Here’s the American Motors story for 1971—from the compact Gremlin and Hornet to the loaded and luxurious Ambassador. 

You may not know the name, but you will recognize the face instantly. The presenter in this television spot from the fall of 1970 is Kevin McCarthy, the busy and versatile character actor whose 200-plus screen credits included Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) and Al Yankovic’s UHF (1984). Here, he’s earning a check singing the praises of the 1971 American Motors line.

AMC had plenty to talk about for ’71. The shorter-is-better subcompact Gremlin had been introduced the previous April to considerable fanfare. The Javelin pony car was boasting all-new sheet metal, and the automaker had just launched a sporty hybrid wagon/hatch version of the Hornet called the Sportabout. Here, the Sportabout is pitched as “a stylish compact car designed for the way a woman uses a car.” Hmm, we figure men would like it, too.

Also new for ’71: The Rebel intermediate sedan was reskinned and rebadged as the Matador, and the top-of-the-line Ambassador was now loaded with standard features including air conditioning and automatic transmission. In these years, AMC’s annual production ran in the 250,000-unit range, roughly the same volume as one small division of a Big Three automaker. As McCarthy asks here, “If you had to compete with the three biggest car companies in America, what would you do?”  AMC’s answer, of course: Continue with the creative hit-’em-where-they-ain’t product strategy, as illustrated here. Video below.