@@bldontmatter5319 That's why it's good to see a boring car like this. These weren't saved. They were transportation to be used up and discarded. That this one is in such good condition is rare.
@@bwofficial1776 while that's true, I guess I'm just so used to other countries where people keep their old transportation for decades, because they have to or aren't obsessed with new like America is. To most people of the world, this is just something to get around with. And to me too
@@bldontmatter5319I'm confused why you're watching this if you're not a car person. Modern vehicles are disposable appliances for transportation. Old cars like this were designed with more than just A to B in mind. They were designed to be stylish and easy to maintain. Something to be proud of. Unlike the garbage crossovers people drive today
@@The_R-n-I_Guyfirst of all, don’t be rude. Second, a modern car, say a Mitsubishi Mirage, is not much less of a car made specifically just for transportation than classic cars like the AMC Hornet. It seems like your trying to say that older cars like this are better than their modern equivalent simply because have a different type of aesthetic that’s no longer being used. Don’t get me wrong I genuinely adore these little old A to B cars like this Hornet or Plymouth Valiants, but I just don’t want people to start over glorifying them, and saying that new cars are complete and utter trash when they’re not.
The Torque Command was a Chrysler Torqueflite from 1972 on all AMCs. Weather Eye goes back to the 1930s and was an integrated heater/ventilation system
Yes, it was one of the first companies to combine the heated and fresh air to give an unlimited temperature range. The were also able to integrate a/c into it in the early '50's, controlling output with a single lever. State of the art, when having any combo of hot, fresh and refrigerated air, as we now take for granted.
@@scrambler69-xk3kv Yes. It was a way to promote and sell, amp up the need for the latest, even though it was the same as everyone else's. Fun. Harmless. Flash-o-Matic.... Fluid Drive... Rocket V8, Torsion-aire ride, Flying Scotsman 6 cylinder engines, Dura-Bilt Vega 4 cylinder, Turbo Jet 396, Tele-Touch transmission....anything to bring excitement to the new model. I love the hype of those eras.
So many tag lines and phrases back in the day! Remember "swift, sure power brakes" and "master guide power steering". Hardtops like Sevilke, Riviera, Holiday, Newport, Victoria, Bel Air et al. Paint colors were "torch red", "snowshoe white", "ivy green", "flamingo pink", "hibiscus rose", "cotillion mauve'. The list is almost endless.
We had a 73 Hornet. I nicknamed it "The Anvil" as it just seemed to be unbreakable. The other interesting point about that car. Inflation was so rampant in the 70s, that my parents traded it in (1979) for more than the car stickered for. Thanks for bringing back some memories. ~ Chuck
Jacob absolutely surprised us when he showed up in this at the Malaise Car Club Of Oregon's big car show bash last June. We had no idea he was coming and he wasn't part of our Facebook group. I was convinced he was a time traveler. I insisted he park this next to the AMC Eagle Sundancer convertible that had also shown for the show. He's a wizard petrolhead and a friend of the club. I'm so glad he was able to provide your first AMC experience!! ^_^
One of the shuttle drivers at my dealership retired from the AMC Concord/Eagle plant in Ontario when they closed. He said the tooling stamps were so worn out they had to invent trim pieces to hide the gaps in places. By the end of the run he said they were slapped together with all the love of a lunch lady bologna sandwich
In the fall of 1973, when the oil crap hit the fan, AMC saw a huge uptick in sales as panicked buyers flocked to smaller cars. The merger between Nash and Hudson was only half of what was expected, They were supposed to do a second merger with Studebaker and Packard, which ended when George Mason died. Mason's successor, George Romney, wanted nothing to do with Studebaker and Packard. Romney decided to serve profitable niche markets and did very well until he left the auto business to enter politics, his successor Ray Abernethy thought AMC could compete with the Big 3 and failed miserably.
George Romney wanted to merge, it was James Nance over at Packard who was reluctant as HE insisted on being the defacto head of the new company; something Romney felt would be a poor decision seeing the condition Packard was in at the time. However for about a year and a half, there was a gentlemans' agreement between the two corporations to purchase parts from each other; hence why for 1955, many American Motors vehicles used the Packard V8 and Ultramatic albeit restricted so as not to produce as much power as the "true" Packard V8s. Packard was in turn supposed to purchase Air conditioners and other items from AMC, but the Packard engineers balked at everything AMC could produce declaring them unfit for use in a Packard. Eventually, Romney grew tired of this arrangement and hired an enterprising young man away from Kaiser by the name of David Potter. Mr. Potter was tasked with creating a new V8 engine for American. Mr. Potter had just such an idea in mind as before he was let go from Kaiser, he was developing a small, 288-cubic-inch V8 specifically for Kaiser! It should come as no shock that; even though they share NO parts at all, but the first generation AMC V8 shares a startling resemblance with the aborted Kaiser V8.
Started in 1968 by AMC. It was said for safety, because unlike the push buttons so popular at the time, they did not allow the doors to come open in a rollover accident.
I had a 74 Hatchback with the X package as my first car. It was terrible, big rust holes after it was 3 or 4 years old, went through alternators, regulators, carb rebuilds, timing chain, springs, door hinges and bushings, floor rusted out etc. Loved it.
There's a car you never see any more. These weren't saved, they were cheap transportation to be used and discarded. I like the simplicity of the design inside and out. This platform and basic body would end up underpinning the Eagle all the way through 1988 when Chrysler killed it off. I have a soft spot for AMC, having grown up with an AMC Jeep in the family. AMC was the perpetual underdog without the resources to compete against the Big 3. It's impressive they made it as long as they did with as little as they had.
The Gold Cragar SS wheels I had on my first 75 Gremlin would have looked great on that Hornet. Somehow owning a Hornet has evaded me (Had 5 Gremlins, 2 Spirits, and a Grand Wagoneer. I was a factory trained 4x4 specialist so I have driven most AMCs at one point or another since I 14 and got my first Gremlin
Ive owned several AMC Hornets & Gremlins, & Ambassadors. They were some of the most dependable vehicals i ever drove. Always started. Very few issuses.
I go to car shows hoping to see cars like this. Instead, I leave disappointed seeing the cliché Chevelles, 442s, Camaros, Gran Torinos, etc... Those are nice, but they're so typical. I wanna see the underdog cars that weren't sought-after back then, much less now.
We ordered a 1974 AMC Hornet Sportabout from the factory in October 1973. Before it was built we changed the engine from a 304 ci V8 to the 258 straight 6 shown in this vid. A great & durable engine. V8 would likely had better mpg. Sportabout was the first US SUV. It was first to have side door impact beams. It was first to have collapsible self inflating spare. Ours ran great with no problems. We sold it in 1980 due to collapse of Jimmy Carter's economy. I got $3,000 for it. New it sold for $4,300. The heat, air conditioning, and fresh air were fully integrated. I bought it with radio delete but with radio prep. I installed a short wave, AM, FM radio with 5 bands that I bought in Europe. That radio locked into the Hornet but could be taken out to sit on a picnic table. The 1974 Hornet used same grille as the 73. In 1975, AMC developed the Hornet grille that became the existing Jeep trademark grille. Yes, a Jeep is a Hornet! Let's Roll ! Wolf 🐺
Im a Ford guy but AMCs are very underrated imo. My dad has a restored 1969 AMC AMX and my friend has two 1982 AMC Eagles one being an SX4 with a 304 V8 swapped into it and a wagon for parts. He gets looks everywhere he goes in that car because people who grew up in the 80s remember them. And the fact they are a 4WD car is so cool. And honestly they werent bad cars. Its too bad Chryser bought them out to get the Jeep Brand and dropped AMC immediately
I think the Eagle brand was dropped after Iacocca retired. I do believe Chrysler management could have made an effort to make this brand more than a clone brand though. Could have been another DeSoto if they tried.
