Rambler Six and V8
| Rambler Six and Rambler V8 | |
|---|---|
1960 Rambler Six sedan
|
|
| Overview | |
| Manufacturer | American Motors Corporation (AMC) |
| Also called | Nash Rambler (Australia) |
| Production | 1956 – 1960 |
| Assembly | |
| Designer | Edmund E. Anderson |
| Body and chassis | |
| Body style | |
| Layout | FR layout |
| Powertrain | |
| Engine | |
| Dimensions | |
| Wheelbase | 108 in (2,743 mm) |
| Chronology | |
| Successor | Rambler Classic |
The Rambler Six and the Rambler V8 are intermediate sized automobiles that were built and marketed by American Motors Corporation (AMC) from 1956 to 1960.
Launched on 15 December 1955, the 1956 model year Rambler Six ushered a "new era in motoring has begun" according to George W. Romney, President of AMC. In 1956, the Rambler was sold through both Nash and Hudson networks of dealerships. This resulted from the merger of the two companies to form AMC in 1954.
The new Rambler line created and defined a new market segment, the "compact car" as the automobile classification was called at that time. A V8 engine powered model, the Rambler V8, was added in 1957.
The new for 1956 Rambler was arguably "the most important car American Motors ever built" in that it not only created and defined a new market segment, emphasized the virtues of compact design, but also enabled the automaker to prosper in the post-World War II marketplace that shifted from a seller's to a buyer's market. The sales war between Ford and Chevrolet conducted during 1953 and 1954 had left little business for the much smaller "independent" automakers trying to compete against the standard models offered by the domestic Big Three (General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler). Imported vehicles from Europe (Volkswagen in 1955, Peugeot in 1958) and Asia (Toyota in 1957) were much smaller, but found buyers in North America.
American Motors focused its resources to introduce a line of smaller cars than were then available from the domestic Big Three for the 1957 model year. The designs were developed by its Styling Director, Edmund E. Anderson and they were aimed at a new market segment. Although conventional business thinking states that bigger profits were made from sales of bigger cars, American Motors lacked the resources to develop a full range of models targeting different market segments. As the chairman and president of AMC, George W. Romney also avoided a head-to-head battle with the U.S. automakers by focusing the company on the compact car. He "felt that with the Rambler I had the car of the future" and Romney "bet the farm on the Rambler" by spending US$5.4 million on a "crash program to bring the 1957 Rambler to market a year earlier."
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Wikipedia