In the universe we currently inhabit — the one in which Facebook is re-launching Second Life under a dumb name, Russia invaded Ukraine just to be dicks, and Taco Bell is bringing back the Mexican Pizza — AMC, the American Motors Corporation, is long gone, and we can trace its death all the way back to 1987. That’s when Chrysler bought out Renault’s 46.1% share of the smallest American automaker as well as the remaining shares owned by the public, turning AMC into the Jeep-Eagle division of Chrysler. But what if that’s not how history had unfolded? Imagine with me, if you will, a glorious alternate universe in which AMC did not die, and in which Renault’s support kept the company going well enough to survive independently into the 1980s without the hungry eyes of Lee Iacocca staring it down. Can you imagine what the company’s post-1987 lineup have been like? Well, good news, you don’t have to, because yet again The Autopian has you covered.
This time, though, it isn’t me coming up with inane “what-if” ideas for you to consider; this time my longtime car-researcher friend, who we only know as the Bishop of Automotive Arcana, has provided for us some fascinating speculative drawings and ideas about what 1980s-era Chrysler-free AMC may have been like. It’s worth noting here that the Bishop has an actual, important-person job, so would prefer to remain anonymous, and that back in the late 1980s he attended the Center for Creative Studies in Detroit, training to be an auto designer.
In fact, our AMC-speculator informed me that his dorm parking spot was “next to Ralph Gilles’s rusty Scirocco,” and yes, that’s the Ralph Gilles who headed the team that designed the SRT Viper and saved some lies three years ago, among other notable accolades. So, while all of this may be absurd speculation, it’s absurd speculation from someone with some real training, and in the era that’s being speculated about.
It’s also why these illustrations look so damn good.
So, let’s get started by looking at this alternate universe’s AMC lineup, which is pretty heavily influenced by Renault, much in the same way the legendary Jeep XJ Cherokee was.
[Editor’s note: AMC had a 1987 lineup, and we have a good idea what the company’s late-1980s offerings would have been had it continued independently, so despite it saying “1987” on the fake brochure below, I see these cars really what one might have expected from 1990s-era AMC — an era that this world was unfortunately never able to witness. -DT]
[Another Editor’s note:Â The Bishop reached out to clarify a few things about this alternate universe:
-When I say 1987 AMC, I was referring to an AMC that would have existed had Chrysler NOT gotten the loan guarantees in 1980. So there would only be a big 2, and a much bigger market share and more business for AMC to hopefully be able to increase market share and have such a lineup by 1987 instead of the stragglers they had to work with.
-The trucks shown are NOT related to the alternate universe Eagle…they would be based on a new modular platform for full sized trucks to replace the 25 year old (at that time) SJ and that would have competed with Ford and GM examples (again, Dodge/Ram would have ceased to exist in 1980). ]
AMC’s Lineup And A Typical Dealership Layout
Holy crap, right? This guy’s not messing around when it comes to his AMC speculations. Look at that dealership design! It’s fantastic? Want more details, like a floorplan? Of course you do – in case you get sucked into a wormhole, you’ll want to have this handy so you can get rich selling AMCs:
Yeah, that’s amazing. I love the “rustic Jeep” area and the angled roof paved with stones to display a climbing car.
Okay, let’s dig a bit more into this AMC lineup. Happily, the Bishop has provided us with a handy spreadsheet of AMC models, along with their closest competitors:
This is a bold lineup! It’s leveraging AMC’s extensive AWD drivetrain experience, providing more refined off-road or bad weather-capable vehicles for people who don’t want a hardcore Jeep (which exists as a separate, AMC-owned brand in this timeline, too). In a lot of ways, this feels like what AMC could have grown into from its early 1980s AMC Eagle/Spirit era, where the old Hornet platform was already transforming into AWD wagons and sedans.
Renault’s influence is very notable here, with some Renault engines and even whole vehicle brand engineering, as in the case of the SpaceVan, based on the Renault Espace, the revolutionary minivan/people-mover Renault introduced in 1984. Let’s take a quick look at each of these cars, one by one.
