For 1967, American Motors spiced up its Rebel station wagon line with three fancy limited editions: Mariner, Briarcliff, and Westerner.

American Motors buyers of the 1960s were known to be practical folk, so it’s hardly surprising that station wagons represented a good chunk of the carmaker’s sales volume. At the same time, AMC management was working to ditch the company’s well-cemented image as the USA’s leading producer of stodgy, uninteresting vehicles.

So in the spring of 1967, AMC released three dressed-up, limited editions of its newly redesigned Rebel station wagon, each one with a regional theme: Briarcliffe, Westerner, and Mariner. Each Rebel wagon received its own distinctive woodgrain paneling, exterior paint, cabin trim, and badging.

Targeted at the East, Southeast, and Midwest regions with a “country and hunt club” theme, the Briarcliff was Matador Red with black pebble-grain side panels in 3M Di-noc, and black vinyl interior trim in antelope grain. Its C-pillar badge was a Cromwellian helmet.

For AMC dealers west of the Mississipi there was the Westerner with Frost White exterior paint and Wood Plank vinyl trim, with “richly tooled” buckskin vinyl interior trim. Its chrome C-pillar emblem was a Pony Express rider.

With its nautical theme, the Mariner (our favorite, if we may editorialize) featured a Barbados Blue exterior with fake woodgrain in Bleached Teak, while the cabin sported dark blue suede with white piping. Aimed at the coastal regions, its C-pillar badge was a small chrome anchor.

All three wagons were deluxe Rebel 770 models with extra standard equipment: 290 cubic-inch V8, automatic transmission, power steering and brakes, reclining seats, and sport steering wheel. According to the AMC experts, production amounted to 600 Mariners, 500 Westerners, and 400 Briarcliff editions. These aren’t big numbers in comparison to AMC’s model year production of 235,000 vehicles in 1967, but the three limited editions did brighten up the automaker’s wagon line that year. We don’t know how many survived, but it seems there are still a few around.