Until the name American Motors Corporation became the actual make of the cars, it’s a bit of a stretch to figure out the history of AMC’s cars, especially when you go back into the 1950s. Don’t sweat that detail, though. Here’s what you need to know: when Detroit was all about long, low, wide and seriously tailfinned, Nash had figured out a second formula that actually played into their hands nicely: compact, simple, economical and priced within reason. The Nash Rambler, the car that would evolve to become the Rambler American, had originated in 1950 and ran through 1955 untouched. For 1956, the Rambler name as a model moved from the 100″ wheelbase to a 108″ wheelbase platform…larger than the original bathtub Nash, but still significantly smaller than what the Big Three were cranking out at the time.
Available only as a four-door and only with a 195ci overhead valve inline six cylinder engine, the larger Rambler was a one-year-only wonder, though not quite. In 1957, after realizing that neither the Hudson or Nash names carried any weight with the public anymore, he abandoned them and went with Rambler as a marque and, by proxy, the car you see here is the genesis of what became the Rambler, then AMC Ambassador. Like I said, it’s a bit confusing, but what isn’t confusing is that this is a super-clean example and it’s up for sale for Rough Start money…$3,500 to be exact. That’s chump change for getting into a mid-1950s car that could be driven at any time that looks this good. We don’t know if the six is still under the hood, but you have to wonder how retro you could make an AMC 258 look…nobody would really notice, would they?
Craigslist Link: 1956 Nash Rambler
Awesome – turn it into an all AMC-based gasser with tube front end, raised ride height and a blown big block motor.
Uh………no.
Long live the AMC six and Barney Navarro’s memory.