August 8, 1996 Moncton, New Brunswick, The Times Transcript, Automotive section Rambler Classic was honest, practical car ----------------------------------------------------- One of the most attractive cars ever to be produced by American Motors Corp., which passed from the scene when it was purchased by Chrysler Corp. in 1987, was the 1963 Rambler Classic. In addition to good styling, it also had some interesting engineering features. AMC would suffer some hard economic times after its formation through the amalgamation of Nash and Hudson in 1954. Then it got a break; it benefitted from the economic downturn of 1958. Luckily for the company, that was the year it brought back the 100-inch (2540 mm) wheelbase Rambler that it had discontinued in 1955. They gave it a minor facelift, and call it the Rambler American. The American was the only American compact available that year, and it was just the kind of car that buyers were looking for. It helped carry AMC to its first profitable year. By 1961, Rambler was third in sales in the North American industry, seeming to vindicate the wisdom of AMC president George Romney who was constantly railing against Detroit for building huge "gas guzzling dinosaurs." Nineteen-sixty-one was also the year in which AMC redesigned the American, and turned the mid-sized Rambler Rebel and Rambler Six into the Classic. It was a significant year in the styling department too, because a stylist by the name of Richard "Dick" Teague, who had joined AMC in 1959, began to make his presence felt. Teague had been with General Motors, Packard and Chrysler, but would find his long term home at AMC. He had an imaginative ability to produce fresh looking products requiring very low tooling costs. This would prove to be a godsend to AMC over the years. For this skill he earned himself a reputation as the "master of the cheap moreover." Teague had a strong influence on the 1963 Rambler Classic and the Ambassador, which was really just a stretched Classic with a nine-inch (229 mm) longer wheelbase. They were the first all-new cars from AMC since 1956. Although riding on the same 108-inch (2743 mm) wheelbase as the '62, the ’63 Classic was, in keeping with the now-departed Romney’s philosophy, more compact in its other dimensions. In spite of this, it lost none of its passenger and luggage capacity. The new Classic was an inch (25mm) shorter and narrower, and 2.2inches (56 mm) lower than the bulky design it replaced. Its overall length of. 188.8 inches (4795mm), virtually identical to today’s Honda Accord, was just about ideal for a family car. As well as beihg a little more compact than previously, the new Classic had lovely fresh styling. The side glass was curved, one of the earliest popular-priced cars to have this feature, the sides were nicely sculpted, and thankfully, all vestiges of the 1950s fins were gone. The new Classic had practicality as well is beauty. One of the most interesting engineering features was the combining of many separate parts in the unit construction body into single stampings. This reduced the number of parts from 346 to 244. The company claimed that it not only cut the weight by 200 pounds (91 kilograms), but in- creased the structural rigidity of the body. A good example of the reduction in stampings was the "uniside" door surround, which was pressed out of one piece of steel. Not only did this reduce the door frame from 52 parts to one, but it also provided much better fitting doors. It was this type of imaginative engineering that prompted Motor Trend magazine to give the Classic its 1963 car-of-the-year award. The Classic was powered by AMC’s 195.6 cubic inch (3.2 litre) overhead valve, inline six engine, which developed 127 horsepower in standard form, or 138 when fitted with a two- barrel carburetor. This could be had with an aluminum block, which the company claimed was "America’s First Die-Cast Aluminum Six." A mid-year engine option would be the corporate 327 cubic inch (5.4litre) overhead valve V-8 with 250 horsepower in normal form, or 270 with a two-barrel carburetor. In the transmission department, AMC had the widest range of offerings in the industry. The Classic could be had with the regular three-speed manual, with optional overdrive; a three speed automatic; an "E-stick" semi-automatic transmission in which there was no clutch pedal and the driver just had to move the shift lever from gear to gear (the clutch automatically disengaged when the lever was moved); and "Twin-Stick" overdrive in which overdrive was engaged with a separate console-mounted lever. The 1963 Rambler Classic helped lift AMC’s total sales to 428,346 units, the company’s best year ever. Although not necessarily outstanding in any particular aspect, the sum of its individual parts was excellent. This sensible Classic will be fondly remembered by former owners as an honest, economical, practical family vehicle, with the added bonus that it was also very attractively styled. Bill Vance Photo (Bill Vance’s book, Reflections on Automotive History, is available from Eramosa Valley Publishing, Box 870, Rockwood, Ont., NOB 2KO. Soft cover $18.50 ($23.50 with GST and shipping); hard cover $28.50 ($34.50).