1967 AMC American Motors Ambassador Wagon Commercial Worst Commercials
Uploader Comments (OsbornTramain)
All Comments (22)
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@OldcarsNmusic I should have known that, LOL! I just know if that car drove up here and the passenger door opened, I'd get in without asking any questions. I had a '67 Ambassador 2dr hardtop, it left me with unpleasant memories, but not because of the design or performance. It was six years old at the time, and not too well cared for by the previous owner. It was a weird time for me.
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@64098 No, Denny was only 32 at the time this commercial was produced. He played "Tonga" on "Gilligan's Island" the following year. Denny does look a lot like that guy now, though!
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@OsbornTramain I'm glad you pointed all that out to me because all the other accounts I've read, especially Consumer Guide's "Cars Of The Fifties", portrayed the longer Ambassadors as poor sellers. Thanks again, Frank for setting the record straight!
Is it just me or were the '62-64 Ambassadors, with wheelbases identical to the Classic, the best-sellers in their history? It seems to me that whenever AMC made the Amby bigger than the Classic/Rebel, sales tanked. That extra 3-9 inches between the front axle and the scuttle appeared to be bad juju for the Ambassador. The '67s and '68s were nice-looking, though.
OldcarsNmusic 1 month ago
@OldcarsNmusic Here are Ambassador Sales from 1960 thru 1974, In Thousands: 1960 - 23K, 1961 - 19 K, 1962 - 20 K, 1963 - 36 K, 1964 -19 K, 1965 - 63 K, 1966 - 34.2 K, 1967 - 63 K, 1968 - 60 K, 1969 - 60 K, 1970 - 60 K, 1971 - 41.7 K 1972 - 44.4 K 1973 - 43.7 K and finally, the last year, 1974 24.0 K you can see that there was a dip in 1966 but they sold consistently more Ambassadors after the increased wheel base. It was the compact car who's sales really suffered, the American.
OsbornTramain 1 month ago
@OsbornTramain It's interesting that the first year it was longer again, 1965, was it's best-selling year. Looks like another bit of my old man's advice bore itself out: "Believe none of what you hear, and half of what you see!"
OldcarsNmusic 1 month ago
@OldcarsNmusic Yes, the sales were greater but again, the overall point you make may indeed be correct. Because it took valuable resources away from the Development of the American to spend on the Rebel/Ambassador. Had they focused on the American which had been selling extremely well, they could have stayed more competitive to the Dart and Nova. The Rebel and Ambassadors were very good cars. The 1964 American was only updated moderately thru 1969. The Hornet of 1970 was a very good car.
OsbornTramain 1 month ago
@OldcarsNmusic I know people get mad at saying this, but it was the Pacer and the 74 Matador Coupe which took so many funds away for developement that never came back in the way of sales. And frankly, discontinuing the Javelin which was the third best selling Pony car in 1974 behind Firebird and Camaro that was a real bad move. Javelin out sold Barracuda every year from 68 to 74 and even beat the Challenger in sales in 74 They could have cornered that market with GM had they stuck to it.
OsbornTramain 1 month ago
@OsbornTramain I'd say by the end of the '70s AMC was wishing they could have that one back!
OldcarsNmusic 1 month ago
@OldcarsNmusic They still had a chance but then Renault really messed them up by doing away almost completely the AMC brand. By 1987 when Chrysler bought them, It was down to simply the AMC Eagle Wagon with only about 2400 being made for the 1988 model year (I own an 88 Eagle and 73 Ambassador, and Javelin AMX and a 61 Ambassador er and an 89 Eagle Premier)
OsbornTramain 1 month ago