages, color and wheel choices, interior fabrics. Beyond those, I'm fascinated by automotive industry experiments, both failures and successes. Lately I've taken an interest in AI, and generating "what if" type images for car models long dead. Reincarnating a modern Toyota Paseo, Lincoln Mark IX, or Isuzu Trooper through a text prompt is fun. Fun to post them on Twitter too, and watch people overreact. To that end, the social media I use most is Twitter, @CoreyLewis86. I also contribute pieces for Forbes Wheels and Forbes Home.
More by Corey Lewis
Comments
Join the conversation
Considering their lack of resources, AMC's engineers and designers did indeed 'work wonders'. Sure they had some misfires but also did some good work.
Slight correction; The Rebel name was first used in 1957 on a high performance 4 door sedan with a 4 barrel 327 V8 rated at 255 hp.