1962 Rambler (Budd) XR-400

If Rambler had made cars like this for the public, they would still be in business

From the back it reminds me of the first Mustangs. This is much sportier than regular Ramblers, especially in 1962 (!) and has a European sportscar feel that I think Americans would have gone for.

AMC did not go out of business; Chrysler purchased stock to gain corporate control. More education shows how AMC took over internal controls of Chrysler, then the public became served with cars such as the Prowler and Viper. AM General is still an independent. AMC did make the '68/70 AMX, while Ford did not make the mid-engined two seater Mustang they originally teased the public with. Neither was the Camaro or Firebird the original Banshee sports car idea.

While this would have been a logical and probably successful direction for AMC, AMC management after Romney did not want to keep Rambler. Having their roots in Nash and Hudson, these post-Romney guys wanted to emulated their competition and compete in all markets. So they took the profits Rambler gave them and squandered it on full size and intermediate sized cars which failed to sell. By 1966, AMC was broke.

It took a Federal Government bailout in the form of Post Office purchases to clear out AMC's backlots and give them enough cash to last the rest of the decade. From 1966 on, AMC was not a successful niche market player, but a weak auto maker.

AMC ignored Rambler until they were out of business.