1969 AMC Rebel "The Machine"

"Wel-come my son, tooooo...The Mach-i-i-i-ine!" Nope...we're not talking about a Pink Floyd Classic rock song this time. American Motors Corporation's 1970 Rebel Machine took American Motors into the mid sized muscle car field. It did not enter so quietly. The body rakes forward in an aggressive, street-fighting stance. On the fender is a decal. It shows two gears chewing out the name of this macho street beast: "The Machine."

On the street and drag strip, The Machine was a pretty good performer. Like the prior 1969 AMC SC/Scrambler, it used the AMX's Ram-Air 390 cid V8, newly souped to 340 hp. On its way from concept to reality, The Machine gained a big hood scoop that served the engine via a vacuum-controlled butterfly valve. It had a hood mounted tach. A Hurst 4-speed was mandatory and came with a 3.54:1 axle. AMC's limited-slip rear end was a $43 option, with a genuine Detroit Locker and gear ratios up to 5.00:1 available.

Also, The Machine was one of Detroit's most stiffly sprung muscle cars. Its extra-heavy-duty suspension included firm station wagon rear springs, which elevated the tail and helped account for its "raked" look. With E60x15 tires, cornering ability was top-notch, but rear-axle juddering off the line prevented the willing, lightweight V-8 from propelling the car into the low-14-second range.

Sadly, The Machine turned out to be a one-year-only model. There were 2,326 AMC Rebel Machines built in 1970. The first 1,000 units were given the Red, White & Blue paint scheme. The rest were given a sans "Captain America" look, which may not have been as show worthy , but however, did come in handy at any traffic light on a Friday night...when your next possible opponent was lulled into thinking that his next "victim" was just a mere, bland, ordinary mid sized AMC Hardtop. Wrong.