This was spec'ed like many cars of that era. And empty gauges were the norm. "well optioned "cars had clocks. A/C was not all that common in average cars until the 1990's
In 1986 when I was 18, my neighborhood buddy had a hand me down 1976 yellow AMC Hornet Wagon with the 258CID six and Torque Command. He had Keystones on it with big tires on the back like a muscle car. He saved up some cash and got the car repainted in 1986 IROC Camaro bright metallic blue. Those were the days! 🤘😎🤘🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Thank you for a very fair review of the AMC Hornet. Too many people put these cars down for no apparent reason. "Torque Command was AMC's name for the Chrysler Torqueflite transmission that they used during this time, and "Weather Eye" was the name of the Nash heater in the late 1930s, the first car heater to heat outside air, which caused pressure in the cabin and eliminated drafts. The manual steering is low so it's easier to turn at low speeds. That steering box is actually a GM / Saginaw steering box, the same one used in the Chevy Nova when equipped with manual steering. Too bad you didn't stomp in it, that 258 six is a torque monster.
The in-line six that was made by AMC was one of the most reliable engines ever made. When Chrysler bought the company they had the rights to the engine and they produced it for a little while but I guess greed came in. They decided that Jeeps need to fall apart in two years so they got rid of the engine. I don’t know why if you have a jeep with 4 L in-line six don’t ever get rid of it it may help fuel your retirement fund
The AMC I6 is nearly unkillable. During Cash for Clunkers, junkyard employees had to drain the oil and run the engine with a mix of sand and molten salt to seize the block. The 4.0s kept on chugging long after other engines quit. 100,000 miles is just getting broken in. The I6 was an old engine and Chrysler likely didn't want to try updating the emissions equipment.
The six-cylinder engines introduced in 1964 were in production, in various forms, for 42 years. Great engines. Chrysler ended production and used their shorter V6 engine in the redesigned Jeeps.
My second car was this (except for being grey) the bulletproof 258 6cyl. and 3 spd Trans was primitive compared to the big 3 offerings BUT that made them easy and cheap to work on. I had to replace the carb on mine and ended up buying te wrong rebuilt one. Was able to rig up the linkages in order to make it work. AMC has the distinction of having (IMO) the goofiest model names in the automobile industry.
@@MisterMikeTexasyou're crazy lol. Pentastar has 40 lbft more and almost 100 more HP. 😂 you must have drove a 3.8 Chrysler v6 they stuck in them during the mid 2000s. Also Jeeps with 4.0 dont weight 4500-5500lbs like moder jeeps do
Dude, my eyes watered a little. I used to go with my Grandpa to work in Detroit around 1986 on Saturdays in his yellow Hornet. Wow. Like BAM nostalgia, thank you.
Thanks for the review of this oldie but goody. It is fun listening to the reaction of younger guys to the cars of the past. These were typical of affordable transportation of the era. The competing models from the Big Three were built with the same configuration. They were uncomplicated, easy to repair and maintain, could drive all day comfortably at expressway speeds, quite durable and reliable. You could tell one brand from another, and they all were not gray.
"Weather-Eye" was a holdover from the Nash motor company. AMC continued to use on its HVAC systems from the mid-50's until the late 70's. It was introduced with the Nash Ambassador back in 1947.
Zach, American Motors was a mix mosh of parts. As I quite remember Pre 1972 the transmission where from Borg and Warner. After that model year they used Chrysler A 727 toque flight transmissions Power steering pumps where from General Motors The carburetor where auto light a Ford carburetor. Also later years the merged with renult , before Lee Iacocca made an offer for Jeep The final Eagles like the premier was a renult alliance.
Very true. I have a Jeep CJ with a GM steering column and glove box, GM alternator, Ford dashboard switches, a Ford carburetor, and many miscellaneous parts. It makes it easy to fix and upgrade.
@@bwofficial1776 Thank you for agreeing with me. AMC was before Zach's time. I had an Ambassador and I remember some parts that were from Chrysler,Ford and General Motors..
I bought one new in 1973, traded in a 1970 Hornet because my wife was struggling with the 3 on the tree, the '73 was an automatic, which was a very fine, smooth gearbox.We used the car for weekend trips to Maine from NJ, and longer trips to the midwest and the car would loaf at 75mph on the interstate and that's where the steering would come into it's own - straight as an arrow. Very comfortable ride and room for the 2 of us and a trunk and back seat full of our stuff, that little ride could eat up highway! I still miss it and I've had many cars since, my present daily is a newer Hemi Dodge Charger which will pin you back in the seat all the way to the big numbers on the speedo. But why do I still miss my little '73 Hornet?
What really hurt AMC was the Pacer. They took a gamble with a car that was not made partially from parts of other cars (which was one of AMCs cost cutting measures since they never had the money of the big 3). This included what was going to be the original engine, a wankel motor they would buy from GM. But at the last moment GM cancelled their wankel program and AMC was forced to stuff one of their own engines in the Pacer.
The craziest,most heart stopping memory of a Pacer for me is that back in the early 80s,as I was doing my paper route after school in my village in Pennsylvania,a Pacer ran directly over the body,not legs or head,thankfully,of a weiner dog! 😳😳 It yelped,but must've stiffened up it's body in fear,as it just got up and ran off! Hope it didn't have any internal injuries! It must've been a stray dog,as I didn't recognize it,& I knew most of the people's dogs in my village of only about 700 people,at least the ones on my paper route!
@@ForeverDownByLaw Probably not, but the investment made in designing the Pacer and bringing it to market is something AMC never recovered from. The Pacer couldn't be saved, even if it had been designed specifically for conventional engines. It was too radical of a design for the time. Yeah, sure, it sold well for the first year or two, because there was that 'It's different' aspect of the market, but once the novelty wore off... And AMC had pretty much shot its load with the Pacer. They didn't really develop anything new after that. They COULDN'T. R&D takes money they no longer had. And the fact is, AMC had been struggling since the late 1960s. It's not easy being 'fourth' in a market dominated so heavily by three giants. The fact that they hung on as long as they did is nothing short of astounding. I knew AMC was circling the drain when they announced their partnership with Renault. Renault was not a well received marque in the US at the time, and it was evident that Renault had the most to gain by the partnership.
@@ForeverDownByLaw well the idea was for the pacer to be a small economy car great on gas. Hence the wankel. Don't forget, at first the Pacer was a huge success.
A family friends son had a blue 4 door Hornet (courtesy of Mom) in 1986. He was an artist and decided to paint pictures on the white vinyl roof. You could see that car for miles. lol
This car takes me back. I'm 67. No I didn't have one but knew people who did and they loved them. Inexpensive to buy, simple to maintain and got pretty good gas mileage for that time. AMC was actually pretty well placed back in those days because they already had cars that got decent mileage compared to the big 3. The problem with AMC is they didn't have the capital to keep updating their brand and people moved on to more modern and stylish cars.
My 1st car was a 1974 Hornet Hatchback in Mellow Yellow color, back interior, tall back bucket seats, 258 6 Auto w/ floor shift. The car survived my youthful years. I added cruise control, and Hooker Headers which were true duels, ran thru Hush Thrush mufflers, sounded nice. The car came from the factory with the 1975 front grille, which I like better than the 74 grille. I loved that car, it held together well. When I replaced the stock bias-ply tires for radials, and a set of Fenton mag wheels, it road so much better. Kept the car for six years, traded in for a 79 Mercury Capri Hatchback (a mustang produced my mercury)
1973 is a transitional year when all US cars were required to meet the 5mph bumper requirement, hence the bulky front bumper. The rear bumper of the Hornet is the slimmer type from launch, but added bumper guards to meet the 2.5mph bumper requirement, until 1974 when front and rear bumpers were required to meet 5mph impact standard.
My best friend in the US Army in the late 1980s had a forest green 4 door Hornet that he aptly named, "The Green Hornet." You can see him driving by in the background of the San Francisco street scene of the 1986 movie Star Trek IV, The Voyage Home.
always loved the hornets, AMC was 33 years running, 1954-1987 when chrysler bought them out, also the Jeep brand came in 1953-1970 under Kaiser. always enjoy your videos !
