1964
Overview
Manufacturer	American Motors Corporation (AMC)
Designer	Chuck Mashigan Richard A. Teague
Body and chassis
Class	Concept car
Body style	2-door fastback
Layout	FR layout
Powertrain
Engine	AMC Straight-6
Dimensions
Wheelbase	106 in (2,692 mm)
Length	180 in (4,572 mm)
Height	52.5 in (1,334 mm)

The Rambler Tarpon was a concept car, a sporty youth-oriented 2 plus 2 hardtop coupé developed in 1963 by American Motors Corporation (AMC). The bright red with black roof design study made its public debut 1964 Chicago Auto Show and served to foretell the fastback design elements of the larger Rambler Marlin that was introduced in 1965.

Design

The Tarpon was an "aquatically-named" design study for a small rear-wheel drive two-door monocoque pillarless hardtop. Characteristic was its sleek sloping fastback roof that narrowed as it met the rear bumper. The Tarpon featured two large and deep taillights that flowed down from the shoulders of the rear fender. The show car was finished in red with a black vinyl roof accenting its clean shape from the windshield back to almost the rear bumper. The smooth roofline was unbroken by the almost horizontal rear window. In a 1991 book about collectible cars, automotive historian Richard M. Langworth described the Tarpon's sweeping roofline and "roughly elliptical side window openings suited the American's handsome lines to a T, and the pretty well-peoportioned fastback looked a natural for showroom sale." However, there was no trunk lid or outside hatch to access the cargo area.

The Tarpon concept "generated much excitement at the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE International) convention in January 1964." The concept was shown with the designers worked on a cutaway profile of the car on stage. The Tarpon then generated wide public interest as it toured the auto show circuit starting in January 1964. Its semi-boat tail roof design was accented with black vinyl first appeared at the Chicago Auto Show. It was well received at the automobile shows before the so-called "pony car" market segment was established. The Tarpon appeared together with the Mustang II (a concept design shown before the production version was unveiled) at the 1964 New York International Auto Show.

Development

The automobile marketplace was changing in the early 1960s "when many young, first-time drivers entered the market ... and bought cars with flair."Early in 1963, American Motors' management began development of “a new car with a sports flair” to modify its image. Richard A. Teague's styling team came up with an entirely new concept for AMC - a fastback design. He had a passion for pre-World War II automobiles and had a "passion for taking old styling and making it new again." He observed the 1963 Chevrolet Corvette spit-window coupe design and the 1963 Ford Galaxie Sports Hardtop, which outsold the notchback models, followed the pattern set by Chevrolet's distinctive 1942 Fleetline two-door fastback body style called the Aerosedan. Teague knew that his design team had to work with considerably smaller budgets than their counterparts at Detroit's Big Three (General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler). The small automaker was not willing to undertake the large investment that would be required all-new tooling, so his design team made imaginative use of existing tooling and create spin-offs from existing products.

The Tarpon was made on the compact-sized Rambler American's new design and platform already set for the 1964 model year. A convertible chassis was used 106 in (2,692 mm) wheelbase), but the Tarpon was slightly longer, 180 in (4,572 mm) compared to 177.25 in (4,502 mm) for the production Rambler American. The Tarpon's roof was lowered two inches making it only 52.5 in (1,334 mm) high for an even more dynamic look. The top section of the new Rambler Tarpon was made of reinforced plastic. The windshield was described as "bulbous" and the fastback roofline featuring a "skylight" rear window. The swept back, double-compound curved windshield further enhanced the Tarpon's low appearance. The Tarpon also featured polished 13-inch aluminum wheels. Production Ramblers rode on ordinary steel 14-inch versions, so the smaller wheels made the car lower. The interior had a complete set of dial-type gauges under a padded dash, a deep-dish aluminum steering wheel rimmed in walnut, and custom bucket seats.

The Tarpon seemed to take aim at Plymouth's new Valiant-based Barracuda and the soon to be announced Ford Mustang.Shown before the introduction of Ford's compact Falcon-based Mustang, AMC's Tarpon was "an instant success" with 60 percent of surveyed potential buyers stating they would buy one.

The Tarpon did not go into production. At that time, AMC was still developing its "GEN-2" light-weight V8 engine that would fit the small Rambler American chassis. If produced, the Tarpon would have been a competitor to the Plymouth Barracuda, a fastback derivative of the second-generation compact Valiant. Utilizing an existing compact platform would have paralleled the Mustang's design approach whose chassis, suspension, and drive train were derived from the Ford Falcon. However, AMC's market research indicated that offering only a six-cylinder power plant would not satisfy the intended target market segment. The new V8 engine was introduced in 1966 in the sporty hardtop model of the Rambler American called Rogue. Moreover, AMC's CEO, Roy Abernethy, wanted the company to move away from the marketing image of Ramblers as being only small, economical, and conservative automobiles and designs. According to Abernethy AMC's "main problem was its image lag — the fact that too many people still thought of American Motors as the builder of plain jane compacts."

