The trick was to make it a “premium” small car a fairly new concept, that didn’t exactly bowl over Americans who were used to getting a full-sized car for the same price ($1808 $17k adjusted, for either the sedan or wagon). These first pre-Romney Ramblers were not cheap then AMC boss George Mason was convinced he could do what had eluded everyone else: sell a small car to Americans, and turn a buck doing it. It started from the beginning: the very first Rambler (1950) came in just two body styles two-door convertible sedan and this charmingly-dumpy two-door wagon. In the early sixties, Rambler Classic wagons were hugely popular with youngish families. Rambler had the highest percentage of wagon sales of any of the American makes in its golden years, some 50% in the ’50s. Since our featured car is a wagon, let’s stick (mostly) to that body style, which was always popular with Rambler buyers. AMC was the new brand, and the final Rambler was left to ramble off into the history books. In 1966, the Rambler name began disappearing, starting with the Ambassador, and by 1969, the only Rambler left was the successor to the original, and again just called Rambler, having lost the “American” moniker in 1968. Good timing, as the 1958 recession vaulted the Rambler brand to popularity and profitability, and all the Romney-mobiles, from the bathtub American to the Ambassador proudly wore the RAMBLER emblems.īy the early sixties, that name was deeply etched into Americans consciousness as the “thrifty” brand that Aunt Mildred drove, and didn’t exactly stir the soul of the swinging sixties’ car buyers. The first modern Ramblers wore Nash and Hudson emblems before George Romney killed those storied but moribund names for 1957. ( first posted ) The Rambler brand had a compact lifespan: thirteen years exactly.
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