Vintage AMC Videos: AMC Ambassador Vlog 3 | AutoMoments
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- Опубліковано 31 лип 2018
- TV commercials, corporate history, and...a musical??? We traveled to Kenosha, Wisconsin (home of AMC) to do research for our documentary film about American Motors. There we found a treasure trove of video tapes filled with vintage AMC footage! Joe explains more in this Ambassador Vlog.
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If AMC was alive today, id still be driving one
Oh man, we can only imagine... It'd be so cool.
@@AutoMoments Hey there! Since you're doing the *American Motors Documentary* you may want to include
the *Mexican Chapter: Vehiculos Automotores Mexicanos* Mexican Automotor Vehicles which is pretty much AMC's Mexican version of the story. AMC products were pretty big down here even some innovations for AMC came from here, including cars designed only for Mexico.
ALSO you need to include Argentina where Juan Manuel Fangio (F1 legend) achieved a "miraculous" win for the Rambler Americans in the *Nurnburgring* yes the RING...
I could help you out in that respect if you want...
@@900108Chale that would be cool!!
@@American-Motors-Corporation Hey Durango! TX! I am actually planning on producing a piece on it. It´ll be in Spanish but could look into translating it.
I am sending you my other channel in case you want to keep tabs.
Cheers my friend!
ua-cam.com/channels/XEmSLah44jwGsxXExDkNgQ.htmlvideos
AMC's fictional model range in 2020; www.deviantart.com/napalmhonour/art/2020-AMC-Model-Lineup-837285665
Always been an A M C fan , maby because. I came home from the hospital in a 1948 nash ambassador in 1957 . spotted a 1965 rambler classic 660 on a trailer comming back from Tennessee on U S 81 last week .My wife and daughter were amazed that i could identify a car from so far away
We had an AMC dealer in our small town and I would say 70% of the people there had one of their cars or a Jeep. I use to like to go over and look at all the new cars and fell in love with both the Javelin and AMX. Of course when they came out I was only a sophomore in High School so I could only dream of owning one but the dealer was more than happy to take me for a spin in one and give me a brochure for each. I'm very much looking forward to your AMC documentary and thanks for the update on what's happening.
Thanks for watching and thank you for sharing your AMC memories!
Really enjoy these. AMC deserves some credit and some visibility. Great job!
We're all about under-recognized cars. Thanks for watching!
Hey man, this is fantastic that you're doing a documentary, the closest thing we have to one is the one about the AMC pacer, but that really only covers the late 70's and early 80's. I have a 1972 Javelin AMX and finding detailed information about this car is very hard since all of its documentary was destroyed when Chrysler bought it out. I also absolutely love how you own an ambassador yourself since that's one of the rarer AMCs. I would love to see you post individual videos for each of the AMC tapes you found, I would love to take a look at them. Once again I can't describe how much I love you doing this. I can't wait to watch this documentary when it comes out!
Unfortunately we can't post every single AMC tape we find online, but we'll share some of the good ones. Thanks for supporting us and watching us!
Can't wait for the documentary!
kidguzzi Neither can I.
Thanks for the excitement! It's going to be a long journey, but we'll keep you updated. Thanks for watching!
Hopefully the documentary is shown for free on this UA-cam channel.
That'd be even better. :)
@jason9022 No...it's taking a long time. But we're still at it!
Thank you Joe Ligo for documenting this history and your passion for AMC. Right now I daily drive my mint 1984 Eagle woodie wagon, and so many people have no idea what it is. I've met many Jeep enthusiasts that don't even know that Jeep was a part of AMC. Always enjoy your videos and I'm sure John Davis must be proud of your work.
Thanks for watching! Glad to hear from another AMC fan!
I'm a Brit who is educating myself about American cars. I tend to prefer American Motors cars to Ford and GM. There is something more interesting about AMC, it's such a shame that they disappeared. The Eagle Wagon is perhaps my favourite along with the Gremlin and Pacer a close 2nd and 3rd.
The Ambassador is absolutely stunning by the way!
AMC holds a special place in a lot of our hearts, because they were so different from GM and Ford. Thanks for watching, and we're glad you like our videos!
AMC was the feisty underdog, always looking for a niche market, always looking for an opening, always looking for a way to chip away at the big 3's market share, and more often than not they found it, and did so consistently for 30 years.