Let’s Look At These Cars
Calabrone
These seem to be this AMC’s real volume car, said to compete with the Corsica and Tempo, though I could see it taking on imports like the Accord and small wagons like the Civic 4WD wagon and the Toyota Tercel 4WD wagon. They’re very sleek, pop-up light ’80s designs, and that coupé version feels a bit like a Mitsubishi Eclipse, which was sort of an AMC in our world when it was sold as an Eagle Talon. That 16V engine was likely the Renault 1.8-liter engine used on the Renault 19, if I had to guess, which I probably don’t.
Adaro
What I like about this one is that you can clearly see ’80s versions of AMC designer Dick Teague’s styling, and while the copy references the Gremlin, I see a bit more Pacer in there, especially in the front end treatment. An Escort competitor domestically, but I bet it would be cross-shopped against VW Golfs and Civics and Tercels, too.
Eagle
Possibly the closest here to earlier AMCs, this Eagle does feel like an updated version of the AMC Eagle we know: a ruggedized 4WD wagon, with more creature comforts and car-like design than a jeep, but quite capable. I like the agressive integrated bull-bar grille and the updated AMC flap-like Class 10 door handles. I think these could have competed with 4WD Subaru wagons pretty well.
This platform mentioned here, the EX Platform, gets a bit more speculative development from the Bishop, including this pickup truck variant known as the Honcho, which would have been sold as a Jeep:
This particular one is drawn from the perspective of being owned by an alternate universe David Tracy, in an alternate 2022, hence the flat tires and rust.
The platform would have been developed into a lot of body styles, including a Cherokee-replacing Chief model and an upmarket Wagoneer version, which got an extra set of headlights, just like the XJ Wagoneers did in our reality.
Just to show you how deep down this hole the Bishop went, he included drawings of the JLX platform’s modular dash designs:
…and even came up with a stylish option known as the Jeepack, modeled here by a young and beautiful David Tracy circa 2015:
Okay, let’s get back to non-reality and our alternate AMC lineup, not the alternate Jeep lineup.
Jeepster
This one blurs the line between AMC and jeep, and while it seems on some level to be the most outlandish thing imagined here – a 2+2 sleek, tiny AWD sportscar – it’s actually the one that may have the most direct real-world equivalent: the Kaiser-Jeep Bolide XJ-002 concept from 1969. Actually, wait, there’s two real-world inspirations for this, because there’s also the 1970 Jeep XJ-001 concept, too!
Jeep had done experiments involving putting sports car bodies onto Jeep chassis, in the case of the Bolide XJ-002 the CJ-based Jeepster chassis, and in the case of the XJ-001 a standard Jeep CJ chassis. This alternate universe Jeepster is essentially this same idea: stick a fun, possibly fiberglass or plastic sports car body on a rugged Jeep chassis and then just have fun!
I suppose in our reality Suzuki came close to doing this with the X-90, but the company never really pulled it off. I think this fictional Jeepster actually would have.
SpaceVan
Essentially a re-badged Renault Espace but with AWD and some extra cladding, this would have been a pioneering off-roadable minivan. The Espace never came to America, but I suspect it could have done well, being extremely space-efficient and practical. Butch it up with AWD and some ruggedized looks and boom, you’d have a hit.
AMX
AMC’s legendary AMX muscle car could have taken an interesting turn here, and the Pacer influence isn’t as weird as it sounds. Remember that the designer of the Porsche 928, Tony Lapine, freely admitted to borrowing the design of the Pacer’s rear end when designing the 928.
The new AMX has some of that 928/Pacer look at the rear–actually, there’s Pacer influences all over it, which I think translates surprisingly well to a sports car. Where we had the disappointing Renault Fuego, this alternate universe has this AMX. We got shafted.
Verona
Here’s something AMC hasn’t really had since they stopped building Ambassadors in 1974: a full-sized premium car. Alternate universe AMC leverages that EX-platform Eagle to make a big sedan, and like so many other companies in the ’70s and ’80s, got some big-name designer to slap a logo on it, in this case Giorgio Armani. The design of this is quite European, likely from Renault influences.
Honestly, I’m pretty blown away by what AMC could have been in this alternate reality. Our secretive Bishop really delivered the goods with this one, looking deeply into his somehow-contained wormhole, seeking out the only truth from the infinite other universes that really matters: What is AMC up to?
