Maybe it’s because I helped send a perfectly useable Ambassador to the crusher when I was younger and didn’t get how “different” could actually be cool, but every time I see an AMC Ambassador, I get excited. What had been an upsized Nash design when that company name got thrown in the trash had evolved to the four-door big-body car that took the fight to the Plymouth Fury, Chevrolet Impala and Ford LTD as best as American Motors could manage. Fifty years later, the Ambassador is a bit of a design study: the front has this formal yet angry look to it, the back is a combination of Ford and Chrysler design themes and inside it’s all AMC with the strange dash layout and the funky vertical radio system. But what could it be made into? I’m no purist, but a tricked-out sled of an Ambassador would be kind of cool…air ride, air conditioning, and that AMC 360 thumping along on a road trip would be pretty sweet.
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Let me start off by saying I love this car. When I bought it I had intended to take it apart and use it to complete a coupe of the same year I’ve been working on since 2015, but after seeing it in person and driving it myself I couldn’t bring myself to harm this old beast. Instead I gave it all new suspension, tie rods, pitman &idler arms, bushings front and back, shocks, springs, brakes, ball joints top and bottom, and a dual exhaust system that is docile as a lamb when you’re stopped at a light, but sounds like the devil himself is living in the engine bay when you hit the throttle. It’s been my weekend love affair for these past two years and is currently riding like a cloud on tires with less than a thousand miles on them. The interior is in excellent condition, no rips, tears or holes in the seats. The headliner is a bit fatigued but is tight as a drum. The carpet is faded but in tact and the weather stripping could use some refreshing. This car is just starting to get some rust bubbling up above the chrome on the rear wheel wells, but other than a couple of dings and dents from Grandma’s parallel parking adventure in 1983, she’s a peach. All the gauges still work as they should, as well as their back-lights and even the low fuel indicator light. Yes, they had that in 1971. Who knew? The radio is dead and the antenna is snapped off at the base. The heater core is bypassed because it’s in need of a refresh, and she likes to burn a little oil when she starts up, but boy does she run! Selling because of a change in living situation that doesn’t grant me the space to keep this beauty around. If you’re gonna buy this car to chop it up, please lie to me and tell me she’s going to a good home. Thanks for looking.
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eBay Link: 1971 American Motors Ambassador Brougham
I had a 71 Ambassador I bought from the estate of an AMC nut. The Gremlins, AMXs and Javelins had all been sold and the family was about to call the crusher for the Ambassador nobody wanted. It was nearly mint except for pinholes under the vinyl top. I sold it to a guy who needed some AMC bits for a Machine he was restoring but when he picked it up he decided it was too nice to part out. First thought was it was this car with a respray.
I like it…and I’m glad the guy saved it…