1963 Rambler

The 1963 Rambler Ambassador 880 Cross-Country Wagon sold
 for $3,329 f.o.b. Brampton, Ontario and weighed in at 1 485 kilos (3,275 pounds).

After five long years of uphill battle against its ever-increasing foreign and domestic competitors, Rambler Canada was ready with an assault of its own for 1963. It was an unforgettable attack; one that caught the entire North American auto industry by surprise. Its shared Classic and Ambassador envelope was new from stem to stern. Like baby bear's porridge, prices were just right; all Ramblers were now domestically built, save the sassy little American 440 convertible.  Folks in the Brampton, Ontario head office rubbed their hands in the delicious anticipation of really knocking the socks off the competition.

At a special company picnic, the 1,200 employees and their families got a sneak preview of the new Ramblers, before anyone else. The event was made even more memorable with a visit by Peter the Clown, a popular television personality, and none other than the CBC's newsreader who presented The National each evening, as well as being Rambler Canada's spokesman, Earl Cameron.

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The 1963 Rambler lineup did not include the Metropolitan.
Rambler Canada's littlest soldier retired with honour  after nine years
in the Canadian marketplace.

For the first time in American Motors’ history, there was no Metropolitan on the showroom floor. Manufacture of the tiny captive import from Britain had been discontinued in 1960 but it took two more years to clear out the backlog. Consumers took home 330 of them in 1961. In 1962, Marty Fine, a Rambler dealer in Calgary, cleaned out the last of the Metropolitan stock from head office and sold the lovable little rascals to customers in Alberta. 

For some 4,000 consumers who thought that the $2,184 Rambler American was expensive, the rock bottom priced Austin Mini, the DKW, the NSU Prinz, the Simca and the Škoda were all hands-down winners in 1963. With the adorable Metropolitan gone and no replacement, American Motors simply abandoned that entire under-$2,000 segment of the market.

 For 1963 the six-cylinder Flying Scot was offered in a 92-kiloWatt (125-horsepower) form for the Rambler American convertible. Other Rambler Americans received the tried and true 67-kiloWatt (90-horsepower) L-head, first seen in the 1941 Nash 600.

The 2 540-millimetre (100-inch wheelbase) American took the honours of being the smallest Rambler this year. It was on its third-year of the style cycle. Since the basic envelope was the same, much was made of the 45 important improvements to the vehicle, including “a wide selection of colour-coordinated interiors in rich vinyls and fabrics to satisfy the most exacting taste.” The least expensive of the tribe was the plain-Jane 220 two-door sedan. With its $2,184 price tag, it undercut the most bare-boned Studebaker, Chevy II, Ford Falcon and Valiant by a country kilometre.

The only imported Rambler this year was the 440 American convertible. All other Ramblers were sourced from American Motors Canada Limited plant in Brampton, Ontario.

Of course, the real competition for the smallest Rambler came from abroad. The rise of the Pound Sterling and other European currencies along with higher tariffs imposed by Ottawa meant that the Rambler American would now do battle with a whole host of European contenders including the Austin A40, the Morris 1100, the Fiat 1100, the Hillman 1600, the Triumph 1200 and the Renault R8.

 With a list price of $2,734, the 1963 Rambler Classic 660
represented value to thousands of Canadians.

The mid-priced Rambler Classic was a completely new vehicle. The guys at Canada Track & Traffic tested a 660 four-door sedan. They described it as a “solid, functional machine” and noted that the interior dimensions were substantially larger as a result of the Scena-ramic curved side window glass. They waxed most enthusiastic about the cabin. “From a decorator’s point of view the interior of our test car was tastefully done, using a subtle combination of colours that would be easy to live with for extended periods. Long-wearing, simple to clean fabrics are used on the seats, the doors are covered with a moulded, two-tone vinyl, while the floors are covered with carpeting of exceptional beauty.”

Despite unabashed praise for the famed Weather Eye heater, the Dual-Safe brake system and the Airliner reclining seats, they deemed the Classic to be “conventional” and rated its qualities as “satisfying” while hoping for spectacular. They summed up their test experience with this remark: “After spending several enjoyable days with it, we concluded that the Rambler is the car we would like to give our Grandmother as a present. Easy to drive, completely dependable, sensibly sized and with ample interior space, Rambler suits the practical individual.”

Airliner Reclining Seats made into Twin Travel Beds, saving frugal
travellers bundles of  money as they slept in their roadside Rambler Hiltons.

Billed as the only homegrown passenger car with big-car room and comfort, combined with small-car economy and handling ease, the Classic 550 two-door sedan listed for $2,538. It competed squarely against the domestically built Corvair, Chevy II, Falcon, Valiant, and Studebaker. It stood up most solidly against the imported Austin A60, the DKW 1000, the Envoy, the Hillman Super Minx, The Morris Oxford, the Renault Caravelle, the Vauxhall, the Volkswagen 1500 and Volvo’s PV 544.