Very interesting & informative. Neat to see the city where it all happened. Looking forward to the documentary.
I definitely look forward to the documentary. I cannot imagine anybody better suited to pull it off than Joe Ligo, who has a sincere passion for detail and history and sense for style to boot.
Thank you so much for the kind words! And thanks for watching!
THANK YOU for undertaking this project. I owned a 1972 customer specification Javelin from new. It was bronze metal flake paint with a gold C-stripe. Braking and suspension were problem areas. It could be tail-happy under emergency braking.
That's awesome that you owned a Javelin! Thanks for watching our videos.
EIAJ, U-Matic and Betamax, lots of fun to be had playing those tapes 40+ years later. Looking forward to seeing the documentary when it is done.
Yes, lots of stressful moments, too. Haha. Good thing there's people out there who still know how to use the machines. Thanks for watching!
SOOO excited for the documentary! I really appreciate the love you give to AMC and the community of people who own them. Thanks for all the hard work you're putting into the doc, as well as all the videos you produce - they are top notch!
Thank you for watching and supporting us!
I love documentaries. They're an awesome way to remind people, particularly if they weren't around when the event took place, "this is what happened." I'd love to one day visit Kenosha, Wisconsin, to see what it's like, and to visit the history, not only of the city, but its American Motors heritage.
It's a cool place. Especially the History Center.
Amazing information, aside the vintage Betamax footage, the most remarkable. Those cars were cool, here at Colombia, we had some of them running, specialy in taxi cab duty with the American 1967 model, with a 232 inline six, I guess. Nice cruiser, soft, quiet, nice driving, enough power for highway, correct mileage. This is a special mountain country, as you can see on Google maps, cities between 30 sea level feet, and climbing the to the 8.500 sea level feet in Bogota, the capital, in distances no more than 120 miles within each one. The cars made it, with any issue. For ever AMC, good memories.
Right on, Joe! That's amazing that you got access to the archives. There's clips of that 1977 Stage show floating around in internetland -- heavens, is it cringe-worthy! But, it is part of the crazy history of AMC.
Did you manage to find any of the product line films? These were films, either 16mm or some 35mm that were sent out to the larger dealers and basically gave an overview of the entire AMC lineup for the coming year. I've got the complete 1969 film and have seen snippets of the '73 and '75 model year films. It's very cool to see these cars when they were factory fresh.
Keep up the good work!
The 1977 music is indeed ridiculous. To answer your question, this archive did not have any 16 or 35 mm films; it only had video tapes. We would love to see some of the films! If you're interested in letting us borrow some of your collection to use in the documentary, we'd be happy to talk to you. (email us at AmericanMotorsMovie@gmail.com)
I should clarify, I unfortunately do not own any of the original prints; I just know of their existence and have been sent digital copies. Talk to the folks at the Torq-O Media Archive or the fellow on youtube by the name Osborne Tremain. I'm sure they'd be willing to help out and could probably provide you with much higher quality clips than I have.
I was hoping perhaps the Kenosha center had other copies of those films. I know the 1975 film that's been seen out on the internet is in sorry shape. The snippet of the '73 film I've seen (the Javelin section) is in pretty decent shape. That one I know for a fact the Torq-O Media Archive has in it's entirety.
Most people don't realize that AMC was incorporated in 1916 and that the company that Chrysler bought in 1987 was, in fact, Nash Motors, the surviving company during both the Kelvinator and Hudson mergers, albeit with name changes. In fact Nash-Kelvinator changed its name to American Motors before taking over Hudson in a stock swap that was legally termed a consolidation.
I am very impressed and admire the work you're putting into the documentary
The AMC documentary is going to be great. I can’t wait to see it👍
Thanks for your excitement! Be sure to stay tuned for more.
Amazing work you're doing, mate. You're exploring a nook of history nobody else noticed. You're giving us a well-rounded look and answering an important question: Why. W̶h̶y̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶m̶u̶s̶i̶c̶a̶l̶?̶ ̶W̶h̶y̶ ̶A̶M̶C̶?̶ ̶W̶H̶Y̶!̶?̶ ̶I̶ ̶m̶e̶a̶n̶,̶ ̶u̶h̶.̶.̶.̶ You are a true documentarian.