The AMC Sportabout had an available Gucci option 1972/73. Hornet and Sportabout were available with the 304 or 360 V8. AND there was an Electrosport which was an EV project in the 1970s. They also created the Amitron EV in 1967. AMC was ahead of the competition with a multi model production line. The AMX 3 was fantastic. Only a few were made. Very similar to the Pantera.
My mom owned a 73 AMC Matador with a 304 V8. She bought it used in 1980 and we had it until I was about 9 years old when she was t-boned by a drunk driver and the car was totalled. No body was hurt. Anytime my dad and I went for a drive in it he would do a burn out once we got far enough from home followed immediately by “don’t tell your mom” lol. I miss that car.
Just gotta acknowledge the fact that AMC was basically “ The Little Engine That Could “ amongst the BIG automakers of the time . And a DEFINITION of American Company Strength : Those American Companies once so well admired didn’t die, weren’t phased away . Just joined forces . And became a great display of American Strength !!!
6/25/24 I owned a 1976 AMC Hornet 2 door sedan with a straight 6 engine, automatic that matched in color and same styling as the one tested in the video, but with an AM/FM radio. I had put flat black race stripes on the hood and trunk and had an issue with the trunk lid not closing perfect that led to a slight rusting. The car being a 2 door had long and heavy doors that I had to have the door shims replaced due to sagging. The car came with a great Warranty 7/7. The only issues I had with it were the sagging door, a hose to the power steering that let go, a radiator thermostat that needed replacing and the slightly rusting trunk lid. The car used 16" narrow tire and came with hubcaps. The Hornet was a good value when it came to pricing. I enjoyed the car when I owned it, but should have held onto long than I did, the straight 6 engine provided enough power to keep up with traffic. The AMC Gremlin looked a lot like the Hornet on the front with a chopped off angled back. A later car I still own today is a 1990 Eagle Talon Black Cherry basic version, FW drive with only 18,500 miles on it in 2024, now my daily Summer driver.
Love it! My auntie had a blue woodie wagon. I remember being scared of it. We hit a piece of wood in the road and I lost it. I think I was 5. I was scared to death. I dunno why. She had it for a long time. Other than the rust (she live in Maine) it was a reliable car.
Seeing this car brings back memories. when I was a teenager in the 80s, I had a yellow Hornet hatchback. A few years later I bought a four-door green Hornet with three on the tree. Thats how I learned to drive a standard.
My family had a ‘74 Hornet. It had electric wipers. Fun fact: the headlight and wiper switches on the Hornet dashboard are exactly the same as what Bricklin used on their SV-1.
I guess I missed when AMC changed the wipers to electric. We had a 1970 Green Hornet Runabout that had the vacuum wipers. It was also a stripper with a three on the tree and no radio.
Great to see - brought back many memories. I had a 1973 Hornet 4 door which I loved and drove all up and down the East Coast. I eventually upgraded the suspension and when I worked with the SCCA in the 80's several people were racing them. There was even a 3-two barrel Weber setup for the 258 that was available. That engine is bullet-proof. I pulled the heads off at over 100,000 miles and still noticed the original cross-hatch in the cylinders. As most cars of that era it is rear-wheel drive and handled great. I didn't have it long enough to replace the drum brakes with more modern discs. My only other AMC was a 1970 Mark Donohue Javelin - awesome! Keep up the good work.
I'm probably gonna step on someone else's post(s), but the WeatherEye integrated heater and fresh-air ventilation - as simple as it seems now - was a sensation when it was developed by Nash in the late 1930s. Prior to then, one had to crank open the windshield and backlite, and probably half the windows to get 4/60 cooling. The WeatherEye not only controlled air flow and temperature, but it introduced an integral windshield defroster as well. AMC came to life in 1954 with the merger (read, acquisition) of Nash-Kelvinator and Hudson and Nash pioneered the WeatherEye. All of the Big3, as well as Nash and Packard from the Little4, were furiously developing their own air-conditioning systems (Studebaker and Hudson bought their systems from the other five) and if the names FrigidAire/Harrison, AirTemp, Frigikar, SelectAire, and All-Season WeatherEye ring a bell it's because most auto makers had their hands into refrigeration at the time. Nash in 1953 or '54 was the first automaker to have a fully-integrated HVAC system regulated by a common control panel. AMC inherited it during the merger with Hudson in 1954. Making light of an 80-year-old popular system and well-known trademarked name ain't kosher just because y'all are grossly ignorant of automotive history.
My sister had a 73 Hornet and I had a 72 Dodge Dart. The Hornet handled better than the Dart and my father told me that the Hornet had rack and pinion steering, which was far more advanced than my Dart. I enjoyed driving both and comparing them back then.
@@scrambler69-xk3kv I did some research and yes, I believe that you are correct. Probably my father got the Hornet's steering confused with the Pacers. The steering may have felt more responsive than the Dart, which may have led to the conclusion
A friend of mine had one. Same year but a 4 door and green. You could almost literally stand and watch the body rust away before your eyes but the mechanicals, you couldn't kill them. I remember the city police in my hometown decides to buy a fleet of Hornets once to save money. The cops absolutely hated the idea of going to a smaller car so they beat the ever loving shit out of them but it turned out they were only helping to ensure they never went back to bigger cars because the city administration knew what they were doing and said - "Wow; those are some tough cars! We must buy a second fleet of them... which is exactly what they did.
My parents had a 71 Hornet SST Coupe which was a higher trim level than the car in the video. A couple of things which were already mentioned in the comments. AMC outsourced their automatic transmissions.....In 71, a Borg Warner Automatic was used and the script in the shift quadrant was labeled Shift Command. In 71, they switched to Chrysler Torqueflites and changed the script to Torque Command. The Weather Eye goes back to one of the AMC predecessor companies, Nash. Nash introduced an early version of integrated heating system and called it Weather Eye. If the car had air conditioning, you would have a swivel switch on the right side of the panel with a setting of Desert Only for dryer climates. I recall cup holders being molded on the back of the glove box door but would probably fail the bottle test. The Hornet platform was very versatile and gave us the Gremlin, Hornet sedan, hatchback, wagon and coupe, AMC Concord, AMC Spirt and the Eagle which would be considered an early crossover and lasted until 1988 after the merger with Chrysler.
great video. You said something about the steering being a little loose. most cars of that time had to some high degree had loose steering. But, on that note the power steering pump could be worn out, i had a used 1971 Amc hornet sportabout wagon, its steering was somewhat loose but, not as loose as 1973 Amc hornet you drove. keep the videos coming.
I was a kid when the Hornet came out, and I've always thought this was the best new car design of the 1970's, and the best compact. (In contrast the Nova was bloated and dumpy.) A number of years ago I had the upscale 1973 Hornet Sportabout D/L station wagon with 304 V8, factory a/c, clock, radio, etc. I loved driving that car, nice riding, and I sorely miss that car still. I'd love to get another Hornet/Concord/Eagle. AMC went off the rails with tooling cost spent on the 1974 Matador Coupe and 1975 Pacer. They should have stuck with their strong points in the Hornet and Gremlin. A 4 cylinder engine developed from the AMC 6 cylinder engine (a 232 minus 2 cylinders would give a 155/2.5L, perfect as base engine for these cars) would have been money better spent.
I remember when I was a kid, friends of my cousin called him Mr. A.M.C.; he had a A.M.C. Javelin, then an A.M.C. Hornet, then an A.M.C. Eagle station wagon!
The basic bones of the hornet lasted until the end of AMC. The hornet changed the sheet metal in 1978 and it transformed into the Concord and the Eagles of the 80s.
Its actually a unique car, had to have been a special order. Nearly all the Hornets had power steering, I don't remember if the quick ratio manual steering was offered in the Hornet as it was for the Gremlins in 73. That option alone would make the steering/handling far more responsive as it cut almost 1.5 turns from the lock to lock steering. If has the correct master cylinder in it, its a rare front non power assisted disc front brakes, a fairly rare option for 73. The radio delete option and cigarette lighter combination is odd. But, the 258 six was a good option over the base 232 six. Nice car, the tin worm hasn't claimed this example.
