Editing AMC AMX (section)

==Origin==
[[File:'AMX' badge 1968 and 1969 AMC.jpg|thumb|right|1968 and 1969 [[Pillar (car)|C-pillar]] AMX emblem]]
[[File:1969 AMC AMX red with white stripes.jpg|thumb|right|1969 AMC AMX in "Matador Red"]]

The AMX name originates from the "''A''merican ''M''otors e''x''perimental" code used on a concept vehicle and then on two prototypes shown on the company's "Project IV" automobile show tour in 1966.<ref name=mueller99>{{cite book |last=Mueller |first=Mike |title=Motor City Muscle: The High-Powered History of the American Muscle Car |publisher=MBI Publishing |year=1997 |page=99 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=ZLP8kKL4w2kC&pg=PA99 |isbn=978-0-7603-0196-8 |access-date=21 March 2012 }}{{Dead link|date=July 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> One was a fiberglass two-seat "AMX", and the other was a four-seat "AMX II". These radically styled offerings reflected the company's strategy to shed its "economy car" image and appeal to a more youthful, performance-oriented market.<ref name=mueller99/>

The original AMX full-scale models were developed in 1965 by AMC's advanced styling studios under the direction of Charles Mashigan.<ref name=mueller99/> The two-seat AMX was a "big hit on the auto show circuit in 1966" and featured a [[rumble seat]] that opened out from the rear [[decklid]] for extra passengers called a "Ramble" seat. AMC executives saw the opportunity to change consumers' perceptions of the automaker from [[George W. Romney|Romney's]] economy car image to the realities of the new marketplace interested in sporty, performance-oriented vehicles. [[Robert B. Evans]] requested a car like the AMX to be put into production quickly.<ref name=mueller99/>

Two simultaneous development programs emerged for a [[production vehicle|production car]]: a modified Javelin and another for a completely new vehicle bodied in fiberglass. The first approach was selected to allow AMC to use its existing technology and [[monocoque|unibody]] manufacturing expertise to make relatively inexpensive modifications to the Javelin, approximating the prototype's styling and proportions. The automaker could turn out steel bodies in large numbers, so it rejected developing plastic (or fiberglass) bodies because those are intended only for low-production models.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Dunne |first=Jim |title=Detroit Report ... |magazine=Popular Science |volume=189 |issue=6 |page=42 |date=December 1966|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=lykDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA42 |access-date=5 January 2012}}</ref> The first fully operational unit debuted as part of AMC's AMX project in 1966. The once-"frumpy" automaker jumped on the "pony car bandwagon" with its "attractive Javelin" and soon introduced the "unique" AMX featuring a design where "hoods didn't come any longer, nor decks any shorter".<ref>{{cite book|last=Mueller |first=Mike |title=Mustang 1964-1/2-1973 |year=2000 |publisher=MBI Publishing |isbn=978-0-7603-0734-2 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=12Unsmyljk4C&pg=PA65 |page=65 |access-date=16 November 2012}}</ref>

Vic Raviolo, previously responsible for the Lincolns that raced in the [[Carrera Panamericana]] during the 1950s, was involved with engineering AMC's new sports-car-type coupe.<ref name=McCahill>{{cite magazine |first=Tom |last=McCahill |title=MI tests AMC's new AMX |magazine=Mechanix Illustrated |page=43 |volume=64 |number=478 |date=March 1968}}</ref> The AMX was the first steel-bodied, two-seat American performance car since the 1955 through 1957 [[Ford Thunderbird (first generation)|Ford Thunderbird]].<ref name="legendarycollector">{{cite web|url= http://www.legendarycollectorcars.com/garage/project-cars-legendary-collector-cars/1969-amx-by-american-motors-corporation/ |title=1969 AMX by American Motors Corporation |date=21 April 2010 |publisher=Legendary Collector Cars |access-date=11 September 2010}}</ref> Ford's original two-seater evolved into a four-seat [[personal luxury car]] starting in 1958.

The AMX was also the only mass-produced, domestic two-seater to share the market with Chevrolet's Corvette since the 1957 Thunderbird.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.petersen.org/default.cfm?DocID=1008&index=98 |title=Current Exhibit – Muscle Cars: Power to the People – 1969 AMC AMX |publisher=Petersen Automotive Museum |date=1 February – 1 June 2005 |access-date=17 June 2012}}{{dead link|date=November 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=r9j7MWLE_jMC&q=domestic+2-seat+companion+for+the+first+time+since+the+demise+of+the+1957+Ford+Thunderbird&pg=PA103 |page=103 |title=The Cars of American Motors: An Illustrated History |first=Marc |last=Cranswick |publisher=McFarland |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-7864-4672-8 |access-date=16 November 2012}}</ref> With a short, {{convert|97|in|mm|0|abbr=on}}, wheelbase, the AMX's direct competition was the one-inch longer ({{convert|98|in|mm|0|abbr=on}} [[Chevrolet Corvette]]. The AMX's manufacturer's [[suggested retail price]] (MSRP) was US$3,245 (US${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|3245|1968}}}} in {{Inflation-year|US}} dollars {{inflation-fn|US}}), nearly 25% below and over $1,000 less than the Corvette's price tag.<ref name="strohlfeature"/>

The AMX was introduced to the press at the [[Daytona International Speedway]] on 15 February 1968, just over four months after the Javelin went on sale. In the demonstrations on the race track, the new AMXs ran at speeds up to {{convert|130|mph|km/h|0|abbr=on}}. American Motors' group vice president, Vic Raviolo, described the AMX as "the [[Walter Mitty]] Ferrari".<ref>{{cite book|last=Mueller|first=Mike|title=Classic Muscle: the evolution of the American musclecar|year=2005| publisher=National Street Machine Club|isbn=978-1-58159-238-2|page=101}}</ref> The AMX was designed to "appeal to both muscle car and sports car enthusiasts, two camps that rarely acknowledged each other's existences."<ref name="art">{{cite book|last1=Newhardt |first1=David |first2=Peter |last2=Harholdt |first3=Brock |last3=Yates |title=Art of the Muscle Car |year=2009 |publisher=MBI Publishing |isbn=978-0-7603-3591-8 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=ovVg_UkqfikC&pg=PA106 |page=106 |access-date=21 March 2012}}</ref> The problem was the "tire-melting" acceleration of the two-seater made it "a quick car that handled like a sports car, confusing the buying public."<ref name="art"/> Automotive journalist [[Tom McCahill]] summed up, "the AMX is the hottest thing to ever come out of Wisconsin and ... you can whip through corners and real hard bends better than with many out-and-out sports cars."<ref name=McCahill/>