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Forgotten Ambassador was AMC’s big car

Ambassador was a big car built by a company that built its reputation on building smaller and sometimes quirky automobiles. And yet American Motors enjoyed a measure of success with its big car, although both company and it car are now distant memories.

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AMC was created in January 1954 with the merger of Hudson and Nash. Both companies had once been huge players in the American auto industry. Hudson Motors was created in 1909 by a group of investors, led by J.L. Hudson who owned the Hudson department store in Detroit.

Distroscale

Nash Motors was a few years older, going back to the Thomas B. Jeffrey Company, which was launched in 1902 in Kenosha, Wisconsin to build Rambler and Jeffery Cars. Charles Nash was an executive with General Motors when he left GM in 1916 to take up the assets of Jeffery, renaming the enterprise Nash.

Both Nash and Hudson were strong companies. Hudson in the 1920s was the fourth largest automotive company in the United States. But as independents, both struggled during the Great Depression, and survived the Second World War on the strength of government contracts. Both Hudson and Nash launched innovative and competitive cars in the years immediately following the end of the war, but their financial resources were no match in the early 1950s for the likes of GM and Ford, or even Chrysler Corporation.

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The 1954 merger that created AMC helped bring some financial stability to both Nash and Hudson, and for several years both nameplates continued and co-existed, until being replaced by a reborn Rambler name and then finally AMC. Manufacturing operations for the new corporation were consolidated in Wisconsin. In 1963, an Ontario plant was opened at Brampton, which is today operated by Fiat Chrysler.

Within this turmoil of change was the Ambassador, launched by Nash Motors in 1927 as its premier vehicle. Ambassador was built under the Nash brand, and then as a Rambler following the 1954 merger, and finally as an American Motors automobile until 1974 when the Ambassador name was retired. By that time, Ambassador had enjoyed an unbroken presence in North America for 47 years – which at the time was a record. Today, that record is enjoyed by Ford’s F-series of pickup trucks, which were launched an incredible 67 years ago, in 1948.

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The first new Ambassador to be launched by AMC was the 1958 model. It rode on a 117-inch wheelbase and was fitted with a 327-cubic-inch V8, with a three-speed automatic transmission.

Ambassador featured some traditional Nash novelties, such as deep coil spring suspension and front split seats that could be lowered to form a bed with the rear seats. As well, the car came with power windows, power steering, power brakes and air conditioning. Nash Motors, when it merged with the Kelvinator Corporation in the 1930s, had pioneered automotive air conditioning and by the late 1950s its technology was among the best in the industry.

Of special note for 1958 was the Ambassador station wagon, the Cross Country, which was the industry’s only pillarless hardtop in station wagon form. Very few Cross Country models were built, less than 600.

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Ambassador continued as AMC’s premier automobile, going through several substantial changes. By 1965, the car was entering its fifth generation under AMC’s stewardship, and arguably becoming its most attractive.

The 1965 Ambassador was a stylish car, and its appearance was in complete lockstep with its Big Three competitors. Ford designer Elwood Engel established the template for the mid-1960s when he designed the elegant 1961 Lincoln Continental. The Lincoln was long and low, and it was boxy. Its C-pillar was wide and almost upright. Engle was hired away by Chrysler and brought his boxy look to that company’s cars. But by 1965 the Engel Look was in vogue and the Ambassador was a reflection.

AMC chief stylist Richard Teague sketched out the 1965 Ambassador, and even Time Magazine agreed that the car was a “strikingly handsome automobile”. It rode on a 116-inch wheelbase, featured stacked headlights and vertical wraparound taillights, with squared-off rear wheel arches. The car’s beltline was slightly lower than its 1964 predecessor, making for an illusion of greater length.

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New for 1965 was also an Ambassador convertible, the first to be offered on Ambassador since 1948. AMC’s decision was in sync with the industry; more convertible cars would be offered and sold in North America in 1965 than in any previous year, and those numbers have yet to be matched.

AMC very deliberately positioned Ambassador against Chevrolet’s Impala, Ford’s Galaxie and Plymouth’s Fury, which were the bread-and-butter cars for those companies. It was a bold move on the part of AMC; since the mid-1950s the company had tried to set itself apart from its Detroit competitors, offering compact and economy cars. That AMC would pit its resources directly against the Big Three suggested a renewed confidence in its financial and manufacturing resources. The decision was also a testament to an era of unbridled consumer prosperity. Despite its status as the No. 4 automaker in the United States, AMC was riding high in 1965.

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For 1965, Ambassador was offered as a two-door sedan, a four-door sedan, a four-door station wagon, and a two-door convertible. In other words, Ambassador matched every possible variation offered by its Detroit-based competitors.

For several years, Ambassador had not offered a six-cylinder engine, but because a straight-six was now offered in Impala, Galaxie and Fury, a 232-cubic-inch six was introduced for Ambassador. Most buyers, however, opted for the 287 V8 or the 327 V8. They could also choose to use a manual transmission, but most went for the automatic.

Ambassador was well-received by reviewers and by the public, although its sales never approached those of the Big Three’s full-size family cars.

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For 1966, the basic design continued but with a few changes. Noticeable was a DPL edition to Ambassador, which stood for Diplomat. The Diplomat was an upscale version of Ambassador, designed to compete against the upscale versions being offered by Impala (Caprice), by Galaxie (LTD) and by Fury (Fury III). Owners of the Ambassador DPL were treated to the power of the company’s 327 V8 while sitting on luxury seats surrounded with features such as air conditioning.

The fifth-generation Ambassador was an enormous hit for AMC. The company sold 64,000 units for 1965 and 71,000 for 1966. Compare that to the 18,647 Ambassadors sold for the 1964 model year.

It was a high point for the car, and while the numbers can’t compare with the sale enjoyed by Impala/Caprice, Galaxie/LTD or Fury/Fury III, AMC was thrilled with Ambassador’s success.

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Ambassador underwent yet another revamp for 1967. The car was lower and wider and two inches longer than the previous generation. The car was more rounded and sported a sweeping roofline, the coke-bottle fenders that were then becoming vogue, more glass area and a recessed grille.

Ambassador featured a lengthy list of standard features and options and offered attractive interiors and fittings. Also offered was a new line of V8 powerplants. With a four-barrel carburetor and duel exhaust, the 343 V8 produced 280 horsepower.

Despite a freshened face, more power and a larger car, the public didn’t respond as well to the new and more luxurious Ambassador and sales were sluggish.

Some thought that AMC had over-reached its reputation as a builder of solid, economy cars and was trying to encroach into territory owned by Oldsmobile and Mercury. Whatever the case, Ambassador was never again the hit had had been a few years earlier, and some historians point to the corporation’s attempt to go “up-market” as the source of its renewed financial difficulties.

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A sixth and seventh-generation Ambassador was unveiled for 1969 and then again for 1974, and they were unreservedly well-powered and well-appointed. The baseline Ambassadors were now gone and AMC promoted its most expensive automobile as something that Americans should aspire to experiencing and owning.

By 1974, Ambassador was a large, fuel-guzzling car, and with all of the big and fuel-guzzling cars then available from Detroit, it sold poorly – especially in the shadow of the energy or fuel crisis that quickly arose.

In June 1974, the last Ambassador was built at Kenosha, and after 48 years the nameplate was put to rest in the United States.

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