Marlin Sport Sedan

Just a quick chop showing a 4 door hardtop Marlin. I lowered the roof about an inch, maybe two, which lengthens the car even more than the '67 facelift, and the move to the Ambassador's longer wheelbase for its last year. Just by adding a second set of door handles, it's weird, but the car just looks better to me. It seems almost mainstream to these 21st century eyes. The only detail I had to change from stock was the odd trim piece in front of the rear bumper. There are nicely pressed-in 'bomb' shapes in the sheetmetal near the front and rear bumpers. but for some reason AMC stuck on an unneeded piece of trim, a rare design misstep, in my opinion. So I took the molding off and left the nicely sculpted sheetmetal instead.  I didn't even enlarge the wheels or change the hubcaps. It's all nicely period the way it is. Oh, and I added local Goldenrod to the background, lol.

This isn't a chop, just a quick photoshop collage of a '62 Rambler Classic Custom sedan. A few of us here have professed admiration for American Motors Corporation, AMC, and the earlier Nash, Hudson and, of course, the Rambler. I found this clean specimen for sale at the Goldenrod Garage, a reputable purveyor of older cars. They're located in Freeport, Maine, and have been taking ads in Hemming's Motor News for decades. I can remember looking at their black and white ads in early issues of Hemmings printed on actual newsprint. Nowadays they have a website of course, linked above, and show several views of each car for sale. 

I found this image, at Wikipedia, of the sixties Rambler logo. What a beautiful example of corporate logo art from later mid-century design. Love, love, love, mid-century modern design in all things, furniture, architecture, fashion and of course industrial/transportation designs. 

Looking at the '62 Classic I collaged above, I'm struck at what a perfect package it really was. It was not anywhere near as long or as heavy as the 'low-priced three' from the big mfrs. It used a unit-bodied, all welded structure, good for lightweight and rigidity. By this time they had a choice of modern V8s and a mix of sixes. They had all the optional extras the major players offered. The Edmund Anderson-directed styling of these Ramblers seems almost European to me today, and overall really attractive. I could see a resto-mod version, completely stock on the outside, complete with wheelcovers and whitewalls, but with 4 Recaro buckets and full leather interior with all the modern-day goodies. Maybe upholstered in turquoise like the original!