AMC AMX
American Motors Corporation
Production1968–1970
Engine290 CID 4-bbl AMC V8 engine / V8 225 hp 1968–69 / 343 CID 4-bbl V8 280 hp 1968–69 / 360 CID 4-bbl V8 285 hp 1970 / 390 CID 4-bbl V8 315 hp 1968–69 / 390 CID twin 4-bbl V8 340 hp 19
American Motors Corporation
The AMC AMX is a two-seat GT-style muscle car produced by American Motors Corporation from 1968 through 1970. As one of just two American-built two-seaters, the AMX was in direct competition with the one-inch (2.5 cm) longer wheelbase Chevrolet Corvette, for substantially less money. It was based on the new-for-1968 Javelin, but with a shorter wheelbase and deletion of the rear seat. In addition, the AMX's rear quarter windows remained fixed, making it a coupe, while the Javelin was a true two-door hardtop. Fitted with the standard high-compression 290 cu in (4.8 L) or optional 343 cu in (5.6 L) or 390 cu in (6.4 L) AMC V8 engine, the AMX offered sporty performance at an affordable price.
Despite this value and enthusiastic initial reception by automotive media and enthusiasts, sales never thrived. However, the automaker's larger objectives to refocus AMC's image on performance and to bring younger customers into its dealer showrooms were achieved. After three model years, the two-seat version was discontinued. The AMX's signature badging was transferred to a high-performance version of its four-seat sibling, the Javelin, from the 1971 to 1974 model years. American Motors capitalized on the respected reputation of the original two-seat AMXs by reviving the model designation for performance-equipped coupe versions of the compact Hornet in 1977, Concord in 1978, and the subcompact Spirit in 1979 and 1980.
From the Wikipedia article AMC AMX, CC BY-SA.
This is the catalogue record of the AMC AMX, one of 23 models American Motors Corporation has placed in the historical record and one of more than seventeen thousand cars the MotorJury library tracks. The record places its introduction in 1968. The photography on this page is hotlinked from Wikimedia Commons under an open licence, with the photographer credited on every frame.
To read the AMC AMX properly it helps to place it in its decade. The 1960s were the decade of the pony car, the mid-engined revolution and the birth of the modern hot hatchback's ancestors — engineering advanced faster than in any decade before it. Any car launched into that world was shaped by it — by what materials, engineering and regulation allowed, and by what buyers of the day demanded. Its direct contemporaries in this catalogue, introduced within three years of it, include the Toyota Toyota Hilux, the Peugeot Peugeot 504, the Pontiac Pontiac Firebird — the cars a buyer of the period would actually have cross-shopped.
On paper, the AMC AMX reads like this: the record lists its engine as 290 CID 4-bbl AMC V8 engine / V8 225 hp 1968–69 / 343 CID 4-bbl V8 280 hp 1968–69 / 360 CID 4-bbl V8 285 hp 1970 / 390 CID 4-bbl V8 315 hp 1968–69 / 390 CID twin 4-bbl V8 340 hp 19; kerb weight is recorded at Approximate: 3000 lb; drive goes through 4-speed Manual transmission / manual floor shift (standard) / 3-speed "Shift-Command" Automatic transmission / automatic on console; the layout is FR layout. Every figure above is a manufacturer specification carried by the Wikipedia infobox or the open Wikidata record for this model — nothing on this page is estimated, and where a source is silent the row simply does not appear.
Within American Motors Corporation's own catalogue the AMC AMX sits alongside the AMC AMX-GT, the AMC AMX/3, the AMC Ambassador, the AMC Amitron. It was succeeded by the AMC Javelin (second generation). Design is credited to Dick Teague. Assembly is recorded at United States: Kenosha, Wisconsin / Australia: Port Melbourne, Victoria / Port Melbourne (Australian Motor Industries / AMI).
This library is generated, verified and rebuilt from the open record on every deploy. The catalogue skeleton comes from Wikidata, specifications from Wikipedia's infoboxes under CC BY-SA, photography from Wikimedia Commons under each file's own licence, and the ownership data from United States federal safety records. Nothing is written by hand and nothing is invented: every fact on this page traces to a public source, and every page is rebuilt nightly as those sources improve. Errors in the source record will appear here too — and disappear the night the source is corrected.
Most car databases stop at series production. This one deliberately does not, because concept cars, racing specials and cancelled prototypes are where the industry thinks out loud — the ideas tested in public years before they reach a showroom. Holding them beside the production cars they inspired makes the lineage legible: nearly every landmark road car in this library has a concept ancestor somewhere in the catalogue, and the connections run through the era links on every page.
The catalogue records what the AMC AMX was; the ownership database records what it is like to own. MotorJury computes a verdict for every model year the United States federal record covers — complaints, recalls, real economy — refreshed nightly, with no opinions involved. If this car reached the American market, its verdicts are in there.
Specifications come from the Wikipedia infobox for this model (CC BY-SA) and the open Wikidata record, and are shown only where a source actually carries them — nothing here is estimated. Figures are manufacturer specifications, not measured results.
Tap a star. Ratings are kept on your device and feed the most-loved list.
Ownership verdicts are computed from NHTSA complaint and recall records plus EPA economy data, re-priced for your country. Verdicts are published per model year as the data is ingested — browse them live, or open the true-cost calculator to price any year yourself.
Contemporaries from other marques, introduced within three years of this car.