From the rear, Rambler Ambassador carried styling cues that distinguished it from the Classic.

At the very apex of the Rambler summit shone the Rambler Ambassador. Heretofore, it had always been designated as Ambassador by Rambler. The wording of the name was a subtle nuance designed to elevate the luxurious Ambassador above its more economical kin. Management decided that was no longer necessary. For the first time since the marque debuted, every car on the dealer’s showroom floor carried the Rambler emblem. Like its sister Classic, the Ambassador was fresh from the ground up. With promises of delivering more style, more luxury and more V-8 performance, the Ambassador 880 four-door sedan listed for $2,978 and the 880 Cross-Country Wagon sold for $3,329.

The Rambler Ambassador could be ordered with reclining bucket seats and
a centre console in 1963. The Twin-Stick semi-automatic transmission is shown.

Folks have always been willing to shell out a couple of bucks for extras. Popular add-ons for this year’s Ramblers included $7,50 for a block heater, $90.50 for the Weather Eye Heater,  $31.95 for the Airliner reclining seats and $30.05 for headrests, $56.95 for five seatbelts,  $11.25 for windshield washers, $13.40 for backup lights, $212.00 for the Flash-O-Matic transmission, $15 for undercoating, $32.50 for two wheel rims (for snow tires), $20 for a set of full wheel covers and $15 for whitewall tires.

Rambler executives were more than happy with Track and Traffic’s evaluation of “satisfying” rather than “spectacular”. The prestigious publication bypassed Rambler and bestowed the coveted Golden Wheel Award on the new Volkswagen 1500. In the USA, Motor Trend magazine had named Rambler as its Car of the Year. The Brampton factory had doubled in size during the year to keep up with the avalanche of orders. The company started exporting right-hand drive Ramblers to the UK in February, accounting for half of the Canadian-built automobiles imported by Britain that year.

Rambler placed sixth in the domestic automotive sales chart for the calendar year with 27,019 sales according to Canadian Automotive Trade, (Ward’s Automotive Yearbook reported 28,602 sales) right between fifth place Volkswagen and fourth place Valiant. Workers in Brampton built 30,167 Ramblers during the 1963 calendar year and a total of 27,411 units during the model year. The 1964 picture was only going to get brighter.

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Copyright James C. Mays 2004 All rights reserved.

1966 Rambler

The Rambler name was downplayed for the
1966 season and Ambassador was registered
as a make of automobile. Built in Brampton, Ontario,
 the six-cylinder DPL Hardtop sold for $3,312. 

The winds of change blew mightily over American Motors in 1962. World president George Romney took a leave of absence from the corporation to explore his political options. Roy Abernethy replaced Romney at the wheel. Abernethy was salesman par excellence who had worked his way up the ladder at Packard by being that company’s best salesman. Lured away from Packard to flog automobiles for Willys-Overland, his successes on behalf of the Toledo-based firm led to a position as VP of Sales at American Motors. 

Abernethy was a natural leader because he had developed very strong, personal ties to the dealers. He listened carefully when they talked. What Rambler dealers told Abernethy over and over was that they wanted bigger cars to sell. They were convinced that continental craze for compact cars was over. Rambler dealers were eating dust as consumers opted for larger sets of wheels offered by competitors. Figures from analysts within the industry bore that out. 

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 Romney was successful at politics and resigned from American Motors. Abernethy’s position was now permanent. Once firmly in the driver’s seat, the new president was quick to sell the board of directors on a radical new direction for the company. Armed with facts and figures, he convinced them that American Motors could not achieve its full market potential until the company offered a full range of automobiles. He further persuaded the board that the Rambler name was outmoded; that it needed to be downplayed and eventually retired in order to achieve its rightful corporate destiny. The changing of the guard would take place with the introduction of the 1966 models. 

To achieve that goal, a much larger Ambassador debuted for 1965. So did an all-new luxury fastback, the Marlin. The 1966 Rambler line was truncated to include only Americans and Classics; Ambassador and Marlin were elevated from models to brands.

Here at home, American Motors Canada, Limited followed suit, breaking out the Marlin and the Ambassador from the Rambler pack. Only seventy 1966 models had been built when workers in the Brampton, Ontario plant walked off the job in a wildcat strike. They wanted American Motors to give them a deal like their union brothers had in Windsor, Oakville and Oshawa. 

Wages rose from $2,47 an hour to $2.71 and included a 21-cent cost of living bonus that would be honoured throughout the life of the three-year contract. Pensions were increased to $225 a month, two more statutory holidays were added, for a total of ten a year. Workers were given ten days’ paid holidays after ten years’ service and four weeks after fifteen years. Life insurance, sick pay and supplementary unemployment insurance benefits sweetened the deal. Weary but satisfied union officials put the package to vote and workers returned ballots with 776 in favour and 96 against. When the new contract was signed, it matched what workers at Ford were getting in Oakville.

