Better known for its compact cars in the ’60s, American Motors made a play for the full-size field with the conservative but nicely-appointed Ambassador. 

Introduced on October 7, 1965 along with the rest of the American Motors lineup, the Ambassador was the company’s entry in the full-sized category for 1966, lined up toe-to-toe against the popular Chevrolet Impala and Ford Galaxie. And with barely a four-percent share in the new car market in those years, it was a David vs. Goliath battle for the smallest of the Detroit automakers. President Roy Abernethy had determined, for better or worse, that compacts were no longer sufficient to keep American Motors in business. If the company were to have a future, it would have to become a full-line manufacturer.

Completely restyled for 1965, the full-size Ambassador of ’65-’66 was essentially the intermediate Rambler Classic platform with the wheelbase stretched from 112 to 116 inches and unique front-end styling. (The Ambassador’s vertical-headlamp theme has suggested to some that Abernethy was experiencing a bit of Pontiac envy.)  However, underneath the crisp, conservative sheet metal, the Ambassador was a dated and dare we say obsolete package with torque-tube drive and trunnion front suspension. For the following year, the Classic/Ambassador platform would be totally modernized at a cost of $60 million.

In the meantime, ’66 Ambassador buyers were treated to very minor changes to the familiar American Motors package. There was a little more chrome, three trim levels—880, 990, and DPL—and the usual range of AMC sixes and V8s. A Borg-Warner T10 four-speed transmission was now available, not that many American Motors customers were inclined to check that box on the order form. We have the gist of the Ambassador sales pitch in the video below.