With the 1964 Rambler American, AMC now had a modern, stylish offering that could compete head-on against the compact onslaught from the Detroit Three. 

Introduced in 1950, the original Rambler compact was a surprising success for Nash Motors. With its attractive combination of size, style, and price, it handily beat back all its would-be rivals from Hudson, Willys, and Kaiser-Frazer. The compact’s solid new market niche inspired the newly formed American Motors to rebrand its entire product line under the Rambler name, dropping the Nash and  Hudson brands.

But by the early ’60s the old Nash Rambler package had become dated, and an awkward restyling for 1961, compromised by the aged platform, didn’t really help. Even more troublesome, where American Motors once had the compact category mostly to itself, now the giants of Detroit were all offering compacts as well. An entirely new car was order, and  it arrived with the 1964 Rambler American.

The American’s exterior look was directed by AMC’s new styling vice president, Richard A. Teague, a veteran of Packard and Chrysler (above). The striking front end was the work of prolific AMC stylist Bob Nixon. The design was fresh and clean enough that when Pininfarina was commissioned to restyle the body shell for the IKA Torino in Argentina, the famed Italian coachbuilder largely left it alone. (See our IKA Torino feature here.)

Portions of the American’s unit-construction body were shared with AMC’s larger Classic and Ambassador, reducing manufacturig costs. The wheelbase was lengthened from 100 to 106 inches to move the rear wheel wells away from the cabin, allowing a full-width rear seat and improving the ride, while the suspension and brakes were updated as well.

The three trim levels included the bare-bones 220, which sold for less than $2,000, the respectably appointed 330 (above) and the deluxe 440. Body styles consisted of two-door and four-door sedans, a four-door wagon, a two-door hardtop, and a convertible. There was also a sporty bucket-seat hardtop coupe, the 440-H, foreshadowing the 1966 Rogue.

However, the powertrains were  largely a  carryover: three 195.6 CID inline sixes, offering 90, 125, an 138 horsepower. The 90-hp job was actually a flathead that dated back to the 1941 Nash 600 (feature here). But they could be matched to a wide variety of transmissions: 3-speed manual, automatic, overdrive, and AMC’s novel Twin-Stick floor shift setup.

In styling at least, the American was now a match for any of the compacts from the Detroit Three. But in its review, Car and Driver openly despised the new Rambler, the chief gripe being there was no V8 available, and they openly admitted as much. The editors even implied the car was slow enough to present a safety hazard, a dubious suggestion. Car Life and Popular Science, two magazines more attumed to the typical Rambler buyer, gave more favorable reports.  .

At any rate, the fresh new exterior did the job, as the American’s sales almost tripled, from 58,000 in ’63 to nearly 164,000 in ’64. Not surprisingly, perhaps, the base 220 two-door was the best seller at around 33,000 cars. But unfortunately, American Motors’ total sales volume was now in decline, as Detroit’s smallest automaker was increasingly marginalized by Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler.