Join Matt Anderson, curator of transportation at the Henry Ford, for a road test of the museum’s one-of-a-kind Budd XR400 prototype.
The Henry Ford in Dearborn, Michigan has a number of rare cars in its amazing and priceless collection, but for sheer rarity alone, none of them top the museum’s 1962 Budd XR-400 concept. It’s truly the only one of its kind.
Created by the Automotive Division of the Budd Company in Detroit, the XR-400 was constructed on a shortened 1962 Rambler Ambassador chassis and floor pan. The purpose: To pitch American Motors on the merits of adding a sporty 2+2 convertible to its product line, for which Budd, a major supplier to the automakers, would naturally provide all the sheet metal parts—or even assemble the bodies. Reportedly, the XR-400 was an extension of another Budd project for Ford called the XT-Bird, which joined 1957 Thunderbird body panels to a compact Falcon chassis. When Ford declined the XT-Bird proposal, Budd revamped the idea for a pitch to American Motors as the XR-400.
As we can see in the video, there isn’t much Rambler Ambassador visible in the XR-400. The floor pan was shortened by 14.3 inches while the cabin was moved rearward in the body another 16.24 inches, completely altering the sedan proportions. And to permit a lower overall profile, the 327 CID AMC V8 was lowered in the chassis several inches. While the overall shape is pleasing, the front and rear end treatments are rather blank and generic, as if to allow AMC’s own styling studio to fill in the details.
Alas, American Motors turned down the proposal, but Budd hung onto the unique prototype and it was eventually acquired by the Henry Ford in 1997. As curator Matt Anderson explains here, it’s not entirely clear why American Motors turned down the Budd proposal, though we can make some pretty good guesses. The automaker went through a major change in leadership that year as chairman and CEO George Romney departed to run for Governor of Michigan, replaced by Ray Abernethy. And the little company was always strapped for new-product funding in any case. But at least we have this neat little convertible to admire and wonder What If. Video below.
The pitch to AM failed because the car simply does not look good. It’s looks as if Budd didn’t have a styling department.
I’ll go with the idea that Budd left the front “unfinished” for the AMC stylists to dress to their liking. This “guesstimation” is based on the fact that the tail end definitely resembles the ’62 Ambassador and Classic. I immediately thought of two things when I saw this car:
1) Modern Metropolitan. 2) Pre-Mustang.
Also, the dip in the belt line is reminiscent of both the Packard Darrin, and the ’53 Skylark. Not sure I like the overall styling of the entire car, but I like the idea.
Whatever it was or wasn’t, thank you for the history lesson and “ride along”.