(And you could've TOTALLY taken the Ambassador 600 miles with the tape decks in back! Or the Eagle! ...I'm only razing you because I take my own malaise baby on ridiculously long road trips all the time, but I realize Overdrive makes a universe of difference... and fuel efficiency)
Hahaha. Someday the Ambassador will go on a road trip, and it'll make it into a vlog, we promise.
Another great AMC video love it
Thanks for watching! Stay tuned for more!
AutoMoments sure thing love AMC cars
CAN NOT WAIT! If at all possible please feel free to upload some AMC Jeep division content!
Thank you for doing this documentary!
There will definitely be some Jeep stuff!
Heck yeah man id love a full documentary of Amc. Thats awesome
Keep watching for updates! And be sure to share our videos with your friends!
My favorite vlog episode yet! I was hoping you would share about this trip. Very nice job!
Thanks for watching! Glad you enjoyed it!
May God bless you for your efforts to remember AMC and it’s heritage. I’ve been in only a few AMCs but they seemed well built. Maybe a little better than the competition. I tried to get my parents to buy an AMC back in the 60’s but they didn’t. My dad said they wouldn’t be around long. I felt like that was a reason to help out the underdog. Someone he knew did buy an Ambassador and it was a good car. A little smaller on the outside than our LTD but still plenty of room inside.
Shame on me for not buying a Gremlin X with a 304 way back when.
A note about BetaMax; most industrial video tape machines were BetaMax because recording quality was better. AMC and BetaMax prove the best doesn’t always win.
Thanks for watching Mark, and for your interest in our film!
The only building left from AMC in Kenosha is Building 45. That would be the building the the high side of the crossover bridge went to.
Wish I still had my 68 AMX
Awesome channel!
Thanks for watching!
i am so jealous! that content is fascinating!
It was super cool, and we only got 1/4 of the way through it! So much stuff (and a lot of garbage, too...) Thanks for watching!
do you get to go back and capture the remaining?
We took some tapes with us, but we couldn't take all of them.
I love amc but i can't even drive yet and they are real rare in italy
I cannot wait for your AMC documentary to drop, holy sh*t.
Haha. Thanks for your excitement!
Wow! Chester Electronics? I had no idea they were still in business. I'll have to check in there.
Yessir! It was an interesting place to visit. Thanks for watching!
Nice video and a thumbs up.
Thanks for watching! And be sure to share our videos with your friends!
AutoMoments
Will do. Have a great weekend.
Any progress on the AMC documentary?
Strike while the iron is hot! Like your Ambassador, one of my favorites of AMC, a direct link to Nash and Hudson. I can't understand why there isn't a full car museum like in South Bend? The Studebaker museum there is great. Well over 100 years represented. There should be a Packard museum right there on East Grand Blvd. in Detroit before that whole factory implodes. Imagine, one of the greatest classic margues ever built, the American Rolls Royce, and there's only a small museum in Dayton, Oh. Just not right. I fault Detroit, but they so nany other problems.
If you put the right tweaks on that engine; fuel injection, timing tweaks, I'd bet it would be a great road trip car; it's solid and cozy, I would trust that car on a road trip across America, or anyplace. Just my 1/2 cent... Overall, keep on driving that critter around!!!!
Really looking forward to the final production. Meanwhile I'll enjoy the vlogs
Thanks! Don't forget to keep sharing our videos with your friends!
This is going to be a killer documentary! Can't wait to see it I hope they put it on some of the cable networks! I Was just at my friend's house enjoying his AMC Rebel and his AMC powered Bricklin when I saw the UA-cam notification Ambassador Vlog 3 pop up. Didn't I see a Bricklin flash by in your video? 😎 BTW he has tons of AMC literature, manuals, club publications etc. My friend may be a valuable resource. Let me know.
Yes, you did spot a Bricklin! A few hints at what's next to come...
Everyone watch the Jimmy Ray music video "Are you Jimmy Ray", there's a sweet AMC Pacer in it!!
Though I've never owned, or had the urge to own, an AMC vehicle, I find them very interesting, they were like the Red headed step child in a Italian family, they were quirky, not the prettiest, except for the AMX, Javelin, they were hit, like Lilian Munster, my uncle had a early 60s Rambler, 2 door convertible, faded red, fun car, straight 6, automatic, had a constant exhaust leak, and that straight 6 made a noise that stays w me
Haha. Thanks for sharing your AMC memories! And thanks for watching!
