My first Rambler was a 66 Classic 550 4 dr
sedan with absolutely no options. It had about
50,000 miles, was in mint condition and was about
8 years old. It won out over much fancier models
and various Mustangs, Camaros, Novas etc...It
was a great car and the only one of any of the
car makers with reclining seats, so you know which
one was a regular at the drive in's. This car
led to the little american in Rogue trim which
I liked the best because of the normal suspension.
In 1976 or so I heard tell of this same car in
Scrambler trim by way of the Johan model kit which
I bought a bunch of and still have today.
This led to a fruitless search for a real one.
Back then the only for sale car ads were in the
national car magazines. No by and sell magazines
yet. One day my brother calls me from our dads
auto parts business about 80 miles away. He asks
me if I'm interested in one of these Scramblers
as there is one parked on the side of the road
about halfway between home and the business. He
described it as having a large hood scoop and
red/white/blue headrests. He said it had been
there a while. I jumped in my 66 Rogue and drove
there that very second. I nearly fell over when
I seen it as I must have drove by it a minimum
of 2 to 4 times a week. The only reason my brother
noticed it was the fact his truck got poor mpg
and loved gas pumps. The lure of this particular
pump was too much for the truck to take and while
sitting at the pump Rick noticed in his side mirror
this hood scoop on a car in the tall weeds behind
him. I immediately bought it and towed it home
behind this most generous gas guzzling truck.
I always feel now like a I owe gas guzzling trucks
a favor.
This happened early Mar of 1978. The car at the
time had 51000 miles on it and today looks exactly
the same as when I bought it with very few additional
miles. It was assumed at the time of purchase
that it was a 'A' scheme paint as you could see
remnants of the blue stripe on the trunk and
around the trunk lock. Problem was there was no
evidence of any red sides. There was evidence
of blue under the rocker panels which thru me
for a loop.
Time went by and I then received documents by
the motor vehicle branch showing all previous
owners. The very first one showed the car coming
into BC from Alberta in 1970. I then assumed it
was sold new in Alberta. I make a few calls to
Alberta dealerships and finally hit pay dirt. The
first owner turned out to be a mechanic at their
dealership. He then told me the whole history
of the car. This story has been verified by 6
different people that I talked to. The car was
shipped to the dealership in late Mar of 69 to
be raced only. It did not come with a dealer invoice.
It was accompanied buy a truckload of parts to
make it go fast,...very fast. What they received
was a 'B' scheme car with blue stripes painted
on the roof and trunk with a very simple arrow
painted on the hood with no lettering. They then
added the lettering on the sides of the car.
The driver of the car at the time was one of
their mechanics ...Roger Bateman. I managed to
locate him and he supplied me with original photos
of the car when they raced it. Interestingly the
car also came with bumper guards front and rear
which they removed for racing. If you look closely
you may also notice that the leading edge of the
rear wheel wells are flared out to clear the drag
slicks. This was done to the car prior to it leaving
the factory. The car was raced regularly until
early 1970 when AMC axed the drag program. Roger
said they were only days away from signing a major
deal with AMC to go all out with this car with
him behind the wheel.
Instead AMC ordered all drag cars including this
one to be disposed of. They ordered this one to
be painted bittersweet orange and sold. The original
bumpers were put back on along with the original
tires and rims. They could not sell it as a new
car so it was sold to one of their mechanics who
was moving to BC. Several owners later and it
landed in my hands. Shortly after that Roger quit
and went to work for GM and drove for them as
well. Today he drives top alcohol funny cars and
is still doing very well. He has said to me that
someday he wants to drive this car again just
for fun. He wonders where he would be today had
AMC signed the deal instead of going into Trans
Am racing.
Roger recalls times in the mid 11's but were
hoping to better that. He said a 5:11 rear end
was too much but something in the mid 4's worked
well. Check out the launch of the car in the one
picture as he wasted yet another competitor. He
said they lost very few races. I have not changed
the car at all as it looks good in that color.
Someday I will repaint it back to a 'B' scheme
car but not soon. When I did get the car it had
a 360 motor in it with a connecting rod looking
thru the oil pan. The guy I bought it from said
he was driving it not 1 mile from where I found
it when he blew the engine. He said the car coasted
nearly another full mile before it came to a stop.
He said the speedo was well buried when the engine
blue hence the long stop. He had full intentions
of putting another engine in the car as he just
loved it. 1 week after this incident he was in
a bad car accident in which he was thrown from
a car and ended up for a long time in the hospital.
He ended up in a wheelchair never to walk again.
I only found this out 1 year ago as I decided
to pay him a visit while going thru his town.
I expected someone in their 60's to greet me as
the guy I bought the car from was in his 30's
at the time. Imagine seeing a guy my age in a
wheelchair. He said he had his dad sell the car
for him as he couldn't face the new owner himself.
I was a little misty eyed then and I dedicate
anything I do to this car to Steve. You can see
why I am reluctant to repaint the car. What do
you think I should do? He was quite amazed when
I told him the history of the car. He says he
has always regretted selling the car.
I have put in a date code correct 390 rebuilt
to stock specs other than blueprinting and a super
balance job. At 50mph if you punch the pedal to
the floor in 4th gear it is exactly 1 second for
every 10 mph in acceleration. What a rush. I have
also replaced the ridiculous manual steering with
a quick ratio power one from a early 70's car.
Much nicer to drive and the load of the pump makes
little difference to the engine. The car has seen
many miles on a car trailer as we at one time
lived not 50 miles from the Yukon border. Up there
it has snow 8 months of the year. I bet you never
seen studded tires on one of these cars. I have
and it works real good. Now I live on Vancouver
Island (car show capitol of the world ) and the
car lives in much nicer conditions. I'll include
more pictures in the future as they happen ......................Sterling |
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