In March of 1969, little American Motors dropped a big surprise on the muscle car world. The Rambler SC/Rambler could run with the big guys, and it sold for a mere $2,998. Here’s the story.
As the ’60s muscle car movement blossomed, American Motors was known for its conservative and practical economy cars, not for high performance. As part of its effort to reverse that image and broaden the automaker’s appeal among an increasingly younger audience, AMC and Hurst Performance teamed up to create a special performance version of the lowly Rambler American—and thus created one of the more interesting performance cars of the era: the Rambler SC/Rambler by Hurst.
Shown above are George Hurst of Hurst Performance and AMC marketing VP Raymond McNealy at a media event for the Rambler SC/Rambler at Orange County International Raceway, a top Southern California drag strip. McNealy is pointing to the SC/Rambler’s fully operational cold air intake, which opened via an electric solenoid.
The wildly styled scoop fed air to a 390 CID V8 rated at 315 horsepower—AMC’s most powerful engine, which was more usually found in the automaker’s big Ambassador sedan. The SC/Rambler’s creators, Walt Czarnecki of AMC and Dave Landrith of Hurst, made clever use of the American Motors production parts bins, selecting a Borg-Warner T-10 four speed, an AMC limited-slip rear axle with 3.43 screws, front disc brakes, and rear torque links borrowed from the AMX sports car. All the basic pieces were sound, and while the 390 V8 was conservatively tuned, the SC/Rambler had yards of potential, thanks in large part to its light weight: a mere 3160 lbs.
Of course, eye-grabbing visuals were a major part of the muscle-car trend, so the SC/Rambler was treated to a wild red, white, and blue graphics package that included a giant arrow on the hood. The no-nonsense interior in charcoal vinyl sported only a Hurst floor shifter, a Sun tachometer mounted on the steering column in true street warrior fashion, and flashy red, white, and blue headrests.
The exterior package was so flamboyant, in fact, that AMC feared it might frighten off potential buyers, so a more conservative “B” version was also offered with toned-down red and blue graphics, as shown above. (Photo courtesy of Barrett-Jackson.) AMC experts say that 500 of the 1,512 SC/Ramblers produced by the factory carried this milder visual treatment.
Officially introduced to the public at the Chicago Auto Show on March 8, 1969, the SC/Rambler was a ’69 1/2 mid-year model, and with barely 1,500 units produced, it didn’t make a giant splash on the muscle car scene. But for the more savvy shoppers in the market, the patriotic little Rambler was a rare value: only $2,998 out the door with all the performance pieces included as standard, not optional. For those who wanted to go fast for cheap, this was just the ticket.
Those in the know also quickly recognized that on the streets and drag strips, the SC/Rambler was the real deal. Unlike so many cars of the muscle epoch, the AMC could actually turn in the numbers bragged in the advertisements and magazine road tests. Indeed: Thanks to its light weight and simple state of tune, the SC/Rambler could turn in ETs in the low 14s at 100 mph all day, as trumpeted in the advertisement below. No wonder, then, that the ’69 Rambler SC/Rambler is regarded today as one of the more interesting and desirable vehicles of the muscle car era.
They were a ass kickin little car for sure !!
Our AMC dealership in Redford, Mi (Coon Bros),, got a few of these SC/R s I drove one for a while the RWB, one, But everytime I “dragged somebody on the street, The Redford Police was on me , like “White on Rice” because of the “Red color”, at the time my Mom showed me a article in the news paper about How police look at certain cars” mainly looked at “red” cars,,they equated as “red as Fast”,,,i was sent to “Hurst Performance in Ferndale quite a few times saw them building the Hurst Hemi darts an Cudas,the SSAMX s in which our dealer got one,,,Hurst was trying to sell the “prototype ” SC/R, so I was sent to bid on the car, I tried to buy it for our dealer,,,,,,
I lived down the street from that dealership at Schoolcraft and telegraph. My dad was a clay modeler for AMC. He brought home several car’s but I was in junior high and don’t remember many that he brought home. Do remember the hornet sc 360 and I believe we even got a peek at an AMX II or III.
In the tabletop miniatures game “Warhammer 40k,” any space orc vehicle can get +10% speed just by painting it red, “cuz da red wunz go fasta.”
Amazing that in just five years all of the efforts of all the manufacturers for performance would be changed by the government, insurance companies and the Middle East oil producers.
What I was typing disappeared!
The Rogue 290 was a sleeper. The SC/Rambler had 100 more cubic inches, but visually announced it’s presence in advance. Of course if the 315 advertised horsepower weren’t enough, AMC dealers’ parts departments could assist in increasing that number…which in turn served to reduce the 14 seconds number. Ahhh, the good old days…
I suspect it would handle like most smaller cars with the big iron lump up front. Terminal understeer. Though a handy little beast and I wonder why they never sold more. I presume people did buy them to go drag racing? Though the amount of Rambler hot up parts were not plentifull like a Chev Ford and even Mopar.
Lee, the term is oversteer, cars with a big lump as you say have a tendency to plow or overshoot the turning objective or oversteer your wishes. With the exception of Corvair, Corvette and newer GM cars starting in the early 70’s the cars of the past were DESIGNED to oversteer so the little old lady from Pasadena couldn’t swap ends easily.
As a racer back then and now if I get the opportunity, Pontiac in particular, most of us thought of a RAMBLER as a old persons car. The AMC cars with 390’s and 401’s were just about at their limit due to their cylinder head design. There was a lot of cylinder to cylinder reversion on the center exhaust ports. Had they installed a divider like Pontiac and Olds and opened the ports up it would have helped.
Just no.
You have that backwards on the ‘under’ VS ‘over’ steering. https://jalopnik.com/the-idiots-guide-to-oversteer-vs-understeer-and-how-to-1795389460
I could never wrap my head around any AMC product this one included. To me the muscle car crowd at that time period would have laughed at this attempt.
Another article about AMC, and a specific AMC model with incorrect information. The original “500” SC/Gamblers were all identical, in the bold (Red side, blue stripe) scheme. 500 cars at a MSRP of $2,999 didn’t last long, or go very far among the entire AMC dealer network. There was much demand for more cars after these were sold and on the streets, dealers actually had potential customers coming in looking for and wanting to buy a car, the clamor and demand for more cars went up the chain from dealers to zone offices to Detroit.
Now while this can’t be proven, or documented, I firmly believe the second production run of 1,012 cars (an unusually ODD number) was predicated on parts availability. This was the last year for the “Rambler” American, and the 2 door hardtop was not the best selling body style of the line, so I strongly suspect the order went out to determine HOW MANY more SC/Rambler’s could be built with parts on hand, along with limited production capacity (AMC always, only had the one assembly plant in Kenosha.
Other, though less important in determining the final car count were more hood scoupe’s, the unique split bench reclining front seats, and the end of the 68/69 run of the 390. It was already late in the model year, the “Rambler” was being replaced by the hornet, the Gremlin was coming along in the spring of 70, the Javelin and AMX were getting facelift’s and changes, any and or all of this determined how many More SC’s could actually be built.
Bottom line is the first release was 500 now known as the “A” scheme, followed by the last 1,012 “B” scheme cars.