I did produce a documentary on the Rambler from 1950 thru 1969 back in the 80's
Interesting! Is it online?
PS , looking forward to the Documentary
I am still running a BetaMax!
Looking forward to this film. I hope that it's inspirational and positive. So many folks think of AMC as a failure when in reality, it was a success......a company that was so well positioned strategically, Chrysler bought them. Please be kind to Abernathy! I think he gets scapegoated a lot!
Glad to hear you're excited for it! The film will touch on the ruthlessness and complexity of the auto industry, but I think it's ultimately going to be a positive film. We're out to debunk a lot of myths about AMC, like the garbage you see where guys on 'Reality TV' shows make fun of Gremlins and say "AMC was always a failure."
We don't want to scapegoat any one person, since there were many times where corporate leadership goofed up. It's a tough business. As former CEO Joe Cappy told us during our interview, "You can have good people and a happy family work environment, but if you're not profitable it doesn't matter. You have to make money to exist."
I think it's a story that's altogether inspiration and sad at the same time. And it's educational to anybody who never realized how complex the auto industry is!
I am soo sooo Happy you interviewed Joe Cappy!!!!! He's the forgotten CEO.....and he did so much good for AMC. He's literally the guy that got them in the good position so that they were a takeover candidate. His book is great too.
His book was highly enjoyable, and we were lucky to have the chance to interview him. We also interviewed Gerry Meyers, and a lot of other people in lower levels of management.
I think Cappy gets overlooked because a lot of the major product decisions in the 80s were being made overseas by Renault (and in the U.S. by Jose Dedeurwaerder), but Cappy did a lot to keep day-to-day operations running smoothly, especially in the marketing department.
I really want to thank you for keeping these kinds of things alive, and especially in video form. My hats off to your friend for still using the betamax formats too. i think video is just so vital for preserving memories. Look, not to get very personal, but take my wedding video. FFS man. There is a good amount of those people who are simply no longer with us. And there they are. Talking to me. Anyway, long story short. Thank you and have a great day.
Thanks for watching! And be sure to check the email we sent you. :)
I'm on it!!
Hey...can you send again? It seems it didn't make my inbox. TNX!
Good job, it's great to see AMC getting some love an attention. If I wasn't into Studebakers I'd have an AMC or two.... (probably a Gremlin or an American)
Haha. Studebakers are great, too! Maybe we'll do a video on one, soon. Thanks for watching!
Also, in high school my mom rode around in her friend's 1971 AMC Gremlin that was spray-painted a patchwork of blue and burned enough oil from its tired 232 cu. straight six to confuse it for weed smoke.
Oh dear...
I believe the old plant in Kenosha actually started out in life as an Industrial-era mattress factory before being converted to produced Nash (and later AMC) cars.
Yes, the AMC Lakefront plant was the home of Simmons Mfg. Co. (1st mass-produced mattresses) until 1958 or so. Simmons was founded in Kenosha in the late 19th century. The AMC Main plant on 30th Avenue was a mile or two west of this. The Main plant was the oldest continuously operating automobile factory in the USA.
Actually, I was just about to confirm this, but @Boggy beat me too it. Thanks!
I can’t wait to see the doc! Any estimates on when it might come out?
No solid estimates yet. But we'll keep posting updates!
Great show as usual. Love Matt's Eagles and your Ambassador as well. I know Terry Gale, owner of Rambler Ranch. This is the mecca for AMCs. He has over 700. Look it up, you will be amazed as I am. Befriend me on Facebook as I am a retired Jeep worker and avid AMC Jeep fan. Thanks again for the vlogs.
Oh we've talked to Terry a few times. One of these days we're going to go visit him!
@@AutoMoments I met Terry in 2003. I was buying a 73 Ambassador 401 in Littleton Colorado and the owner couldn't pick me up at night at the Denver airport. So Terry who did not know me took the time and picked me up in a 86 Grand Wagoneer stretch limo and ever since we have been good friends. I will often drive 22 hours to visit the Rambler Ranch because not only is it one of the best car museums but Terry and his crew are some of the best people to be with. He is always welcoming myself and family, just a great car guy that reflects his great car place.
@@jefferyrobinson9984 That's awesome!
