We did like this car, though, saying: “Owners wanting a roomy convertible for business and family use would do well to consider it. Its willingness and versatility quickly become apparent in everyday use.
Enthusiast appeal arrived shortly after, in the muscular shape of the AMC Javelin coupé, a 5.6-litre V8 response to the wild popularity of the newly invented Ford Mustang – even if it did “lack the precise handling and good brakes that we in Europe have come to expect”.
AMC had become the public-facing brand name in 1970, as the company felt Rambler’s image was too staid for this exciting new era. Disaster also struck that year, though, when a fire tore through AMC’s Chiswick site, destroying the main workshop and causing £200,000 worth of damage to stores, equipment, tools and 16 cars, five of them belonging to customers.
It’s surely no coincidence that in 1973 the UK concessionaire moved to a new facility in Swindon, Wiltshire. Then an oil crisis hit. Demand for the best-selling Ambassador Estate slumped and volume fell well below expectations, while dealers blasted AMC UK’s lack of advertising spend.
The final nail in the coffin was a “cool reception” for the Pacer, an odd-looking, wide-bodied ‘small’ hatchback with a thirsty straight six and a cheap-and-dirty conversion to right-hand drive. AMC abandoned the UK market mere months later.
It limped on until 1987; at its old Chiswick site now stands a B&Q.
