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lost footage of factory tour and more |
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Steve_P
AMC Addicted Charter Member Joined: Jun/28/2007 Status: Offline Points: 3806 |
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They were producing 200K+ cars a year in Kenosha; that's more than most single auto production factories did at the time. The technology was there in the early 70s, and AMC was still producing cars like it was 1960- because they didn't have the $ to invest. Just like the didn't have the $ to invest in new car designs- and just kept recycling the same crap. Rambler, Hornet, Gremlin, Spirit, Concord.... They needed something to fight the Pinto, Vega, Celica.... and all they had a reskinned Rambler with an inefficient 1960s designed engine.
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hacksaw1971
Supporter of TheAMCForum Joined: Feb/11/2020 Location: hopewell Status: Offline Points: 1400 |
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il take that 60's tec ... the 232 in my concord has 198k on it.... gets over 20 MPG. starts every time no matter the weather only uses 1/2 a quart between oil changes and will still cruzz 80 with the rolling computer chips blocking the left lane.
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its the little things that make the biggest difference
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73Gremlin401
Supporter of TheAMCForum Joined: Mar/02/2013 Location: Stmbt Sprgs CO Status: Offline Points: 946 |
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As much as I enjoy watching these Kenosha and Lakefront plant videos - I'd love to see videos (or even stills) from the Milwaukee plant that closed at the end of the 1978 model run. The last two years all they built there were Matadors, at a rather casual rate (something like 60 car bodies a day). That there doesn't seem to be any photographic or video history of the plants internals tells me that as 'primitive' as the Kenosha plant seemed - things over there had to be downright Dark Ages.
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73 Gremlin 401/5-spd.
77 Matador Wagon 360/727. 81 Jeep J10 LWB 360/4-spd 83 Concord DL 4-dr 258/auto |
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Steve_P
AMC Addicted Charter Member Joined: Jun/28/2007 Status: Offline Points: 3806 |
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I had a Hornet with a 258 that I drove for years, including many long road trips. Great engine, great car, loved it. But it struggled to get even 20 MPG even with great compression, a new timing chain, and properly tuned. How well did AMC, with that engine, compete against the Asian invasion cars that got 50%+ more mileage? We know the answer. Honda, Toyota.... are still in business and killing it. AMC is.... not.
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Steve_P
AMC Addicted Charter Member Joined: Jun/28/2007 Status: Offline Points: 3806 |
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At the end in the 1980s, AMC was still building bodies (and cars) at Kenosha like it was 1960; everything by hand, manually. I can't imagine that Milwaukee was worse, that would be tough, but.... maybe. It's a shame that there isn't more photographic evidence of AMCs production lines- just to document how things were done, what colors parts were, etc. I'm sure that 40-50 years ago there were thousands of pictures documenting it, but very little has survived. Unlike GM.
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CamJam
Moderator Group Joined: Jan/04/2014 Location: Arizona Status: Offline Points: 6549 |
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AMC did build a modern facility in Brampton, with Renault money and Canadian Government loans, but it was too late, coming on line in 1986. Stellantis is still building Chargers and Challengers there, and both of the Chrysler LH cars my family owned in the 90s were built there.
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'73 Javelin 360 (current project)
'72 Baja Bronze Javelin SST '69 Big Bad Orange AMX (2018 Teague Heritage Award) SOLD |
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