Those in line six cylinder engines were so easy to work on. Looks like this one didn’t have a/c, power steering or power brakes. I sure miss those days. Love those old cars. Always had an ashtray for us smokers
*HIGH SCHOOL, 1984. EVERYONE HAD COOL CARS IN THE PARKING LOT. 67 CAMARO, 64 MUSTANG, 70 BARRACUDA, 68 CHEVELLE, ETC. THEN THERE WAS THE NERDY, LAME KID IN SCHOOL, GLENN ZUBER, WHO THOUGHT HIS 1973 AMC HORNET WAS ROCKIN'. HIS LOOK AND THE CAR LOOK WERE 2 PEAS IN A POD........LAME AF.....LMAO. GREAT VIDEO!!* GREAT MEMORIES
I had a 73 hornet X hatchback yellow with red stripe and rally wheels. It had the 304 with 3 speed on the floor and AC. Loved that car wish I stick had it
Side note: AMC couldn't afford their own turbine car program like each of the Big 3, so they worked with Williams International. AMC provided (2) 1970 Hornet 2 door cars - one white, the other green - and Williams converted them to turbine engines. That was at the time my dad went to work for Williams and worked on this project. Last I knew the white car was at the Detroit Science Center.
That "Torque-Command" Automatic is none other than the famous Chrysler Torqueflite. Starting in the 1972 model year, AMC wisely chose to discontinue their aging Borg-Warner sourced Automatic and move over to buying them from Chrysler. Not a bad move since the Torqueflite for years wore the crown of the best Detroit-made Automatic transmission. Though, why AMC continue to source their manual transmissions from Borg-Warner is up for debate. For two whole model years in the 1970's (1975 & 1976) American Motors did NOT offer a four-speed transmission on ANY model. They briefly courted with a company out of the UK and began attaching electronically-actuated Overdrive units to the back of those Borg-Warner 3-speeds but that company shortly went into receivership. At which time (for the 1977 model year) AMC began sourcing the INfamous "Pinto" Four-speed from Borg Warner. It was a B-W built transmission though built to Ford specifications. The transmissions even bore the Ford logo!! Thankfully, the "Pinto" SR-4 four speed shares the same bolt pattern as it's stronger big-brother the T-4. The T-4 eventually begat the T5 5-speed transmission we all know and love and AMC too adopted that transmission in the 1980's. Also, that blank space to the right of the Speedometer? That can contain many things. Most certainly you could have the optional clock, but in 1974 and 1975 you could still get a tachometer there! Didn't matter which engine you chose, V8 or 6, if you ticked the box for the optional "Rallye Pak" you'd get the tach, oil & amp gauges below the dash, blacked-out gauge pod and glove box, black steering column and a black leather-wrapped 3-spoke Sport Steering wheel!
I'm surprised one of these still exists that hasn't turned into just a lump of iron oxide by now. Growing up in the 70's and 80's, my Dad had one of these. Same yellow color, too! But his was slowly disintegrating into a rusty heap. He made a valiant attempt to keep it looking ok, though. This is Michigan, where rust is a problem for most cars, but AMC's seemed to fare particularly poorly. My dad scoured junk yard after junk yard looking for front fenders. Every junked hornet in every salvage yard had no useful body parts, as they were all rusted away. He finally found one when we were on vacation in Kentucky. The other fender he reconstructed out of sheet metal and bondo. That fender was not so much a fender, but a 50 pound sculpture in the shape of a fender, made of mostly bondo.
My Grandfather had a four door Hornet in the early 80s. If I remember correctly, it did not have either power steering or brakes. He sold it and bought a Volare.
The only car my father ever owned from new was a '76 Hornet hatchback in dark green. He said if he had ridden in the back seat beforehand, he would never have bought it.
I LOVE these old AMC's, the Hornet I feel is a really good performance platform to build upon considering the option of a V8, one that had been mostly slept on in the wake of the AMX, Javelin and Rebel.
This isn't a coupe but a 2-door sedan with the same roof stamping, rear window and side-window profile as the 4-door. Some years, though, half of all Hornets were Sportabout wagons; station wagons had been an AMC/Rambler specialty from the start and by 1971 it was the last domestic wagon in the compact size class, just as the midsizes got huge. Early on, sales of the rest were divided about evenly between 2 and 4 doors but in '73 AMC added a hatchback coupe with a much sleeker profile. After that the sales were wagon #1, hatchback coupe #2, 4-door sedan third and the 2-door sedan a distant fourth.
Love the look of AMC Hornets,Javelins & Gremlins,but not the Pacer! These were ALL over in the 70s & early 80s when i was growing up in Pennsylvania! 😍😍 Love the grille detail & the detail of the Hornet badge on the gas cap! I also love the orange colour....I love most unusual car colours,& green cars! 😍😍 I dislike gold gold cars! Be cool if you could manage to review a Javelin or a Gremlin! 😍😍
Man, imagine Chrysler trying their hand at a compact coupe again (AMC bought by Chrysler and stripped away everything except Jeep, but the vibe still fits). Inline 6 in a compact package.... We do have the new hurricane I6... Call it a Dodge, give it a manual, and put a detuned base model against the Civic si and GTI. Put a "hellcat" trim against the CTR and GolfR. It'll get decent gas milage on the basis if being so light, and with typical dodge production numbers they'll sell every one they make.
I hope you enjoyed the video! I have a 1953 Hudson Hornet video coming December 26th at 2pm CST!
The Weather Eye is left over from Nash. It was the first heater system with a thermostat
Awesome I own a 53 Hornet myself.
So good to see a mundane old car like this that's not rusted/dented/abused/modified etc.
Is it really?
These weren't meant to last... These were transportation
@@bldontmatter5319 That's why it's good to see a boring car like this. These weren't saved. They were transportation to be used up and discarded. That this one is in such good condition is rare.
@@bwofficial1776 while that's true, I guess I'm just so used to other countries where people keep their old transportation for decades, because they have to or aren't obsessed with new like America is. To most people of the world, this is just something to get around with. And to me too
@@bldontmatter5319I'm confused why you're watching this if you're not a car person. Modern vehicles are disposable appliances for transportation. Old cars like this were designed with more than just A to B in mind. They were designed to be stylish and easy to maintain. Something to be proud of. Unlike the garbage crossovers people drive today
@@The_R-n-I_Guyfirst of all, don’t be rude.
Second, a modern car, say a Mitsubishi Mirage, is not much less of a car made specifically just for transportation than classic cars like the AMC Hornet. It seems like your trying to say that older cars like this are better than their modern equivalent simply because have a different type of aesthetic that’s no longer being used.
Don’t get me wrong I genuinely adore these little old A to B cars like this Hornet or Plymouth Valiants, but I just don’t want people to start over glorifying them, and saying that new cars are complete and utter trash when they’re not.
That 258 straight 6 has 7 main bearings. Keep it cool and oiled and it will last forever
The Torque Command was a Chrysler Torqueflite from 1972 on all AMCs.
Weather Eye goes back to the 1930s and was an integrated heater/ventilation system
Yes, it was one of the first companies to combine the heated and fresh air to give an unlimited temperature range.
The were also able to integrate a/c into it in the early '50's, controlling output with a single lever. State of the art, when having any combo of hot, fresh and refrigerated air, as we now take for granted.
Up until 1971 they used an automatic built by Borg Warner and it was called Shift Command.
@@scrambler69-xk3kv Yes. It was a way to promote and sell, amp up the need for the latest, even though it was the same as everyone else's. Fun. Harmless. Flash-o-Matic.... Fluid Drive... Rocket V8, Torsion-aire ride, Flying Scotsman 6 cylinder engines, Dura-Bilt Vega 4 cylinder, Turbo Jet 396, Tele-Touch transmission....anything to bring excitement to the new model. I love the hype of those eras.
