Here’s something you don’t see every day, or more like never. It’s a 1964 Rambler Ambassador with a lift-off hardtop. We’re looking for more information, naturally.
The internet is a wild and wonderful place. Who knows what you might find there? Last week in our web surfing we stumbled over this single photo of a 1964 Rambler Ambassador with a lift-off hardtop and no further information. Obviously, American Motors never offered such a thing. The company didn’t produce an Ambassador or Classic convertible in this generation, either.
We’re guessing this custom must have been modified from a two-door Hardtop Coupe. And while the removable hardtop could have been aluminum or even steel, the odds are it was fiberglass. Meanwhile, the construction seems to mimic the lines of the factory two-door hardtop.
Our mystery Ambassador sports a number of customizing touches, including chrome-reverse wheels with baby moon hubcaps and chrome tips for the dual exhaust pipes. There’s even a light-duty trailer hitch installed, partly obscuring the California license plate. But the identity of the owner and builder—we assume that’s him in the photo, but we don’t know that—is unknown to us.
So please, if you know the story behind this unusual and intriguing Rambler, please let us know. Any additional information or photos will be greatly appreciated.
Update! Thanks to reader CJ Allen, we have more info. The builder was Dick Steele, a Rambler dealer in Reseda, California. CJ’s info can be found in the comments section below.
Many of your readers would know better than I, but I would suggest this was built from a convertible and a 2dr hardtop donor body. Starting with a convertible would preclude having to add the additional torsional stiffness that was lost in cutting the roof off a “normal” 2dr hdtp. Adding convertible roof latches to the hardtop roof should have been fairly straightforward, and the only metalwork that might have been required would have been where the roof met the body behind the rear seat. Dowel pins/latchs etc. Like I saw, more of your readers would know better than me, but from the discussions I’ve had with people in the industry, this is my guess on how it was done.
From https://calisphere.org/item/09bb357cbcfd2c3d05cdc7ab12a12b62/
(Valley Times Collection at LA Public Library):
“Photograph caption dated February 18, 1964 reads, ‘Dick Steele demonstrates how easy it is to make a convertible out of hard top 990H model Rambler Ambassador. Steele revamped the car and won first place in domestic customizing class at Winternationals Rod and Customizing Show.'”
CJ Allen: Thank you! Now we have a name.
The pleasure’s mine, Mac. I found that Dick Steele was a Rambler dealer in Reseda – that’s his name on the license plate frame. Apparently, they sponsored some AMC drag cars, including one of the (’69?) Super-Stock AMX’s.
Afraid that’s all I’ve got – didn’t find anything on that Rod & Custom show at the Winternats, but others may have better luck.
– Jack
https://www.havasunews.com/obituaries/richard-dick-steele/article_cd0e7e98-3e60-11e5-ab9b-c7bd3d653d96.html
I started living in the San Fernando Valley in 1968 and he was very much in business. I found a newspaper ad from 1969 for his dealership, wish I could upload it here. It advertises a new 69 Rebel SST for $2300 and a Javelin SST at $2400. Sigh…
Great idea for cost effectively customizing a new car for an exhibition. The roof is probably the only part of a car that can’t easy be sold as a repair part, because a car with a crushed roof probably wouldn’t be repaired. Every other part of this car can be stripped and sold after the show.