Having owned and driven numerous Ramblers in years past, I'm here to state tha this reporter's characterizations of them is totally bonkers. In 1968, I could've found a Ford Falcon, a Chevy Corvair or a Plymouth Valiant in just as bad condition. AMC "suffered" (marketwise) for the same reason the late Studebaker did - they didn't have the monetary clout that the BIG 3 had. That clout allowed them to squeeze the smaller automakers into compromizing corners of the markets. This situation resulted in Ramblers being the cheapest cars on used car lots (NOT because they were lesser cars - but because the big three worked hard to paint them as such). If someone had little money at hand (like US servicemembers for instance), they'd likely buy the cheapest-priced wheels they could find on a used car lot - a situation that prevails to this day.
The Rambler that this "reporter" laments having been reduced to was showing signs of neglect (if his recollections are correct). Rather than address the problems, he just drove it (APPRECIATED IT even!) and now recalls that convenience in a sour light. Certainly, if he'd have more moola, he'd have bought his own "quality" car. I'll bert he ain't drivin' a POS these days.
I've owned several Ramblers thru the years. I've had a '59, '61 and '62 American and two '66s - a Classic Convertible and Classic Cross-Country station wagon. All were good and serviceable rides. And these were examples that were FAR older than the 6 year old American that Danziger knew. Heck, I bought the 66 wagon when that thing was 18 years old. And it was like new - inside and out! It HAD had a pampered life prior to my buying it - having racked up only 30-some thousand miles. But once in my hands, my wife took to the car with glee and drove it all over southern California.
We made a custom pad for the back and took the car on camping trips up and down the state. It NEVER gave us grief in all that time. It survived being hit by Bozo drivers on three occassions and kept on going. This wagon and the convertible I'd owned a few years earlier, were some of the best-driving cars I can recall. Both of them had 6-cylinder engines that AMC had debuted in 1964. And get this...... that very same engine soldiered on into the NEXT MILLENIUM in some Jeep vehicles! 40 years of life for an engine design that Danziger feels competent enough to dismiss and defame as a chip to paint the Romney's in a bad light.
Don't get me wrong - I don't like anything Romney stands for. And while I grew up in Michigan, I don't have much of an opinion about his dad's doings there either. But what Jeff's written here is a REALLY weak and flimsy argument at best. Heh - I sure wouldn't be balancing my integrity on something anecdotal at best.
I might add that I find it curious that Romney touts his dad's ties to AMC as being part of Michigan history. Nash and it's subsequent rename of American Motors may have had it's corporate offices in Michigan, but there was NEVER a Rambler or Nash built there. Nash and Ramblers were built in Wisconsin - Kenosha Wisconsin to be precise. Even the Jeep line that AMC picked up later on - those were built in Toledo, Ohio. Too bad these reporters haven't got ther time to Google up some facts.
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