So many tag lines and phrases back in the day! Remember "swift, sure power brakes" and "master guide power steering". Hardtops like Sevilke, Riviera, Holiday, Newport, Victoria, Bel Air
et al. Paint colors were "torch red", "snowshoe white", "ivy green", "flamingo pink", "hibiscus rose", "cotillion mauve'. The list is almost endless.
We had a 73 Hornet. I nicknamed it "The Anvil" as it just seemed to be unbreakable. The other interesting point about that car. Inflation was so rampant in the 70s, that my parents traded it in (1979) for more than the car stickered for. Thanks for bringing back some memories. ~ Chuck
I have a 72 sst 2 door and a 74 4 door
Jacob absolutely surprised us when he showed up in this at the Malaise Car Club Of Oregon's big car show bash last June. We had no idea he was coming and he wasn't part of our Facebook group. I was convinced he was a time traveler. I insisted he park this next to the AMC Eagle Sundancer convertible that had also shown for the show. He's a wizard petrolhead and a friend of the club. I'm so glad he was able to provide your first AMC experience!! ^_^
One of the shuttle drivers at my dealership retired from the AMC Concord/Eagle plant in Ontario when they closed. He said the tooling stamps were so worn out they had to invent trim pieces to hide the gaps in places. By the end of the run he said they were slapped together with all the love of a lunch lady bologna sandwich
In the fall of 1973, when the oil crap hit the fan, AMC saw a huge uptick in sales as panicked buyers flocked to smaller cars. The merger between Nash and Hudson was only half of what was expected, They were supposed to do a second merger with Studebaker and Packard, which ended when George Mason died. Mason's successor, George Romney, wanted nothing to do with Studebaker and Packard. Romney decided to serve profitable niche markets and did very well until he left the auto business to enter politics, his successor Ray Abernethy thought AMC could compete with the Big 3 and failed miserably.
George Romney wanted to merge, it was James Nance over at Packard who was reluctant as HE insisted on being the defacto head of the new company; something Romney felt would be a poor decision seeing the condition Packard was in at the time. However for about a year and a half, there was a gentlemans' agreement between the two corporations to purchase parts from each other; hence why for 1955, many American Motors vehicles used the Packard V8 and Ultramatic albeit restricted so as not to produce as much power as the "true" Packard V8s. Packard was in turn supposed to purchase Air conditioners and other items from AMC, but the Packard engineers balked at everything AMC could produce declaring them unfit for use in a Packard.
Eventually, Romney grew tired of this arrangement and hired an enterprising young man away from Kaiser by the name of David Potter. Mr. Potter was tasked with creating a new V8 engine for American. Mr. Potter had just such an idea in mind as before he was let go from Kaiser, he was developing a small, 288-cubic-inch V8 specifically for Kaiser! It should come as no shock that; even though they share NO parts at all, but the first generation AMC V8 shares a startling resemblance with the aborted Kaiser V8.
I'm glad I'm not the only person who thinks vintage jacking instruction diagrams are fascinating.
The exterior door handles are so cool.
The Jeep Wrangler used those door handles until the end of the TJ in 2006 on the half doors.
Started in 1968 by AMC. It was said for safety, because unlike the push buttons so popular at the time, they did not allow the doors to come open in a rollover accident.
Makes sense. I never thought of it that way. I always figured they were a styling thing to help smooth out the body lines.
@@scrambler69-xk3kvamc also did not like push button handles, they removed all their push button handles quickly
I love the interior,headliner in particular. Nice to see some color for a change.
love the horizontal setup of the dash
I had a 74 Hatchback with the X package as my first car. It was terrible, big rust holes after it was 3 or 4 years old, went through alternators, regulators, carb rebuilds, timing chain, springs, door hinges and bushings, floor rusted out etc. Loved it.
These were nice “cheery” little cars. I always liked the style.
I really like the look of the Wagon version.
Nice bright color, too.
🚗🙂
My friend in grade school, his parents had an AMC Eagle 4x4 wagon which was based from this same platform. Had the fake wood on the sides too.
There's a car you never see any more. These weren't saved, they were cheap transportation to be used and discarded. I like the simplicity of the design inside and out. This platform and basic body would end up underpinning the Eagle all the way through 1988 when Chrysler killed it off.
I have a soft spot for AMC, having grown up with an AMC Jeep in the family. AMC was the perpetual underdog without the resources to compete against the Big 3. It's impressive they made it as long as they did with as little as they had.
The Gold Cragar SS wheels I had on my first 75 Gremlin would have looked great on that Hornet. Somehow owning a Hornet has evaded me (Had 5 Gremlins, 2 Spirits, and a Grand Wagoneer. I was a factory trained 4x4 specialist so I have driven most AMCs at one point or another since I 14 and got my first Gremlin
Ive owned several AMC Hornets & Gremlins, & Ambassadors. They were some of the most dependable vehicals i ever drove. Always started. Very few issuses.
I go to car shows hoping to see cars like this. Instead, I leave disappointed seeing the cliché Chevelles, 442s, Camaros, Gran Torinos, etc... Those are nice, but they're so typical. I wanna see the underdog cars that weren't sought-after back then, much less now.
We ordered a 1974 AMC Hornet Sportabout from the factory in October 1973. Before it was built we changed the engine from a 304 ci V8 to the 258 straight 6 shown in this vid. A great & durable engine. V8 would likely had better mpg.
Sportabout was the first US SUV. It was first to have side door impact beams. It was first to have collapsible self inflating spare. Ours ran great with no problems. We sold it in 1980 due to collapse of Jimmy Carter's economy. I got $3,000 for it. New it sold for $4,300. The heat, air conditioning, and fresh air were fully integrated.
I bought it with radio delete but with radio prep. I installed a short wave, AM, FM radio with 5 bands that I bought in Europe. That radio locked into the Hornet but could be taken out to sit on a picnic table.
The 1974 Hornet used same grille as the 73. In 1975, AMC developed the Hornet grille that became the existing Jeep trademark grille. Yes, a Jeep is a Hornet!
Let's Roll !
Wolf 🐺
Im a Ford guy but AMCs are very underrated imo. My dad has a restored 1969 AMC AMX and my friend has two 1982 AMC Eagles one being an SX4 with a 304 V8 swapped into it and a wagon for parts. He gets looks everywhere he goes in that car because people who grew up in the 80s remember them. And the fact they are a 4WD car is so cool. And honestly they werent bad cars. Its too bad Chryser bought them out to get the Jeep Brand and dropped AMC immediately
I think the Eagle brand was dropped after Iacocca retired. I do believe Chrysler management could have made an effort to make this brand more than a clone brand though. Could have been another DeSoto if they tried.
This was spec'ed like many cars of that era. And empty gauges were the norm. "well optioned "cars had clocks. A/C was not all that common in average cars until the 1990's
I always loved the door handles on AMC cars from the 70’s.
In 1986 when I was 18, my neighborhood buddy had a hand me down 1976 yellow AMC Hornet Wagon with the 258CID six and Torque Command. He had Keystones on it with big tires on the back like a muscle car. He saved up some cash and got the car repainted in 1986 IROC Camaro bright metallic blue. Those were the days! 🤘😎🤘🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Not like now!
Thank you for a very fair review of the AMC Hornet. Too many people put these cars down for no apparent reason. "Torque Command was AMC's name for the Chrysler Torqueflite transmission that they used during this time, and "Weather Eye" was the name of the Nash heater in the late 1930s, the first car heater to heat outside air, which caused pressure in the cabin and eliminated drafts. The manual steering is low so it's easier to turn at low speeds. That steering box is actually a GM / Saginaw steering box, the same one used in the Chevy Nova when equipped with manual steering. Too bad you didn't stomp in it, that 258 six is a torque monster.