No Javelin to compete with thr 3rd Gen F body or Fox Mustang?
I recently moved to Kenosha and see fine AMC products daily in the summer. My condo is on the former AMC campus. Bars and restaurants commonly have AMC memorabilia. It’s awesome.
Add some kind of modern velour made from less endangered species of Alcantaras, an assortment of plaids and perforated steering wheel vinyl and these gems would have waiting lists longer than Rivian.
As a former resident of Kenosha in the 70’s-80’s I’ve seen enough AMCs to develop tastes that border between disgust and envy….that Eagle stands out to me as something that could exist even now….somewhere in between.
Tremper or Bradford? I’m a Tremper man myself. By the late 80s the parking lot was mostly full of Alliances and Encores.
Fantastic! Slap some of these designs on tee shirts or something, I want to throw money at alternate reality AMC!
I wonder what AMC would have called the Renault Avantime in the alternate universe where they imported it to the US, maybe the AMC Rebel X Coupé. And I’m sure they would have found a way of squeezing a V8 into it. Oh, the possibilities…
My grandma had an AMC Eagle I was almost able to get it as my first car. My dad wouldn’t let her give it to me because it was too big. I was quite fond of that thing. A lot of the concepts presented here would have been sweet.
I love that the illustrated dealership is Collier Motors.
So sad, America could have had it’s own Mitsubishi.
that’s the Ralph Gilles who headed the team that designed the SRT Viper and saved some lies three years ago
“Saved some lies” seems pretty fitting for someone who works at Chrysler
A guy I used to work with had a story about his Gremlin. He said that some part of his clutch linkage failed and he replaced it with a marble. I have no idea what Gremlin clutch linage looks like, throw-out bearing fork pivot maybe? Anybody here do a clutch job on a Gremlin?
I’ve done a clutch job on my CJ5, which shared an engine and transmission with the Gremlin. the fork pivot is a metal ball, so yep that could have been what he replaced.
When I did that clutch job I also converted it to a hydraulic clutch, and made a mistake somewhere. To get the enough travel on the throw-out bearing to disengage the clutch I had to get a Master cylinder with a larger diameter than the slave cylinder so I lost the hydraulic advantage and it is the hardest clutch to press I have ever used by a mile.
David, how much do you want that Jeepack?
So many memories!! My family had a LOT of AMCs. Numerous Gremlins, the way ahead of it’s time Eagle, for a short time its 2wd Spirit sister… My grandpa even took me with him on an errand and we ended up driving around the parking lot to watch his Ambassador flip back to 0! (I think it had been an old FBI car from what I remember hearing??)
I’d definitely be curious if these kept the AMCness in their guts, and didn’t go full Renault. The Spacevan, Jeepster and AMX are adorable! We’ve got a pretty sporty Subie range in the driveway, so I’d hope they’d remotely compete (since they don’t talk full performance concepts…)
::RDJR in blackface meme:: never go full Renault
Chip Foose sketched an update on the Pacer that was pretty cool. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKfvp7BBmPk
Kudos to the designer here. This looks like a lot of work.
One thing I would like to see is a reverse retro Audi TT. So you have the 1997ish Mk1 Audi TT and the Mk1 new Beetle. Using those as a comparison, what would a 1967 Audi TT Coupe look like? Asking for a friend…
A reverse retro Audi TT would look like a mix between a Volkswagen Type 3 Fastback and a VW Beetle, with bits and pieces of the Auto Union streamliners thrown in.
I totally forgot abut the Type 3 Fastback. I think maybe lower roof line. For sure the right direction on the back of the car.
And speaking of the Auto Union Streamliner, does anyone remember an Audi concept car, in say the last 15 years, similar to the Type C stream liner? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auto_Union_racing_cars
I think I remember seeing something like this that blew me away, but all my google-foo can’t find it. Was gorgeous from what I remember. Trying to find some clues for a grill.
What you’re looking for is probably the ’00 Audi Rosemeyer concept with an 8 liter W16 engine.