Under Abernethy's leadership, the company was introducing larger cars that had more options, prestige, and luxury. For example, the new convertibles and more upscale Ambassador potentially offered higher profits. Although the small four-passenger Tarpon anticipated a new market segment that later became known as the pony cars, the decision at AMC was to build its sporty fastback "image" model on the company's mid-sized or intermediate Classic platform. Teague recalled that "Abernethy had decided that instead of a 2+2 we would build a 3+3 sports-type car."The new production model, called Marlin, was introduced mid-year 1965 and it added more "sport" to AMC's car line-up. However, the Marlin had six-passenger capacity and was equipped with features as a personal luxury car like the Ford Thunderbird or Buick Riviera, rather than a competitor in the pony-car segment. Nevertheless, the production Marlin incorporated many of the design features that were the trademarks of the Tarpon show car. Because it was a much larger car, the Marlin had even more pronounced shoulders extending laterally behind the rear wheels than those on the Tarpon.

In 1965, three years before AMC's production pony car was unveiled, press reports described the compact-sized design as "Tarpon-like fastback" built on the Rambler American's platform. The Tarpon "was the car that AMC could have, should have, but didn’t make in response to the Mustang... Instead AMC built the Marlin, which, on the larger Classic chassis, was too big to be a pony car, too slow to be a muscle car, and cursed with ungainly proportions due to the Classic’s stubby hood." The automaker was niche marketing, offering a larger-sized product that not offered by its much larger competitors. Although the Tarpon show car pointed the way, AMC waited until the 1968 model year to introduce a small fastback, the Javelin, that was aimed directly at the market segment created by Ford's Mustang.

Designers

The automotive design team at AMC was headed by Richard A. Teague. Stuart Vance was Manager of Engineering and this included the body development, as well as the prototype shop. Others involved with the Tarpon were Teague's right hand man Fred Hudson (who later contributed to the Javelin), Vince Geraci (who contributed to final look of the Marlin), Chuck Mashigan (Advanced Studio manager), Robert Nixon, Jack Kenitz, Donald Stumpf, Neil Brown Jr., Bill St. Clair, Jim Pappas, as well as Jim Alexander (who designed the interior). Teague selected the names for both the Tarpon show car and the production Marlin.

Teague worked at AMC for 26 years. He was responsible for some of AMC's timelessly beautiful and advanced vehicles, as well as for some of the company's disappointments. After his retirement as Vice President at AMC, Teague described the development of the fastback design:

"... We originally had a car called the Tarpon, which should have been produced ... it was really a neat car, a tight little fastback. We showed it to the S.A.E. (Society of Automotive Engineers) convention (February, 1964 in Cobo Hall in Detroit, Michigan) and everybody was steamed up about it! But the thing that killed the Tarpon was the fact that we didn't have a V-8 for it at that time.... [AMC president] Roy Abernethy didn't like little cars. Never did. He liked big cars, because he was a big guy -- hell of a nice guy. And he felt that this car was too small, so he said, "Well, heck, Teague, why don't you just put it on the Rambler Classic wheel-base? That way you've got V-8 availability and you've got more room inside it." And then on top of that he added an inch to the roof while I was in Europe. I still have never gotten over that..."

Teague was also responsible for the design of AMC's compact Javelin, as well as the two-seat AMX. Both were ground breaking small fastback sport coupes with well proportioned and timeless lines.

Legacy

The Tarpon served as the direct fastback design influence for the 1965-1967 AMC Marlin. Moreover, components of the original Tarpon design returned to a production car in 2004 in a fastback coupe with a distinctive design "that reminds more than one observer of the old Rambler Marlin." The principal appearance statements of the small two-seat Chrysler Crossfire include its "provocative boattail theme" in its fastback and rear end design. Automotive journalists noted the Crossfire's resemblance to the AMC Marlin featuring the Tarpon's rear-end. For example, Rob Rothwell wrote: "My first glimpse of the rear lines of the Chrysler Crossfire instantly brought back memories of one of my favorite cars, the 1965 Rambler Marlin"

1968
Overview
Manufacturer	American Motors (AMC)
Designer	Richard A. Teague
Body and chassis
Class	concept car
Body style	GT Coupé
Layout	FR layout
Powertrain
Engine	V8
Dimensions
Wheelbase	97 in (2,464 mm)

The AMC AMX-GT is concept car developed by American Motors Corporation (AMC) for the 1968 show car circuit. The design of the grand touring-type rear-wheel drive pillarless coupe of monocoque construction with two doors and a truncated rear end treatment was influenced by AMC stylist Richard A. Teague.

Design development

The AMX GT was built by shortening the 4-seat Javelin coupé to a 97-inch (2,464 mm) wheelbase (the same as the production 2-seat AMXs), lowering, or "chopping", the roof and cutting off the tail. The one-off AMX-GT body used a fiberglass rear and featured side mounted "macho external exhaust pipes."

It appeared in two versions. At the New York International Auto Show in April 1968 it was red with a white stripe on the sides that ran across the roof. It also had plain, flush wheel covers, generic all-black tires, a side-mounted exhaust, a ram-air intake hood, integrated roof spoiler and fixed rear side windows (quarter glass) with no support (or "B") pillar.

