Get Hotcars Premium. Start your free trial today

AMC might be long gone, but we still benefit from their innovations to this day. Check out these facts most people never knew about AMC.

American Motor Corporation (AMC) was an American automotive company that was founded in 1954 and went defunct in 1988. The company held sway in an era that was extremely difficult for companies outside the Big Three (Ford, GM, and Chrysler). Against all odds, AMC battled harsh market forces, change/loss of top management, tight operational budget, and so on, to produce some of the most iconic cars we’ve seen in the United States.

AMC gave us legendary cars like the Rambler American, Rebel, and the Eagle. It’s surely a brand that needed no introduction considering its relative success both at home and abroad. However, AMC has some intriguing facts that weren’t public knowledge, and we’ve listed some of them here.

In business, mergers and acquisitions often involve the deals that require the transfer or consolidation of ownership of a company or part of it to other entities. In 1954, Nash-Kelvinator Corporation and Michigan-based Hudson Motor Car Company merged to form the American Motors Corporation (AMC).

This wasn’t the first time the Americans were witnessing a merger & acquisition, however, as at then, this merger was the largest corporate merger in the United State history.

Most big countries all over the world have top ranking automobile companies that lead the pack in innovation and sales while others follow. These companies have the biggest valuation, sales, and yearly budget – they’re called the Big Three.

The Big Three in America are Ford, GM, and Chrysler. However, by strategically focusing on the market segment that isn’t of major interest to the Big Three, AMC was able to carve a niche for itself in the American automotive space with little competition.

RELATED: Here's Why No One Will Ever Remember The AMC Hornet

Crossover otherwise known as a crossover SUV is a type of car that is built with a unibody structure. The distinctive feature on a unibody SUV is the unitary construction design which has the vehicle body, floor plan, and the chassis all on a single construction.

In the United States, the AMC Eagle was the first-ever crossover built by any automobile company, making the American Motors Corporation the American pioneer of the crossover.

AMC had some success at different times in the United States, but unfortunately, they were short-lived, far in-between, and nonsustained. The same cannot be said of the Big Three companies – they are financially healthy, made continuous sales, and kept building successful car models.

In 1980, AMC got Renault to fund the operations leading to Renault having a 47% stake in AMC. Subsequently, Renault sold its 47% stake to Chrysler which led to Chrysler buying the remaining outstanding shares of AMC stock on the NYSE.

RELATED: The Hidden Truth Behind The AMC Javelin

In 1954, the merger between Nash-Kelvinator Corporation and Hudson Motor Car Company produced Nash-Kelvinator Corporation’s president, George W. Mason, as the CEO and president of the newly formed AMC while A.E. Barit, the Hudson president, retired to become AMC board member.

Mason appointed George Romney as his Vice president. However, on the 8th of October 1954, Mason died and Romney took over. Romney later left the post to become the 43rd Governor of Michigan in 1963.

The master cylinder turns force into hydraulic pressure. A popular use of this system is found in the brake and clutch systems in automobiles. For car brakes, the cylinders are located in the brake calipers or drum brakes.

When pressure is applying through braking, these cylinders thrust the brake pads towards the rotating surface on the wheels causing friction between the static brake pad(s) and the rotating surface. This friction makes the rotating wheels to come to a halt.

Ergonomics is the science that incorporates the design of any human workspace to best fit the people using them. The United States didn’t see much ergonomic innovation with the earlier built automobiles. The seats were comfortable but rigid.

However, AMC had other ideas. They imported Nash’s adjustable front seat backrest technology and also fitted the standard dual reclining front seats into the Classic and Ambassador Models – this was almost a decade before the Big Three adopted it.

RELATED: These Are The Best Muscle Cars To Ever Come From AMC

Romney’s genius strategic decision of focusing on manufacturing small cars eventually paid off. The AMC was practically left with no competitors as the Big Three were mainly focusing on building massive cars. As of 1960, small cars had become the rave of the moment thereby shooting AMC’s sales to the roof.

The massive sales led to huge profits gains making the company debt-free. Capitalizing on these gains, AMC moved to sign a profit-sharing plan with United Auto Workers in 1961 – the first in U.S. automotive history.

RELATED: Is It Worth Buying An AMC Javelin Today?

Founded in 1953, Kaiser Jeep Corporation, a Toledo-based automotive company was best known for manufacturing Jeep. After several years of losses, the company decided to exit the business and thus started looking for buyers.

AMC had shown interest in the company for many years, hence, even against top management’s wish, Chapin (AMC President) sealed the deal. Jeep was bought for $70 million. Subsequently, it would later turn to be a genius deal as the Big Three also showed no interest in the Jeep market.

Acquiring an asset could be a Herculean task when there aren’t enough funds for it. For this sole purpose, many financial houses offer a different type of plans that helps to take the burden of an outright payment of people. Through these plans, payment for assets can then be spread over several months or years in easily payable little chunks.

However, these plans are most times offered at very high rates leading to high financing costs. AMC provided their customers with low rate financing plans making repayment a lot easier.

NEXT: The Real Story Behind The Original AMC Javelin

Olakunle has contributed as a writer on several platforms over the years. Right from childhood, he’s been fascinated by the world of automobiles. Hence, he finds contributing to HotCars quite interesting – a surreal experience.