1966 Rambler Classic 550

Unknown
edited November -1 in American Motors
I have just recently purchased a 1966 Rambler Classic 550 with a 232 in-line 6 cylinder. I was actually able to drive it to my brother's house. It was quite an adventure driving it as the brakes were not working well. It has a rebuilt engine that sounds good and it has a two-speed automatic. Appears the automatic came from the factory. It has d2 and d1 on the shift column. The Rambler also has an air cooled torque converter. It is a light blue but I don't think it is the balboa aqua. It looks as though it had been painted over once. The color is pretty close to original. It would be hard to see the difference when opening the door or hood to see if the jambs were a different color. Once the brakes are worked out and the upholstery covered on the seats, and of course the tires changed out, it should make for a nice ride. I will be using it as a daily driver. It has all 4 hubcaps and a chrome badge on the car that says giorgio. It also has the badging 232-6. The word Rambler on the trunk and the word classic on the back. Complete words with no letters missing. Some other word on each fender. There are some old parts out of the rebuilt engine in the trunk. Parts like the pistons and camshaft and timing chain and even an old distributor cap. The brakes are "real man" brakes. No power assist. It doesn't look like the front bench seat folds back. It does have power steering. It also has a two barrel carter carburetor on it. Vacuum lines to run the wipers. A rubber bag that is used to clean the windshield. Odometer reads 48 thousand and some change. No tilt steering and no radio. Came from the factory that way. It does have an ashtray but no lighter. The lighter socket is there, just no lighter. I will post more information as more information is available. What does the giorgio stand for? If someone can answer that I would appreciate it.

Comments

  • these cars are not in my favourite cars list



    dupontregistry
  • hudsontech
    hudsontech Senior Contributor
    Carnut1420 wrote:
    these cars are not in my favourite cars list



    dupontregistry



    Your loss Carnut. I drove a lot of the 64-69 era AMC cars and never had a problem with them - other than the trunnions on a couple and rust-out on most. (I was living in Maine at the time). In fact the ones I had (mostly station wagons) were eventually junked at anywhere between 200,000 and 250,000 miles - not because of drive train problems, but that the bodies rusted out. New England salt is a car killer.



    Note the 250,000 miles - yes, I got that milage out of them. For years I'd find them with 70,000, 80,000 miles on the clock for $60 to $80. Four, five years later I had 200,000, and more on them. Junk the one and go find another. I can remember only once was I late to work - and that was when a water pump gave up the ghost. Went to the parts store next door to where I lived, got a water pump and put it in.



    I found them, overall, to be dependable, reasonably rugged for the type of driving I did (do the math - I was putting 50 to 60k a year on the clock), fun to drive and easy to fix, when needed. Last one I had was a '69 440 wagon - took that one to Kansas and back and ran 65, 70 where I could get away with it (this was in the days of the double nickle limit).



    Hudsonly,

    Alex Burr

    Memphis, TN
  • I like classic cars but it should be in good condition
  • Try this link to see if you can find the color of your 550 - congratulations on your find!



    Auto Color Library - The World's Largest Online Color-Chip Library



    You might have to copy the link and paste it in your browser



    Carpics
  • georgio was probably an interior trim option. Are you driving around in D2 ? That is a Borg- Warner automatic trans, they ARE 3 speeds. Try driving it in D1. In another incarnation they were called Ford-o-Matics! They were used by, Ford, Studebaker, International-Harvester, and Jaguar. Also Hudson used them in 54. Most all of them started in 2nd gera, but all they had on the quadrant was Lo & Dr.
  • I agree with Steve. It was probably an interior package or maybe a special trim package offered only in certain areas. Like Olds did back in the 80's. I find nothing about it in any of my publications.

    You could try the Old Car Manual Project website. They have a lot of sales brochures of all types of cars.

    You could also try these guys http://amccars.net/cgi/yabb2/YaBB.pl

    The Classic was an option to the Rambler line that was officially AMC in 66.