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This year’s homegrown crop of AM and Rambler passenger cars were given many extra touches not seen Stateside, all built into the base price. These included padded dashes, six seatbelts, backup lights, outside rearview mirrors and windshield washers as standard equipment. The Canadian Safety Council was mightily impressed and praised Brampton’s forward thinking.

The snazzy 1966 Marlin cost $3,525 f.o.b. Brampton
when equipped with the eight-cylinder engine.
 Ambassador and Marlin sold 7,469 units during
the calendar year.

Promising “room to swing in,” the highly styled fastback offered four-on-the-floor for him and three-in-the-back comfort for her. Marlin could hold five adults in comfort or half a den of Cub Scouts—if there was no way out of it. The trunk boasted a capacity of 12 cubic feet.

One could order the thrifty 145- or 155-horsepower Torque Command six-cylinder engine. For more speed, one could opt for the 198-, 250- or 270-horsepower V-8 mills. A three-speed manual transmission with an overdrive option was available or one could opt for a floor-mounted four-speed standard shift. An automatic transmission could be mounted on the column or on the floor. 

Now in its second year, Marlin offered oodles of extras so that “you can swing to your own tempo.” Reclining bucket seats, head rests, front and rear fold-down armrests-- unless one chose the centre console up front. Power steering, adjustable steering, AM-FM radio, rear speakers with Vibratone, All Season-Air Conditioning, power brakes, power disc brakes, power windows, Cruise Command speed control, electric wipers, a 4-Way Hazard Warning Signal, tinted glass, a Twin-Grip differential (great for banana-peel going) an electric tachometer and a black vinyl roof. The six-cylinder Marlin sold for $3,380 and the eight banger cost $3,535, f.o.b. Brampton, before the options were added onto the sales bill, of course.

Having been restyled in 1965, this year the elegant flagship was simply refined. Advertising was quick to point out, “Suddenly there’s a luxury car that isn’t oversized, overweight and overpriced.” The 115-inch wheelbased beauty came with niceties not found in other vehicles, including a pair of matching throw pillows for the back seat. 

Though seldom seen, the most inexpensive Ambassador in 1966 was the 880 two-door sedan. The modestly trimmed sedan carried a $2,845 price tag and weighed in at 2,968 pounds.

Offered exclusively in hardtop form, the top-of-the-line DPL cost $3,457 when equipped with the eight-cylinder power plant.  The 990 series included two- and four-door sedans, station wagons, convertibles and a hardtop, all equipped with a six or an extra-cost eight-cylinder engine. The least expensive Ambassador was the 880 with modestly trimmed two- and four-door sedans and a station wagon. As perfect as it was, the lily could be gilded with all of the extra-cost items available for the Marlin, too. 

The 1966 Rambler Classic 770 four-door sedan sold for $2,785
 and the Rambler Classic 550 two-door sedan cost $2,575.
The popular Classics were not available with eight-cylinder
 engines in Canada. Sales for the calendar year hit 11,387 units.

The one-off  Rambler St. Moritz  show car
made the auto show circuit in 1966.

The corporation’s traditional bread-and-butter line was the Rambler Classic. This year’s version was full of surprises. Perhaps the biggest surprise was that advertising compared it with Cadillac. The 232-cubic inch six-cylinder engine was standard. So was an acoustical fibreglass ceiling and a Ceramic-Armoured muffler. The convertible came with a flexible, scratchless glass rear window that didn’t need to be zippered in and out. A two-door hardtop Rebel led the Classic pack with its $3,112 price tag. The 770 family included a four-door sedan, a four-door station wagon and a two-door hardtop.  The low-bucks 550 series offered the only two-door sedan and included a four-door sedan and a wagon. 

Officials in Brampton gave a 1966 Rambler
American 440 convertible to Diane Landry
of St. Boniface, Manitoba when she was
crowned Miss Canada. The prize was worth
$2,945. 

Sitting on a pert 106-inch wheelbase, the Rambler American was the smallest of the company’s offerings. Smartly restyled and given the 232-cubic inch six as its base engine, a sassy new Rogue two-door hardtop was added to the line, selling for $2,620. Costing less, was the nicely appointed 440 series with a hardtop, convertible, station wagons, two- and four-door sedans. 

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If the budget was of primary importance, the bare-boned 220 series competed with many economical imports. A stripped Rambler American two-door sedan sold for a mere $2,414, a four-door sedan listed for $2,392 and a four-door station wagon carried a price tag of only $2,798. 

Despite the rocky start, the season ended on a high note for the feisty independent automaker. Only five dealers had defected from the dealer body; there were 320 AM/Rambler dealers stretching across the Dominion at the end of the year. Domestic sales were off by 4,000 units but, because of the new Auto Pact Trade Agreement between Ottawa and Washington last year, production in Brampton was up to 32,912 units. 

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 Copyright James C. Mays 2005 All rights reserved.