A New Car

I met Don Stepp a number of years ago at, of course, a car show. I even did a post about his 1963 Chevy Impalla SS. Since then we would continue to run into each other, particularly at the City of Blue Ash and The Untouchables Classic Car Club Classic Car Show among others. But this year I didn't see him or his car.

As I was starting to snap pictures at this year's Rides on Monmouth, I heard my name called and there was Don. We chatted and I pointed out how I'd missed him at Blue Ash. He said he was there, parking in a different place than usual and that he had gotten a new car. This was his first time showing at the Rides on Monmouth and he was doing so with a beautiful little 1959 Rambler American Station Wagon.

The Rambler American came to life as the Nash Rambler in 1950 and after Nash merged with Hudson to form American Motors, the Rambler name was revived and used for a line of compact cars that would be larger than their current Metropolitan.

The first generation of the AMC Rambler American came in 1958. The company was always in a tight financial bind and so they relied on what was available, making mostly cosmetic changes to the old Nash design.

Rambler had a strong reputation as an economical and dependable car. AMC was hoping that the Rambler name would carry over to buyers looking for a small, affordable and durable car. It worked. With the two available trims priced at $1789 and $1874, the American was the lowest priced car in the country. Over 30,000 were sold in a short model year.

In 1959 things only got better. They introduced the station wagon like the one Don owns and sales of it alone were over 32,000. In all that year over 90,000 Americans were sold. Demand was outstripping AMC's ability to build cars. Who wouldn't want a car that could seat four and get over 30 miles per gallon.

Of course this economy came at a cost: power. Those first generation Americans were powered by a3.2L flathead six cylinder engine that produced a mere 90 horse power. But with a wheel base of just 100 inches and a curb weight of about 2500 pounds, this small engine managed to do the job.

As years passed more trims for the American were added but it wasn't until the third generation in 1964 that there were noticeable changes under the body. That year the wheel base grew six inches and more options were available in the engine. Two more inline sixes offered more power. A 3.3 L model gave the car 125 horses and a 3.8 L upped it to 138. Eventually, V 8s up to 6.4 L were available.

After a dozen years AMC finally pulled the plug on the American. Throughout it's run it had been marketed as a Rambler but the public had become more familiar with the AMC brand and as new cars were needed to keep pace with the Big Three, the company decided to place their emphasis on their own name. The AMC Hornet officially replaced the American after the 1969 model year. In all, over four million American's were sold. And now my friend Don Stepp has a first generation station wagon to help keep the line alive.