A key way that American Motors was able to afford fielding both a compact and mid-sized platform in the mid-1960s was by sharing an unusual number of body parts. However, as Car Life noted below, that resulted in a heavier car.
“When the redesigned American appeared in the fall of 1963, it was hailed as a clever adaptation of the larger Classic body panels into a smaller ‘Uniside’ structure. Moreover, it was cute. And it still is, since there has been only minor facelifting applied to the the car to identify the latest model year. The test hardtop had a somewhat novel treatment for roofline trim.
Aside from appearance, however, the uniside body is a relatively weighty one considering its size. This is apparently an unavoidable penalty of such construction. In the 177.25-in. long American, there is close to 1.5 tons of metal, glass, rubber, plastic and fuel. One the other hand, all that material is jigsawed together most solidly.”
— Car Life (1965, p. 54)
The 1965 American 440H two-door hardtop carried around more pounds than somewhat larger competitors such as the Ford Falcon Futura (242 pounds) and the Chevrolet Corvair Corsa (145 pounds). In addition, the top-end American two-door hardtop was slightly heavier than a Plymouth Valiant Signet even though the latter was 11 inches longer.
This illustrates how American Motors arguably didn’t have the resources to compete in the bottom end of the market unless it went all in with a modular platform that emphasized light weight.
Also see ‘Rambler pays price for not listening to Car and Driver magazine’
RE:SOURCES
- Car Life; 1965. “Rambler American 440-H.” February issue: pp. 52-55.
- Gunnell, John; 2002. Standard Catalog of American Cars, 1946-1975. Revised 4th Ed. Krause Publications, Iola, WI.
ADVERTISEMENTS & BROCHURES:
- oldcaradvertising.com: Rambler American (1965)
I think the business plan for the 1963 Rambler Classic and Ambassador likely included an adaptation of that platform for the 1964 American. Because of the lead times to build new or restyled automobiles, George Romney had to have at least approve the tooling expense necessary for the “Uniside” unit-body platform. Two sets of tooling was likely too much for a company like A.M.C., and Roy Abernathy likely could have cared less about vehicle weight as he wanted to build bigger cars at a time of 35-cent gasoline. I still thing the 1963 Rambler Classic and the 1964-1965 American were among the best-designed cars in the United States.