The wheels were soon replaced by an alloy five-spoke design with Goodyear white-letter tires. The hood and roof were repainted a contrasting dark blue. This color scheme, which followed the major character lines of the car, was applied to some of the early factory-sponsored race cars before AMC changed to bands of red, white and blue.

Legacy

The AMX GT provided several clues to future production models and options. The most immediately available were the optional side exhaust pipes for 1969 Javelins and AMXs. A slightly modified version of the show car's hood scoop became part of the factory production 1970 "GO Package" option on Javelins and AMXs in 1970. The flat black "shadow mask" paint also became an option on the 1970 AMXs.

The AMX GT's truncated tail treatment reappeared in 1970 on the Gremlin subcompact. The design, an example of Teague's approach to maximizing AMC's limited resources, resulted in a new version from an existing automobile platform.

Stage prop

In AMC's 1969 annual report to shareholders, various AMX GT design drawings and proposals served as the background for pictures of top AMC executives. For the official photograph of the Board of Directors, the members posed with the second version of the concept car, this time with its hood and roof painted black.

The Amitron was an American electric concept car built in 1967 by American Motors Corporation (AMC) and Gulton Industries of Metuchen, New Jersey.

Design

The American Motors' prototype Amitron was a snub-snouted three-passenger urban area vehicle or city car with an overall length of only 85 inches (2,159 mm). "The modern looking Amitron was one of the most promising electrics developed in the Sixties." American Motors put more effort into making its prototype electric car attractive, than its competitors.

During the December 1967 public introduction of the car, Roy D. Chapin, Jr., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of AMC, stated that the Amitron "could eliminate many problems that up to this point have made electric-type cars impractical" A piggyback system of two 24 lb (11 kg) nickel-cadmium batteries and two 75 lb (34 kg) lithium batteries (rated at 150 watt-hours per lb, or 331 watt-hours per kg) developed by Gulton were designed to power the car for 150-mile (241 km) when traveling at 50 mph (80 km/h). This was a big step beyond contemporary lead-acid electric vehicles because of their limited range on each battery charge. The battery designers selected lithium for the Amitron because "it is both highly reactive (easy to oxidize) and has high electromotive potential." Its total battery weight of only 200 lb (91 kg) was also light for electric vehicles.The equivalent in lead-acid cells would weigh nearly a ton (907 kg).

... The established internal combustion engine vehicle manufacturers in the late 1960s did not produce much in the way of electric vehicles. Most could have been easily replicated by any individual, and resembled souped-up golf carts (although the Amitron was in a class by itself—it featured Gulton’s lithium batteries, a solid state controller, 50-mph speed, and a 150-mile range). …

The car's lithium batteries were designed for sustained speeds. During acceleration, the nickel-cadmium batteries would cut in briefly to boost the Amitron from a standstill to 50 mph (80 km/h) in 20 seconds. An "energy regeneration brake" system would automatically switch the drive motors to generators as the car slowed so that the batteries could recharge; thus increasing the range of the car to 150 miles (240 km) This was first use of regenerative braking technology in the U.S.

The first road tests of the power plant were in 1968 using a Rambler American sedan. At the time, American Motors Vice President of Design, Richard A. Teague, was working on a car called "the Voltswagon". The supporters of the Amitron were confident and stated in 1977, "We don't see a major obstacle in the technology. It's just a matter of time."

However, the programs to develop clean-transportation in the U.S. ceased.The Amitron did not go beyond the prototype stage. Its development was significant for the emphasis on various methods to improve performance and range. It had a solid-state electronic CPU to efficiently use power and on-the-road regeneration. Among its unique automobile design features were passenger seats that had air filled cushions, rather than conventional polyurethane (foam rubber). The Amitron was designed to minimize power loss by keeping down rolling resistance, wind drag resistance, and vehicle weight.

American Motors original plans were to offer the Amitron for sale to commuters and urban shoppers in five years, and Chapin said AMC had discussed the venture with its bankers and creditors and "they are about as enthusiastic about it". The Amitron was also well received by the public, but it did not reach the commercialization stage. The expensive batteries forced AMC to halt further experiments with electric vehicles for a number of years.

Legacy

The Amitron's short and wide chassis layout found its way into the 1975 AMC Pacer design with the electric's three across seating, thus looking like a mini Pacer. The "chopped off" rear end treatment of the concept car found its way into the 1970 AMC Gremlin.

In 1977, AMC developed a similar electric vehicle called the Electron.

The Amitron's energy regeneration from braking idea was much later commercialized by the Japanese with Toyota licensing the technology to both Ford and Chevrolet for their U.S.-built hybrid vehicles.

The designed has been characterized by some observers as "hot, sexy, cute and practical." "The AMC Amitron had almost 50 years ago all that is still considered indispensable for an electric car if it is supposed to succeed: a decent range, low weight, and a jaunty look.

AMC Amitron concept rear view