The in-line six that was made by AMC was one of the most reliable engines ever made. When Chrysler bought the company they had the rights to the engine and they produced it for a little while but I guess greed came in. They decided that Jeeps need to fall apart in two years so they got rid of the engine. I don’t know why
if you have a jeep with 4 L in-line six don’t ever get rid of it it may help fuel your retirement fund
The AMC I6 is nearly unkillable. During Cash for Clunkers, junkyard employees had to drain the oil and run the engine with a mix of sand and molten salt to seize the block. The 4.0s kept on chugging long after other engines quit. 100,000 miles is just getting broken in. The I6 was an old engine and Chrysler likely didn't want to try updating the emissions equipment.
The six-cylinder engines introduced in 1964 were in production, in various forms, for 42 years. Great engines. Chrysler ended production and used their shorter V6 engine in the redesigned Jeeps.
What is the Pentastar V6's reputation compared to the old AMC 4.0? I once tested a Jeep with the Pentastar. Didn't seem to have the greatest torque.
My second car was this (except for being grey) the bulletproof 258 6cyl. and 3 spd Trans was primitive compared to the big 3 offerings BUT that made them easy and cheap to work on. I had to replace the carb on mine and ended up buying te wrong rebuilt one. Was able to rig up the linkages in order to make it work. AMC has the distinction of having (IMO) the goofiest model names in the automobile industry.
@@MisterMikeTexasyou're crazy lol. Pentastar has 40 lbft more and almost 100 more HP. 😂 you must have drove a 3.8 Chrysler v6 they stuck in them during the mid 2000s.
Also Jeeps with 4.0 dont weight 4500-5500lbs like moder jeeps do
It's just amazing to see an underdog on the channel. ❤
Dude, my eyes watered a little. I used to go with my Grandpa to work in Detroit around 1986 on Saturdays in his yellow Hornet. Wow. Like BAM nostalgia, thank you.
Thanks for the review of this oldie but goody. It is fun listening to the reaction of younger guys to the cars of the past. These were typical of affordable transportation of the era. The competing models from the Big Three were built with the same configuration. They were uncomplicated, easy to repair and maintain, could drive all day comfortably at expressway speeds, quite durable and reliable. You could tell one brand from another, and they all were not gray.
"Weather-Eye" was a holdover from the Nash motor company. AMC continued to use on its HVAC systems from the mid-50's until the late 70's. It was introduced with the Nash Ambassador back in 1947.
Weather Eye was introduced on Nash automobiles in 1938.
My grandfather had a '71 or '72 Hornet Sportabout wagon. He never had issues with that car, and it was great on long trips.
Zach, American Motors was a mix mosh of parts.
As I quite remember
Pre 1972 the transmission where from Borg and Warner.
After that model year they used Chrysler A 727 toque flight transmissions
Power steering pumps where from General Motors
The carburetor where auto light a Ford carburetor.
Also later years the merged with renult , before Lee Iacocca made an offer for Jeep
The final Eagles like the premier was a renult alliance.
Very true. I have a Jeep CJ with a GM steering column and glove box, GM alternator, Ford dashboard switches, a Ford carburetor, and many miscellaneous parts. It makes it easy to fix and upgrade.
@@bwofficial1776
Thank you for agreeing with me.
AMC was before Zach's time.
I had an Ambassador and I remember some parts that were from Chrysler,Ford and General Motors..
I bought one new in 1973, traded in a 1970 Hornet because my wife was struggling with the 3 on the tree, the '73 was an automatic, which was a very fine, smooth gearbox.We used the car for weekend trips to Maine from NJ, and longer trips to the midwest and the car would loaf at 75mph on the interstate and that's where the steering would come into it's own - straight as an arrow.
Very comfortable ride and room for the 2 of us and a trunk and back seat full of our stuff, that little ride could eat up highway!
I still miss it and I've had many cars since, my present daily is a newer Hemi Dodge Charger which will pin you back in the seat all the way to the big numbers on the speedo. But why do I still miss my little '73 Hornet?
What really hurt AMC was the Pacer. They took a gamble with a car that was not made partially from parts of other cars (which was one of AMCs cost cutting measures since they never had the money of the big 3). This included what was going to be the original engine, a wankel motor they would buy from GM. But at the last moment GM cancelled their wankel program and AMC was forced to stuff one of their own engines in the Pacer.
All true, but I'm pretty sure the inclusion of the Wankel wouldn't have saved the Pacer.
The craziest,most heart stopping memory of a Pacer for me is that back in the early 80s,as I was doing my paper route after school in my village in Pennsylvania,a Pacer ran directly over the body,not legs or head,thankfully,of a weiner dog! 😳😳 It yelped,but must've stiffened up it's body in fear,as it just got up and ran off! Hope it didn't have any internal injuries! It must've been a stray dog,as I didn't recognize it,& I knew most of the people's dogs in my village of only about 700 people,at least the ones on my paper route!
@@ForeverDownByLaw Probably not, but the investment made in designing the Pacer and bringing it to market is something AMC never recovered from.
The Pacer couldn't be saved, even if it had been designed specifically for conventional engines. It was too radical of a design for the time. Yeah, sure, it sold well for the first year or two, because there was that 'It's different' aspect of the market, but once the novelty wore off...
And AMC had pretty much shot its load with the Pacer. They didn't really develop anything new after that. They COULDN'T. R&D takes money they no longer had.
And the fact is, AMC had been struggling since the late 1960s. It's not easy being 'fourth' in a market dominated so heavily by three giants. The fact that they hung on as long as they did is nothing short of astounding.
I knew AMC was circling the drain when they announced their partnership with Renault. Renault was not a well received marque in the US at the time, and it was evident that Renault had the most to gain by the partnership.
@@ForeverDownByLaw well the idea was for the pacer to be a small economy car great on gas. Hence the wankel. Don't forget, at first the Pacer was a huge success.
A family friends son had a blue 4 door Hornet (courtesy of Mom) in 1986. He was an artist and decided to paint pictures on the white vinyl roof. You could see that car for miles. lol
Why do I love this so much? Great review, thanks.
The mustard missle
This car takes me back. I'm 67. No I didn't have one but knew people who did and they loved them. Inexpensive to buy, simple to maintain and got pretty good gas mileage for that time. AMC was actually pretty well placed back in those days because they already had cars that got decent mileage compared to the big 3. The problem with AMC is they didn't have the capital to keep updating their brand and people moved on to more modern and stylish cars.
My 1st car was a 1974 Hornet Hatchback in Mellow Yellow color, back interior, tall back bucket seats, 258 6 Auto w/ floor shift. The car survived my youthful years. I added cruise control, and Hooker Headers which were true duels, ran thru Hush Thrush mufflers, sounded nice. The car came from the factory with the 1975 front grille, which I like better than the 74 grille. I loved that car, it held together well. When I replaced the stock bias-ply tires for radials, and a set of Fenton mag wheels, it road so much better. Kept the car for six years, traded in for a 79 Mercury Capri Hatchback (a mustang produced my mercury)
1973 is a transitional year when all US cars were required to meet the 5mph bumper requirement, hence the bulky front bumper. The rear bumper of the Hornet is the slimmer type from launch, but added bumper guards to meet the 2.5mph bumper requirement, until 1974 when front and rear bumpers were required to meet 5mph impact standard.
My best friend in the US Army in the late 1980s had a forest green 4 door Hornet that he aptly named, "The Green Hornet." You can see him driving by in the background of the San Francisco street scene of the 1986 movie Star Trek IV, The Voyage Home.
My CJ7 has the same motor.
This car is the America of my childhood.
I've got a CJ-7 with the AMC 4-cylinder. It's the six with I believe cylinders 2 and 5 removed. It's not fast but it's never failed me.
always loved the hornets, AMC was 33 years running, 1954-1987 when chrysler bought them out, also the Jeep brand came in 1953-1970 under Kaiser. always enjoy your videos !
The AMC Sportabout had an available Gucci option 1972/73.
Hornet and Sportabout were available with the 304 or 360 V8.
AND there was an Electrosport which was an EV project in the 1970s.
They also created the Amitron EV in 1967.
AMC was ahead of the competition with a multi model production line.