Hi Joe. I agree with you regarding slowing down for turns and curves in the road. I drive a 2015 Dodge Dart, which I call the *"HellKitty",* and although I could go 45mph in a 35mph curve, I generally slow down to about 30mph, sometimes less than 30mph, depending on how familiar I am with the road. I've had the car since December, I'll be damned if I'm going to wreck it.
I have a 1950 Dodge with bias ply tires. You definitely pay attention to those yellow "advisory" speed signs.
Seed_drill They had bias ply tires into the 80s?
Not sure where "the 80's" came into this, but Coker Tire makes tires for antique cars using original molds. You'll loose points for running radials at an AACA show if your car didn't originally come with them. Not that mine is show quality. There is some debate in the hobby as to whether you should mount radial tires on the narrow original rims of cars like mine. Anyway, I run wide white wall bias ply tires.
Haha, better safe than sorry! Especially with old cars!
Yes, they did, but by around 1980 pretty much every new car had radials as standard equipment.
Hey there! Since you're doing the American Motors Documentary you may want to include the Mexican Chapter: Vehiculos Automotores Mexicanos (Mexican Automotor Vehicles) which is pretty much AMC's Mexican version/part of the story. AMC products were pretty big down here, even some innovations for AMC where achieved here, including cars designed only for Mexico.
ALSO you need to include Argentina where Juan Manuel Fangio (F1 legend) achieved a "miraculous" win for the Rambler Americans in the Nurnburgring yes the RING...
I could help you out in that respect if you want.
Cheers
Question time!
1. (For Matt, I imagine) What was that Sony reel-to-reel video tape format? What sort of stuff was on that format?
2. I imagine you digitized way more video than you'll use in the documentary. Will we be seeing any more of those tapes here and/or on something like archive.org? Or does somebody still hold rights over that material?
The Sony reel-to-reel is called EIAJ. It wasn't quite broadcast-quality, but it was commonly used by schools and other government institutions in the 1970s. It was a cheaper (for the time) video tape format.
Yeah, we're digitizing a ton of stuff. We'll share some of it here, but making sure we have the rights can be tricky. The Kenosha History Center will be creating a UA-cam channel when we're finished, and they'll post a lot of it too.
AMC was the David fighting the big 3 Goliath for decades. Don't ever sell them short - they we're waaay more innovative then given credit for. Believe me they weren't building ANYTHING worse than their competitors at ANY point during their existence. For people on the know - they were generally building better. Hooray for the small guy and the underdog - you know, it IS the American way...ask Elon Musk.
Haha. Good to hear you're an AMC fan! Thanks for watching!
Will you make the AMC video available to the public?
Unfortunately we do not own the videos, the Kenosha History Center does. We'll use bits and pieces in our documentary, but we can't just upload entire films. Sorry!
Any particular reason why you tied this to Facebook? I don't have a Facebook account and I'll never have a Facebook account so is there any other way for me to view this documentary of yours?
Facebook is just an easy way for us to communicate with our viewers and post updates about our projects. But don't worry, we'll keep posting updates on UA-cam as well. As for the documentary, it's far from finished. When it's done, we'll let you know where you can watch it. (Either on TV or streaming, etc.)
AutoMoments OK thanks I'm looking forward to it
Thoughts on the Golf?
It's a nice little car. We had the Sportwagen, which is slightly bigger and longer than a standard Golf. It's got all the room of a crossover, but with much better handling and fuel economy. It's a shame people would rather drive crossovers, but this was a very competent vehicle. Biggest gripe was that the fuel economy gauge was WAY too optimistic. Haha
AutoMoments Thanks! :)
Have you logged any substantial miles with other AMC products? Whee did this Ambassador come from. It looks to be what's commonly referred to as a "survivor".
ADD A SWAY BAR ON THE AMBASSADOR= WILL WORK WONDERS
Sounds like a good idea!
@@AutoMoments I recall seeing those! The rear sway bar passed underneath the cabbage. Easy to see from behind the car.
Man Joe. I feel like you should be getting more views than you do. Your not annoying and you do go editing. What the heck
You can help us out! Share our videos with your friends and tell them to subscribe. And thank you for the kind words!
AutoMoments I did and I don't do that very often
Thank you!
God Bless you for doing this project
Kenosha is such a lovely town
Like main street USA 🇺🇸
Hard working God fearing individuals
Look at where our country is now
Stupid Lexus and Godawful Bimmers everywhere
...and stupid owners to go with them. Zero sense of pride