Wasn’t that, though it looks pretty interesting. It was some kind of open wheeled roadster thing. Sorta like this 32 ford roadster, but lower, longer, and more Audi.
https://classiccars.com/listings/view/1567902/1932-ford-roadster-for-sale-in-wichita-kansas-67230
Torch, is there anyway you can convince this dude to do a semi-regular feature like this here? These are great and well thought out with thinking about how automakers develop and implement platforms for use across the line. It like those people who do fan fiction so well that you want them writing for the actual TV show/movie. I can help out if salary is a problem. *Empties pockets* I’ve got a lint covered Altoid, a crumpled Wendy’s receipt, and half torn post-it note about a dentist appointment (time and date missing).
I’m getting just a hint of off-road Fiero vibes from the Jeepster… and I like it!
I was thinking more of a production dune buggy from Hell, but an off-road Fiero ralley car would be wicked as well.
Drop a turbo 4 or 6 in that AMX with a 6MT and I’d buy it!
This is the type of stuff I filled countless spiral notebooks with in my youth! Fantastic!
I think the best thing about this website is how it keeps getting actual car designers and allowing them to have fun.
It rules.
Hey Torch! You are really killing it with the articles!
First the Lear article and then this AMC article!
Both of them make for excellent and engaging reading. You sure have a knack for finding the most interesting and obscure subjects.Thank for creating awareness of these subjects for us plebeians to enjoy! 🙂
EDIT: Thank you for creating…
Holy cow, this is spectacular! Love this kind of design study!
This isn’t just Good Autopian. This is Really F’in Good Autopian. My heart hurts a little seeing this fun, AWD-centric fictional lineup and knowing that in reality, we now get *gestures vaguely* whatever it is Subaru is doing these days.
We were close to getting the Espace before Renault left the US
If we did get it, and especially had they survived to see the cool-looking futuristic Espace III sold here, there would be no minivan stigma at all
This is correct – Renault had planned on launching the Espace here.
One of the things I think people forget, though, is that the AMC brand was dead, one way or another. Renault had decided they wanted to use only their own name on all North American-market passenger cars, so the AMC name was on the way out. The Pacer was dropped in 1980, the Concord and Spirit went in 1983, the Alliance was sold under the combined Renault/AMC marque for just the first model year, then became a Renault, while the Encore was a Renault from the start. By the time Chrysler bought the company, the Eagle was the only model left carrying the AMC brand, and had been for several years, and had been scaled back to just the station wagon body style. It wasn’t long for the world, either, Renault/American Motors had already been planning to drop it in the 1988/1989 time frame.
So, unless Renault decided to do an about-face and decided their brand wasn’t being accepted by American consumers the way they hoped, or if they dumped their shares some other way and took the rights to the name with them, we would have had a range of federalized Renaults, Jeeps, and nothing else, barring a quick and cheap rebadge back to AMC if the aforementioned things occurred, but they would have still been stuck buying or license building Renault products for at least the better part of a decade.
My recollection of the time, is that we would have had Renault proper, then Eagle and Jeep, each shooting for a different market segment. If they had capitalized the Eagle part well enough, that could actually have worked. But a recession hit just as they were trying to steal market share from the competition, and people didn’t see value in what to them looked like a bargain brand car company.
It was right around then, that everyone started equating ‘American’ with ‘bad’, and the European marques stole the upper end of the market, while the Japanese won the economy segment.
To some extent this hasn’t really changed.
But in this universe, Chrysler wouldn’t have been around to popularize the minivan in America. Wait, would Matra have gone down with the Chrysler ship at this point or had they already been sold? Because that has the potential to prevent the first gen Espace from existing in the first place as it was developed by Matra, not Renault, and Matra’s proposal to Chhrysler for a minivan was copied by them after they sold the company.
Matra had been sold to PSA but became independent just before the Espace. made the first three generations of the Espace, stopping in 2002, when they made the Avantime on the production line that the Espace was made on. Because the Avantime made them lose so much money, Matra stopped making cars after that.
I’d buy that Eagle right now
If they had continued the Marlin…that would have probably been one hell of a retro car competing against the newish mustangs, marros, and dodge Battle ships….eh challengers…
Yeah, I really want to see modern takes on the Marlin and Javelin now.
I was thinking the same thing.
If it went well we would end up with a Javelin like the Camaro and Challenger redo. Harken back to the glory days with the modern tech to back it up.
However I fear it would go the way of the others. Slap it on a SUV and call it a day.