For $2,000, Be A Rambler-In Man (Or Woman)

Detroit is the most American of car shows, but one American car company that sadly won't be there is American Motors. To make up for that, today's Nice Price or Crack Pipe AMC Rambler has plenty to show, but will its price make you want to ramble on?

Toyota's bringing to Detroit a concept car called the Furia – which sounds like something perverts who like to get freaky in animal costumes would drive – but as we all now know its their pig lipsticking of the next Corolla.

Of course show cars never come with a price tag, but should Toyota want to gauge public opinion on pricing the next Corolla they could do worse than to check out the 94% Crack Pipe whipping yesterday's weird 1996 Corolla Hatch received. It wasn't pretty, but the car itself was kind of cute.

The Rambler name was first applied to an automobile all the way back in 1899. The brand changed names to Jeffery in 1914, and three years later became Nash Motors when bought by that brand's eponymous founder. Following WWII Nash sought to build a smaller, more fuel efficient car, and the Nash Rambler was the result.

In 1954 the merger of Nash-Kelvinator with Hudson Motors created AMC, with Ramblers branded as both Nash and Hudson products for a time. It was George Romney – yeah, that guy's dad – who raked all the Ramblers onto one platform. That line as a whole was considered tits enough to receive Motor Trend's COTY award in 1963.

Romney's successor – Roy Abernethy – decided that the unified, cost saving platform sharing – and the Rambler name – was what was holding AMC back. He advocated model proliferation and the depreciation of the Rambler nameplate, and well, the rest is history.

Fleeing Abernethy's wrath, Rambler headed south, continuing on in Mexico, Australia, and Argentina into the '80s. Before they made that run for the border however, this 1968 Rambler American station wagon escaped its Kenosha Wisconsin (or perhaps Brampton Ontario) assembly line. Square and spare of trim the 4th generation American was a damn fine looking automobile, and especially so as a wagon.

This red over re-vinyled white edition is claimed to have thoroughly rebuilt mechanicals – including its 232 CID straight six and 3-speed automatic transmission. The seller notes that he has also replaced the gas tank and breaks (!), but what's perhaps the most comical aspect of the ad, he claims that he has recently replaced the windshield, and apparently most of the ad's pictures were taken half-way through that process.

While the seller does say that it runs and stops just fine, the rest of the car remains a little rough around the edges. The paint is tired and the seller says that there's some minor rust here and there, but nothing that would sway a buying decision. He does offer – as is always the case with cars that are somewhat beat up – that you could leave it as-is and call it a Rat Rod. Okay people, enough with the Rat Rods – just clean up your frikkin' cars, m'kay?

AMC may be one of the most lamented absences from the annual auto show circuit, but to make up for that a bit you could do far worse than showing up for the Detroit shindig in this American. Doing so won't require a government bailout either as the seller is asking only $2,000 for the old gal.

What do you think about this AMC for that much do-re-mi? Does $2,000 seem like a fair price for this Rambler wagon? Or, does that price make this an ugly American?

You decide!

Columbia Craigslist or go here if the ad disappears.

H/T to archovist for the hookup

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