The AMX 3 was fantastic. Only a few were made. Very similar to the Pantera.
My mom owned a 73 AMC Matador with a 304 V8. She bought it used in 1980 and we had it until I was about 9 years old when she was t-boned by a drunk driver and the car was totalled. No body was hurt. Anytime my dad and I went for a drive in it he would do a burn out once we got far enough from home followed immediately by “don’t tell your mom” lol. I miss that car.
Chrysler bought AMC because they wanted a Jeep. Chrysler would drop the Eagle brand after a few years
Just gotta acknowledge the fact that AMC was basically “ The Little Engine That Could “ amongst the BIG automakers of the time . And a DEFINITION of American Company Strength : Those American Companies once so well admired didn’t die, weren’t phased away . Just joined forces . And became a great display of American Strength !!!
That engine is from a later model year car because it has the notorious plastic valve cover. The 70’s era AMC dives has metal valve covers.
6/25/24 I owned a 1976 AMC Hornet 2 door sedan with a straight 6 engine, automatic that matched in color and same styling as the one tested in the video, but with an AM/FM radio. I had put flat black race stripes on the hood and trunk and had an issue with the trunk lid not closing perfect that led to a slight rusting. The car being a 2 door had long and heavy doors that I had to have the door shims replaced due to sagging. The car came with a great Warranty 7/7. The only issues I had with it were the sagging door, a hose to the power steering that let go, a radiator thermostat that needed replacing and the slightly rusting trunk lid. The car used 16" narrow tire and came with hubcaps. The Hornet was a good value when it came to pricing. I enjoyed the car when I owned it, but should have held onto long than I did, the straight 6 engine provided enough power to keep up with traffic. The AMC Gremlin looked a lot like the Hornet on the front with a chopped off angled back. A later car I still own today is a 1990 Eagle Talon Black Cherry basic version, FW drive with only 18,500 miles on it in 2024, now my daily Summer driver.
Love it! My auntie had a blue woodie wagon. I remember being scared of it. We hit a piece of wood in the road and I lost it. I think I was 5. I was scared to death. I dunno why. She had it for a long time. Other than the rust (she live in Maine) it was a reliable car.
Owned New in 1973. Bought a New 1978 Concord DL. (Basically same car) I bought again in 1981 same product. All three was fantastic cars. No issues.
Seeing this car brings back memories. when I was a teenager in the 80s, I had a yellow Hornet hatchback. A few years later I bought a four-door green Hornet with three on the tree. Thats how I learned to drive a standard.
You'll have to come check out my 1979 Spirit AMX when it's roadworthy
I never get tired of your intro music.
You didn’t mention the vacuum actuated windshield wipers. They changed speed with the amount of throttle applied.
Wow! 😳😳
Electric wipers were standard in 73, no vacuum wipers.
My family had a ‘74 Hornet. It had electric wipers. Fun fact: the headlight and wiper switches on the Hornet dashboard are exactly the same as what Bricklin used on their SV-1.
I bought a Hornet new in '73, electric wipers, no vacuum.
I guess I missed when AMC changed the wipers to electric. We had a 1970 Green Hornet Runabout that had the vacuum wipers. It was also a stripper with a three on the tree and no radio.
I like the Sportabout - wagon
Cool car! Keep up the content bro!
Great to see - brought back many memories. I had a 1973 Hornet 4 door which I loved and drove all up and down the East Coast. I eventually upgraded the suspension and when I worked with the SCCA in the 80's several people were racing them. There was even a 3-two barrel Weber setup for the 258 that was available. That engine is bullet-proof. I pulled the heads off at over 100,000 miles and still noticed the original cross-hatch in the cylinders. As most cars of that era it is rear-wheel drive and handled great. I didn't have it long enough to replace the drum brakes with more modern discs. My only other AMC was a 1970 Mark Donohue Javelin - awesome! Keep up the good work.
Thank you so much. In the late 1970s and early 80s, my employer had these (and Concords) as company cars. Simple, basic, uncomplicated!
I'm probably gonna step on someone else's post(s), but the WeatherEye integrated heater and fresh-air ventilation - as simple as it seems now - was a sensation when it was developed by Nash in the late 1930s. Prior to then, one had to crank open the windshield and backlite, and probably half the windows to get 4/60 cooling. The WeatherEye not only controlled air flow and temperature, but it introduced an integral windshield defroster as well. AMC came to life in 1954 with the merger (read, acquisition) of Nash-Kelvinator and Hudson and Nash pioneered the WeatherEye. All of the Big3, as well as Nash and Packard from the Little4, were furiously developing their own air-conditioning systems (Studebaker and Hudson bought their systems from the other five) and if the names FrigidAire/Harrison, AirTemp, Frigikar, SelectAire, and All-Season WeatherEye ring a bell it's because most auto makers had their hands into refrigeration at the time. Nash in 1953 or '54 was the first automaker to have a fully-integrated HVAC system regulated by a common control panel. AMC inherited it during the merger with Hudson in 1954. Making light of an 80-year-old popular system and well-known trademarked name ain't kosher just because y'all are grossly ignorant of automotive history.
The AMC 'Torque Command' automatic in this car is actually a Chrysler Torqueflight A904. Which, behind a six-cylinder, is damned near bulletproof.
My sister had a 73 Hornet and I had a 72 Dodge Dart. The Hornet handled better than the Dart and my father told me that the Hornet had rack and pinion steering, which was far more advanced than my Dart. I enjoyed driving both and comparing them back then.
Pacer had rack and pinion steering, but the Hornet did not. Please research and you will see I am correct.
@@scrambler69-xk3kv I did some research and yes, I believe that you are correct. Probably my father got the Hornet's steering confused with the Pacers. The steering may have felt more responsive than the Dart, which may have led to the conclusion
A friend of mine had one. Same year but a 4 door and green. You could almost literally stand and watch the body rust away before your eyes but the mechanicals, you couldn't kill them.
I remember the city police in my hometown decides to buy a fleet of Hornets once to save money. The cops absolutely hated the idea of going to a smaller car so they beat the ever loving shit out of them but it turned out they were only helping to ensure they never went back to bigger cars because the city administration knew what they were doing and said - "Wow; those are some tough cars! We must buy a second fleet of them... which is exactly what they did.
My parents had a 71 Hornet SST Coupe which was a higher trim level than the car in the video. A couple of things which were already mentioned in the comments. AMC outsourced their automatic transmissions.....In 71, a Borg Warner Automatic was used and the script in the shift quadrant was labeled Shift Command. In 71, they switched to Chrysler Torqueflites and changed the script to Torque Command.
The Weather Eye goes back to one of the AMC predecessor companies, Nash. Nash introduced an early version of integrated heating system and called it Weather Eye. If the car had air conditioning, you would have a swivel switch on the right side of the panel with a setting of Desert Only for dryer climates.
I recall cup holders being molded on the back of the glove box door but would probably fail the bottle test. The Hornet platform was very versatile and gave us the Gremlin, Hornet sedan, hatchback, wagon and coupe, AMC Concord, AMC Spirt and the Eagle which would be considered an early crossover and lasted until 1988 after the merger with Chrysler.
I wonder if the cup holders were added because people were still going to driven theaters in the 70's?
great video. You said something about the steering being a little loose. most cars of that time had to some high degree had loose steering. But, on that note the power steering pump could be worn out, i had a used 1971 Amc hornet sportabout wagon, its steering was somewhat loose but, not as loose as 1973 Amc hornet you drove. keep the videos coming.
I friend of mine had a Hornet wagon years ago. It was not fast or fancy but it was very dependable. He called it the “Weather Eye”
I was a kid when the Hornet came out, and I've always thought this was the best new car design of the 1970's, and the best compact. (In contrast the Nova was bloated and dumpy.) A number of years ago I had the upscale 1973 Hornet Sportabout D/L station wagon with 304 V8, factory a/c, clock, radio, etc. I loved driving that car, nice riding, and I sorely miss that car still. I'd love to get another Hornet/Concord/Eagle. AMC went off the rails with tooling cost spent on the 1974 Matador Coupe and 1975 Pacer. They should have stuck with their strong points in the Hornet and Gremlin. A 4 cylinder engine developed from the AMC 6 cylinder engine (a 232 minus 2 cylinders would give a 155/2.5L, perfect as base engine for these cars) would have been money better spent.
