In 1966, American Motors was only barely beginning to take any kind of note about what was going on at their competitors’s showrooms. The Marlin fastback was about the only offering from a brand that had fretted about it’s image as the car manufacturer for “the human race” and really hadn’t thought much about sporty anything. You could option a Rambler American into something entertaining, but it wasn’t like buying a Chevy II Nova SS…it was just an American with the right boxes ticked off. In the case of the big-car Ambassador, you either had basic or you had the DPL (short for “diplomat”), an upmarket trim level, much like the difference between the Chevrolet Impala and Caprice back then. The DPL was supposed to be trimmed out nicer, with small touches to differentiate it from the basic Ambassador. What it didn’t have was pretty simple: no stripes, no mags, no real showmanship.
Along the way, this Ambassador had a run-in with a Mopar fan who wanted to give the AMC a bit of a visual kick. Using what appear to be Demon 340 hood scoops and some stripe work, this DPL looks the part. But with the 287 V8 and automatic, this is no runner. The 287 was good for 198 horsepower…that isn’t remotely close to muscular. But the DPL was considered a very well-built and well-appointed car for the day, so what the hell. Save up for the 401 transplant and give this DPL something to yell about.
Man this car was such a rip off. The body lines were a rip off of the Chevy 2 Nova and as stated it had rip off Duster hood scoops. Unfortunately for them they Didn’t have a decent engine to put in it.
My friend this abortion is not the way American Motors outfitted the 66 Ambassador DPL.
This jazzed up mess has in my opinion devalued the car.
The car could have been outfitted with the smooth powerful 327 AMC V8 with a 4 barrel
Holley.
These cars were fantastic in their original configuration.
I have had Ambassadors for 37 years and have nver once been disappointed in the smooth quiet performance of the 287 or 327 American Motors engines.
so sexy