Introduced eight years earlier as a compact, the Rambler brand achieved full-sized status in 1958 with the Ambassador.
When production of the Hudson Hornet and Nash Ambassador ended on June 25, 1957, American Motors no longer had any full-sized cars in its lineup. Plans were already in the works to base the next AMC big cars on the Rambler mid-sized platform, and serious consideration was given to continuing the Nash and Hudson brands on this vehicle.
But in September, American Motors declared the two names officially defunct, and when the new AMC full-sized product debuted on October 8, it was presented as the Ambassador by Rambler. With Nash and Hudson eliminated, AMC president George Romney was pinning the company’s hopes on the Rambler brand, introduced eight years earlier on the Nash Rambler compact.
To create the Ambassador, AMC engineers stetched the wheelbase of the the Rambler Six/Rebel from 108 to 117 inches, adding the nine inches between the firewall and front spindles of the Single Unit Construction platform. The company’s most powerful engine, the 327 cubic-inch V8 with a four-barrel Holley carburetor and 270 hp, was made standard, while the chassis upgrades included a front stabilizer bar and larger 8.00×14 tires.
To further distinguish it from the Six/Rebel, The biggest Rambler for ’58 also received a more elaborate grille with a V-shaped bumper guard up front and extra side trim. (The contintental spare usually seen in company photos was a $60 factory option.) Like all Ramblers in 58, the Ambassador was styled under the direction of Edmund E. Anderson, a Nash veteran and former Oldsmobile styling chief recruited by Romney’s predecessor, George Mason.
There were two trim levels, the base-model Super and the high-line Custom, while body styles were limited to four: a four-door post sedan, a four-door post wagon, a four-door plllarless hardtop, and a four-door pillarless wagon. (The hardtops were only available in Custom trim.) There were no two-doors and no convertible, but at least AMC could claim a hardtop wagon in the lineup.
With prices ranging from $2,587 to $3,116, the Ambassador slotted into the mid-priced class alongside Pontiac and Mercury. Interiors were nicely appointed and options included AMC’s excellent air-conditioning system, a push-button Flash-O-Matic transmission, and power windows, steering and brakes. The Ambassador even had tailfins, but buyers in the mid-priced bracket failed to warm up to the bigger Rambler. Sales amounted to not quite 15,000 cars in ’58. The success story at AMC that year was the mid-season reintroduction of the compact Rambler American.
The ’58 Ambassador was planned to be the ’58 Hudson Rebel. (Note the triangular grille guard, a clue to Hudson lineage.)
There was to be a nearly-identical ’58 Nash as well, and as AMC leaders were agonizing over dropping the honored old names in August of ’57, the AMC storage lots were already filling with the senior cars but minus nameplates, leaving hometown traditionalists to hope that the rumors of their imminent demise were only that.
George Romney dashed those hopes days later.
Indeed. The story is a told a few different ways. In another version, a few hundred cars were built with Hudson and Nash emblems, which were later swapped out.
I can hardly believe they would waste that added wheelbase in front of the passenger compartment, but it must have been the cheapest and easiest way to do it. To price this like a Pontiac or Mercury–how could they sell any?
Indeed. I think the results speak for themselves. To be fair, the Detroit three all did it–but with more style, arguably. For 1962, the Ambassador and Classic shared the same wheelbase, which made the Ambassador more like a trim level.
For 62, the Classic was exclusively a six and the Ambassador was a V8. This continued through 63.