Willys Tornado Flow Data

One nit to pick -- Chrysler DID NOT want "AMC" -- they wanted JEEP. Renault wouldn't sell Jeep without AMC car division though, so it was an all or nothing deal. Just turned out to be Chrysler's lucky day, as AMC had a lot more value than anyone would have thought at the time.

You're spot on about the size of the company being the only real issue. The market was very competitive, and the big companies (not just big three US, but world player like Toyota, Honda, etc.) could afford to put a lot more into R&D, and even afford to cover mistakes. AMC wasn't a big enough company to compete head to head with everyone else! They had a good value niche in the 60s when Romney was in charge, Abernethy killed that (though he couldn't have known how it would work out at the time -- hindsight for us), and effectively put the company in the downward spiral that led to the 1980 "partnership" with Renault, and eventually the 88 Chrysler buy-out. A couple high cost projects that didn't pan out well (Pacer and Matador Coupe) cost them dearly, and they just couldn't really recover in the world car markett as it was then... or is now. The oil crunch hurt those two cars so bad, nothing internal.

exactly. good engineering and good business are disjoint sets.

also, the entire industry was entering Malaise Era. in short, they all made crap for a while for a complex set of reasons. also AMC had labor issues, quality issues, etc. and Abernathy's decision to compete with Ford, GM, was probably stupid even at the time. (if they had stayed a niche maker, fulfilling telco fleets of something like 220 Americans, but had a tiny halo line (AMX) with which to develop/parade nifty tech (which AMC was GREAT at), say a real 4cyl from the 258, v6, whatever) they coulda had cashflow and halo. like every NYC cab driver i have all the answers.)

but publically-traded corporations are *not* "businesses" in the sense that most people think they are, like a corner store, or a repair shop. it's less about profit and all about growth. which is not profit, it's something else. AMC was stuck and couldn't grow. acquisition or death is what happens to corps that cant "grow".

i'm way off-thread here, i'll stop.

Fantastic shop!!!! AMC's and Tornados - looks like my place!

Want to contribute to my serious data study spreadsheet on Tornado upgrades? I've tracked a rather shocking amount of upgrades to hold the plate better and to improve oil drainage and reduce consumption. There is a few things you can see from the outside (extra support boss, solid dowels) and some more stuff under the valve cover, but that's a bit much.