American Motors’ Red Carpet Ride was the theme for the AMC Ambassador marketing campaign in 1967.
We’ve shared the story before here at Mac’s Motor City Garage: In 1967, American Motors was struggling through a transformation: from Rambler, niche producer of small and economical granny-mobiles, into American Motors, a full-line auto manufacturer. The key element in this metamorphosis was a $60 million update of the carmaker’s woefully obsolete intermediate and full-sized platforms. This was a vast fortune for the tiniest member of the Detroit Four, and while the costly operation was a success, the doctor didn’t survive. President Ray Abernethy was forced out of the top chair in January of 1967, replaced by Roy D. Chapin Jr. son of Hudson Motor Company co-founder Roy Chapin (1880-1936).
The new-for-’67 Ambassador full-size sedan shared its unit-construction platform with the mid-sized Rebel, but with a longer wheelbase: 118 inches versus 114 inches for the Rebel. There were three trim levels: 880, 990, and DPL, and a long list of available options, from All Season air conditioning ($311) to 8-track stereo ($133). Listing at $2,515 to $3,143, the Ambassador was a solid value priced in the Chevy-to-Pontiac range. In this original commercial spot, the familiar American Motors red carpet theme gets another workout, along with the AMC tagline for that year, “The Now Cars.” Video below.
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A very nice looking car! The government bought a lot of AMC cars in that era. I drove many of them in the military in the 80’s and while they had some wear and tear they seemed to be going strong.
I remember seeing a TV commercial with one of the executives from the company, It could have been Chapin, telling the viewer that they would be rolling out newer more stylish cars over the coming months. It was kinda reassuring!
Our city bought one for the police department. Despite a lot of rough use, it was a pretty decent car – except you had to keep a bushel basket of interior door handles as they kept snapping off!