I remember when I was a kid, friends of my cousin called him Mr. A.M.C.; he had a A.M.C. Javelin, then an A.M.C. Hornet, then an A.M.C. Eagle station wagon!
The basic bones of the hornet lasted until the end of AMC. The hornet changed the sheet metal in 1978 and it transformed into the Concord and the Eagles of the 80s.
Look at all that BROWN PLAID
Weather eye goes back to the Nash days of the early 50s
Good to see an AMC featured.
My first car was a 1973 Hornet X Hatchback. It was a great car that I had for 3 years. Fresh Plum (metallic Purple) was a great color.
My first care was a 1972 AMC Hornet. It's still the best car I've ever had. I'd love to get another one.
Its actually a unique car, had to have been a special order. Nearly all the Hornets had power steering, I don't remember if the quick ratio manual steering was offered in the Hornet as it was for the Gremlins in 73. That option alone would make the steering/handling far more responsive as it cut almost 1.5 turns from the lock to lock steering. If has the correct master cylinder in it, its a rare front non power assisted disc front brakes, a fairly rare option for 73. The radio delete option and cigarette lighter combination is odd. But, the 258 six was a good option over the base 232 six. Nice car, the tin worm hasn't claimed this example.
the hornet sc360 is a beast of a car
Those in line six cylinder engines were so easy to work on. Looks like this one didn’t have a/c, power steering or power brakes. I sure miss those days. Love those old cars. Always had an ashtray for us smokers
Love it! Your reviews are so fun, quick, and packed with info. Thanks!
*HIGH SCHOOL, 1984. EVERYONE HAD COOL CARS IN THE PARKING LOT. 67 CAMARO, 64 MUSTANG, 70 BARRACUDA, 68 CHEVELLE, ETC. THEN THERE WAS THE NERDY, LAME KID IN SCHOOL, GLENN ZUBER, WHO THOUGHT HIS 1973 AMC HORNET WAS ROCKIN'. HIS LOOK AND THE CAR LOOK WERE 2 PEAS IN A POD........LAME AF.....LMAO. GREAT VIDEO!!* GREAT MEMORIES
I had a 73 hornet X hatchback yellow with red stripe and rally wheels. It had the 304 with 3 speed on the floor and AC. Loved that car wish I stick had it
Nice example and rather cool loved the video very interesting
I’m a fan of the ‘72 Hornet Wagons and the ‘71 SC 360s. This yellow one is a real honey.
Side note: AMC couldn't afford their own turbine car program like each of the Big 3, so they worked with Williams International. AMC provided (2) 1970 Hornet 2 door cars - one white, the other green - and Williams converted them to turbine engines. That was at the time my dad went to work for Williams and worked on this project. Last I knew the white car was at the Detroit Science Center.
That "Torque-Command" Automatic is none other than the famous Chrysler Torqueflite. Starting in the 1972 model year, AMC wisely chose to discontinue their aging Borg-Warner sourced Automatic and move over to buying them from Chrysler. Not a bad move since the Torqueflite for years wore the crown of the best Detroit-made Automatic transmission.
Though, why AMC continue to source their manual transmissions from Borg-Warner is up for debate. For two whole model years in the 1970's (1975 & 1976) American Motors did NOT offer a four-speed transmission on ANY model. They briefly courted with a company out of the UK and began attaching electronically-actuated Overdrive units to the back of those Borg-Warner 3-speeds but that company shortly went into receivership. At which time (for the 1977 model year) AMC began sourcing the INfamous "Pinto" Four-speed from Borg Warner. It was a B-W built transmission though built to Ford specifications. The transmissions even bore the Ford logo!! Thankfully, the "Pinto" SR-4 four speed shares the same bolt pattern as it's stronger big-brother the T-4. The T-4 eventually begat the T5 5-speed transmission we all know and love and AMC too adopted that transmission in the 1980's.
Also, that blank space to the right of the Speedometer? That can contain many things. Most certainly you could have the optional clock, but in 1974 and 1975 you could still get a tachometer there! Didn't matter which engine you chose, V8 or 6, if you ticked the box for the optional "Rallye Pak" you'd get the tach, oil & amp gauges below the dash, blacked-out gauge pod and glove box, black steering column and a black leather-wrapped 3-spoke Sport Steering wheel!
I'm surprised one of these still exists that hasn't turned into just a lump of iron oxide by now. Growing up in the 70's and 80's, my Dad had one of these. Same yellow color, too! But his was slowly disintegrating into a rusty heap. He made a valiant attempt to keep it looking ok, though. This is Michigan, where rust is a problem for most cars, but AMC's seemed to fare particularly poorly. My dad scoured junk yard after junk yard looking for front fenders. Every junked hornet in every salvage yard had no useful body parts, as they were all rusted away. He finally found one when we were on vacation in Kentucky. The other fender he reconstructed out of sheet metal and bondo. That fender was not so much a fender, but a 50 pound sculpture in the shape of a fender, made of mostly bondo.
My Grandfather had a four door Hornet in the early 80s. If I remember correctly, it did not have either power steering or brakes. He sold it and bought a Volare.
My mom had a 70 like that, then a 74 hatchback. Cool blue color that looked different under different lighting! 😀👍
AMC Hornets remind me of cigarette smoke, weed, and the first time I ever heard the Van Halen studio album on the car's 8-track player. Good times!
This Hornet platform soldiered on for 17 years. AMC squeezed all they could out of it when it carried into the Eagle until 1987.
Had a 75 Hornet Sportabout and loved it great car!
Surprised you didn't have something to say about the plaid headliner. Quite unique.
The only car my father ever owned from new was a '76 Hornet hatchback in dark green. He said if he had ridden in the back seat beforehand, he would never have bought it.
I LOVE these old AMC's, the Hornet I feel is a really good performance platform to build upon considering the option of a V8, one that had been mostly slept on in the wake of the AMX, Javelin and Rebel.
This isn't a coupe but a 2-door sedan with the same roof stamping, rear window and side-window profile as the 4-door. Some years, though, half of all Hornets were Sportabout wagons; station wagons had been an AMC/Rambler specialty from the start and by 1971 it was the last domestic wagon in the compact size class, just as the midsizes got huge. Early on, sales of the rest were divided about evenly between 2 and 4 doors but in '73 AMC added a hatchback coupe with a much sleeker profile. After that the sales were wagon #1, hatchback coupe #2, 4-door sedan third and the 2-door sedan a distant fourth.
In High school I drove a 72 hornet SST 360 v8 best car I've ever owned.
Love the look of AMC Hornets,Javelins & Gremlins,but not the Pacer! These were ALL over in the 70s & early 80s when i was growing up in Pennsylvania! 😍😍 Love the grille detail & the detail of the Hornet badge on the gas cap! I also love the orange colour....I love most unusual car colours,& green cars! 😍😍 I dislike gold gold cars! Be cool if you could manage to review a Javelin or a Gremlin! 😍😍
I had a 1971 2 door. Loved it.
Man, imagine Chrysler trying their hand at a compact coupe again (AMC bought by Chrysler and stripped away everything except Jeep, but the vibe still fits).
Inline 6 in a compact package.... We do have the new hurricane I6... Call it a Dodge, give it a manual, and put a detuned base model against the Civic si and GTI. Put a "hellcat" trim against the CTR and GolfR.
It'll get decent gas milage on the basis if being so light, and with typical dodge production numbers they'll sell every one they make.
The Jeep( from General Purpose) came from the Willys-Overland car co. AMC produced the first AWD domestic car.
👆I HAVE ONE OF THOSE!!! (That one is literally my car haha) Yeah that steering is kinda goofy, not fun for parallel parking or making u turns