    The fold back front seats were also an option you could order. My dad bought a new 1959 Rambler station wagon that had those seats. A great car for a young guy with his new license, ha,ha. I borrowed the car many times and later when my dad bought his new GMC pick up he gave me the wagon. And like Hudsontech related to, I did have to replace the Trunnions on that car. Mention Trunnions to most old car hobbyests and they will say "WHAT?"

    Ron
  • I didn't realize this AMC branch was over here until now.
    Alex is right though, I just wanted to jump in about these old Ramblers.  Man, I drove a 65 Ambassador from about '70 to 75, until I got tangled up with a cow on the road home, one night.  Probably the best car I ever had.  327 cubes, three speed on the floor with overdrive, you could barely hear it run.  I was always trying to start it while it was running at a stop light, it was so quiet.   Me and college buddy ran that thing coast to coast, got us a job in construction at Disney World one summer.   Hauled a trunk and a back seat of Coors beer out there and sold it for gas money.  Then, back to school in the fall.  What a car and what memories.
    I recently found one and bought it, this one is even easier to drive with automatic and a convertible to boot.  I take it to the car shows and about one guy out of a hundred sees it, knows what it is and loves it.  Keith
  • Hudson Grandpa
    Hudson Grandpa Expert Adviser
    One of the finest cars I have ever owned. 232 six, AC/PS, white seats, automatic, pulled a 1600 lb Boat.
    1965 770 Classic 2 door hardtop. Owned it from 1965 to 1985.
  • keithfullmeryahoocom
    keithfullmeryahoocom Expert Adviser
    edited May 2014
    Hope the original poster found his paint color so I don't feel like we are stealing his post. 

    Here's a recent picture of my "new" 990 Ambassador 'vert.   Love it...keith

  • hudsontech
    hudsontech Senior Contributor
    Where is it Keithfull - I want to come steal it from you!!!! :D  That is beautiful.  AMC styling wasn't all that bad - perhaps not as radical as other makers but still good lines.

    Hudsonly,
    Alex Burr
    Memphis, TN
  • lostmind
    lostmind Expert Adviser

    One of my favorites I owned was 1967 Ambassador with a 290 V8. 22 MPG on the road and a nice ride.

    I had many AMC products, I worked as a tech at an AMC dealer. My biggest complaint was the rust issues.

    I owned a Hornet that dropped a rocker panel while parked in the driveway. Cheap car to buy and operate,

    but quality control wasn't close to todays standards. 

  • hudsontech
    hudsontech Senior Contributor
    edited May 2014
    lostmind - AMC did have a problem with rust out, for sure.  I was right in the middle of a bridge one time with a '63 440 wagon I had at the time.  Hit a rough spot, like a pot hole, and the jolt was so severe it drove the right front spring tower right up thru the fender!!!!!!!!  That same car the floor under the brake pedal rusted out - first I knew of it was when I went thru a deep puddle and suddenly had a front floor full of water!!
    On the plus side I went to the 1990 National in Wichita driving a 1969 Rambler 440 wagon I had at the time.  Had no problems other that a brake spring mount (the little thing that was fitted thru the brake hub for the spring to be attached to) broke in the right front brake (fixed it with a cotter pin) and a linkage in the carburetor came unglued.  That was just a matter of putting it back in place.  Other than that the car at the time had 246,000 miles on the clock - it ran just great at 65-70.  I loved that 232 six - one of the better six cylinder engines IMHO.  I've always maintained, in my opinion, the 3 best six cylinder engines made were the old Chevy stove bolt sixes, the Chrysler slant six and the AMC 232 seven main bearing six.  You could destroy them - but you had to work like hell to do it!!!!!!!

    Hudsonly,
    Alex Burr
    Memphis, TN
  • lostmind
    lostmind Expert Adviser
    3.8K  Views?
  • since 2009!
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