1970 AMC / AMX 3 Prototype

When you think "Supercars", you think of pricey mega muscle cars that are born and bred in Europe. But did the notion ever dawn on you that the good ol' USA would've given an attempt at a Supercar back in the day? And even more surprising....that attempt would come from the home of such "Middle America" cars as the Rambler, Hornet, and the Pacer ? Yep. The American Motors Corporation actually had a chance to be a contender in the Supercar world with its AMC / AMX 3. Even in it's prototype form. Yep...no word of lie.

Like Ferrari's, Lamborghini, and other high end pedigree Supercars, the 1970 AMX/3 was also a high-performance mid-engine sports car that came very close to production, which would have been no small achievement even if volume would have been scarcely more than the six examples ultimately built.

Widely considered as the best AMC design of all time, a third-generation AMX concept car, the AMX/3, debuted at the 1970 Chicago Auto Show. Engine-less and fashioned in fiberglass, the original AMC/3 prototype was a show car only.

Then, American Motors placed an order for 30 operational cars. The AMX/3 body mold was sent to Italian GT maker Giotto Bizzarrini, whose Turin, Italy facility hand made drivable mid-engined, steel bodied cars. Built on a 105.3-inch  wheelbase, the Bizzarrini prototypes used the AMC 390 cu in V8 and an Italian OTO Melara four-speed transaxle. Road testing was done by BMW, which declared the AMX/3's chassis one of the stiffest and most neutral handling they had ever tested.

The steel Italian cars differed from the original AMC design in having fewer but functional rear decklid louvers, louvered hoods, and, in some cases, hood scoops to direct fresh air into the heating-A/C system.

And, while General Motors giant Chevrolet began to tease the public with midships Corvettes that would never be, little AMC was briefly on the verge of building a Euro-style supercar the public could actually buy.

Five completed cars were produced before the 2 million dollar program was cancelled. Escalating costs and pending bumper regulations put a stop to the mid-engined AMX/3. (The remaining extra parts were used to assemble a sixth car.) What a shame, although...it does lend truth to the saying, "For of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these: "It might have been!"