Us boomers can wax nostalgic about the great automotive journalists of the past. However, right under our noses a new generation is coming into its own that — truth be told — is even better than the titans of the postwar era.
The single best place to learn about these remarkable young writers is at Hotcars.com. This website has quietly become today’s equivalent of Car and Driver magazine during its golden years. As a case in point, if you want to read the definitive story about the AMX, you will want to check out Emma Starr’s (2020) epic essay, “How Come Nobody Bought The AMC AMX?”
This is the kind of writing that would have made David E. Davis swoon. The wordsmithing has the elegance of a Brock Yates and the analytical depth of a David Halberstam.
For example, Starr (2020) astutely notes that even though the AMX had stellar performance specs and a lower price than the Chevrolet Corvette, the new two-seater’s sales “never thrived.”
Why was that, she rhetorically asked? “Well, the automaker’s largely objected to refocusing AMC’s image, failing to bring the newer and younger customers into the picture.”
If Davis were editing Starr’s story, I could see him getting so excited that he all but shouted: “This draft is utterly perfect — I wouldn’t change an apostrophe!”
Indeed, if Davis had come up with a sentence of comparable eruditeness, he would have immediately gone out for a five-martini lunch. But not Starr, who was just getting warmed up.
Starr’s questions get to the bottom of the matter
For example, Starr (2020) displayed an uncommon mastery of her subject matter when summing up why AMX sales fell in 1970: “Unfortunately, in the last year, in 1970, the production numbers were much lower — they were basically cut in half. Maybe this is the reason no one bought the AMC AMX, or maybe this was the effect of no one buying this model.”
Of course, the nameplate was subsequently used as a high-end model on other AMC cars such as the Javelin in 1971-74.
In assessing the overall arc of the nameplate’s life, Starr concluded her story by asking: “So, really, why did no one buy the AMC AMX? Was it because of the oil crisis in 1973 that damaged the reputation of all muscle cars of the current time period? Was it due to the lack of production of the AMX as the years went on, or was that merely the backlash of the lack of sales?”
These questions are so incisive that they should even impress the hard-to-please judges at the Automotive Heritage Foundation. Thus, it strikes me as a no-brainer that Hotcars.com should pony up the entrance fee to be considered for one of their prestigious awards. After all, you can’t win if you don’t pay.
What I find most encouraging is that Starr’s article is only one example of the outstanding journalism coming from Hotcars.com (go here for others). With historical analysis of this caliber, I feel confident that the field’s future is in very good hands.
NOTES:
This is a satirical essay. For further discussion about what is real, go here.
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RE:SOURCES
- Starr, Emma; 2020. “How Come Nobody Bought The AMC AMX?” Hotcars.com. Posted June 22.
ADVERTISEMENTS & BROCHURES:
- ads.aacalibrary.org (Antique Automobile Club of America): AMC AMX (1969)
Urrrp…sorry. I think I threw up a little bit in my mouth. Anybody got a Kleenex? Ewww! Maybe a little in my nose too! Gross me out!
Had I been more responsible I might have made something of myself as a junk bond trader, long-haul trucker or perhaps a plumbing contractor.
Brock Yates