Ambassador
1966 AMC Ambassador convertible in Cars & Parts
Monday-July 06, 2009
The folks at Cars & Parts (right up the highway from us in Sidney, OH) often give the guys who work for the Hemmpire in Vermont a run for their money.
Their cover story about the ’66 AMC Ambassador 990 convertible in the July 2009 issue is a great example. Richard Truesdell wrote a great story about what American Motors was doing at that time. He talks about how owner Ken Norman’s car is tricked out with every factory option except the tachometer.
But I felt the story needed a little hot sauce. So I burrowed deep into the Torq-O Media Archive until only my feet were sticking of the hole. When my assistants pulled me out, I was feverish and babbling. The 16mm commercial spot that they crowbarred out of my hands is the secret sauce for this article.
Here’s a 1966 Ambassador TV commercial for your contextual pleasure.
In 1966, AMC promoted themselves as the “Friendly Giant Killers.” And they spent a ton of money doing it. They produced one of their traveling dealer introduction shows that toured the United States. They recorded and distributed an original cast recording on a vinyl LP.
They also spent some coins sponsoring big television shows. Here’s a short movie featuring actor David Wayne pitching American Motors. You would have seen this video running in the middle of some big TV special on one of the big three networks at that time.
Did this advertising investment work? Not unless you consider the President’s unceremonious dumping in January 1967 a serendipitous career change.
Nevertheless, for one glorious year, AMC showed that the littlest American car company could write checks just as big as the Big Three.
Their cover story about the ’66 AMC Ambassador 990 convertible in the July 2009 issue is a great example. Richard Truesdell wrote a great story about what American Motors was doing at that time. He talks about how owner Ken Norman’s car is tricked out with every factory option except the tachometer.
But I felt the story needed a little hot sauce. So I burrowed deep into the Torq-O Media Archive until only my feet were sticking of the hole. When my assistants pulled me out, I was feverish and babbling. The 16mm commercial spot that they crowbarred out of my hands is the secret sauce for this article.
Here’s a 1966 Ambassador TV commercial for your contextual pleasure.
In 1966, AMC promoted themselves as the “Friendly Giant Killers.” And they spent a ton of money doing it. They produced one of their traveling dealer introduction shows that toured the United States. They recorded and distributed an original cast recording on a vinyl LP.
They also spent some coins sponsoring big television shows. Here’s a short movie featuring actor David Wayne pitching American Motors. You would have seen this video running in the middle of some big TV special on one of the big three networks at that time.
Did this advertising investment work? Not unless you consider the President’s unceremonious dumping in January 1967 a serendipitous career change.
Nevertheless, for one glorious year, AMC showed that the littlest American car company could write checks just as big as the Big Three.
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