Classic (Deluxe) Cruiser: 1962 AMC Rambler
When most people think “classic cruiser”, I’d bet it’s safe to say the 1962 AMC Rambler isn’t the first car that comes to mind. It’s not for me either, but after seeing this one, I’d send it way up my list. Most can agree on the definition of “classic”, but I’ll share my definition of “cruiser” – an automobile that allows you to safely enjoy the simple pleasures of automobile driving. That appears to be easily accomplished with this 1962 AMC Rambler Classic Deluxe here on eBay in Cerritos, California with a buy-it-now price of $4,995. As a 1960s Rambler ad read, “Spend a little…live a lot!”
Looking original and well kept, the simplicity of the gem green paint and contrasting white roof, coupled with the minimalist dog dish wheel covers should deliver lots of thumbs-up from passersby. The generous greenhouse makes (seeing and) being seen quite easy!
The interior looks to have had a minor refreshing at some point which has held up well. Gears are shifted through a column-mounted manual 3-speed. Additional gauges (oil pressure, voltmeter, and coolant temp) have been added to keep the driver fully informed on those long cruises.
Keeping with the simple and minimal theme, it’s been kept fairly tidy under the hood, but would benefit from a thorough detail. No power steering, power brakes, or air-conditioning – modern conveniences, but their absence helps keep the driver in tune with the road. However, 1962 was the first year for the standard dual-circuit master brake cylinder – a feature not standard on any other American car at the time.
While it looks clean and could seemingly be enjoyed as-is, the seller notes a few areas that could use some attention. The tires have great tread, but have aged beyond their useful life. The gas gauge is inoperable and the radio is disconnected. Aside from the tires, one would consider these minor concerns that shouldn’t affect drivability, but should be addressed when driving a 58-year old car. All part of the fun of vintage automobile ownership, right?
The 1961-1962 Ramblers were not rare by any means – AMC built over 270,000 of them in those two model years. Chances are good, however, you won’t be seeing another one at your local cruise night. It’s not often you can find a clean, classic cruiser for under $5k. This one should go quick.
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Comments
Fantastic car and write-up, Jonny!
This looks like it could be a former USFS vehicle.
Why would the forestry service use a small four door sedan, and not a pickup or panel van?
They also used cars.
It’s the USFS car for detectives.
“Book ‘im, Gingko – Murder One.”
I’ll be the first to remind the authors:
Wheel covers cover the entire rim or wheel. Hub caps are exactly that, they cover the center of the rim or the hub. The two aren’t interchangeable anywhere else but this site…
Nice Rambler, funny how these cars currently bring this kind of $$
I’m certain I’d have several thumbs down if that was still an option.
I have tried to resolve this issue and gave up.
“The two aren’t interchangeable anywhere but this site…” LOL!!! Thanks, Paul.
Sort of like rims and wheels..,…
It is not an AMC Rambler, it is a Rambler Classic. The only one ever named an AMC Rambler was after they dropped the Rambler Name in 1968 and the Former Rambler American was renamed AMC Rambler. I owned a 1969 model. Until 1968 all of them had Rambler Ambassador, Rambler Classic, Rambler American etc.
Great-looking ’62 Classic, but even in sunny California some pics of the underside would be great to see.
Absolutely!! One of my pet peeves…NO underside pics. If ya wanna sell it, ya gotta show it. Always!! Accept for it being on the wrong coast, I would bid on this IF there were underside pics and it was in decent shape. BTW, change the trires and wheels bCK TO STOCK TO SAVE THE SUSPENSION AND TRANNY.
Sorry for the CAPS.
I love it.
This site has made me a fan of these ramblers.
I’ve had my eye on this one for some time : https://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/cto/d/los-gatos-1963-rambler-classic-660-v8/7080671115.html
They’re both shockingly nice finds – proves one can still find cool classics for less than 10k if one only looks outside the box!
Welcome aboard, Jonny, tough crowd, eh? Seeing this car blasts me back to my childhood in Milwaukee, where Ramblers were all around us. Neighbors and even family worked for AMC, and things in Beer City were a’ hummin’. I think an ex-forestry car is a bit of a stretch, Rambler just had wacky colors back then. Color didn’t matter, as they were mostly unwashed and unloved, and turned dull and rusty, and they adorned the back row of most car lots. You wanted a $100 dollar “beater with a heater”, the old Rambler couldn’t be beat. Great find, coming from Cal. seems it should have a 1 in front of the price.
Thanks, Howard. It’s reassuring to get positive feedback, in turn helping us know we’re writing about the cars that bring back good memories or evoke new thought.
To address some of the caviling:
> It was labeled as AMC in this article to differentiate from the time Ramblers were produced by Nash. It would, in fact, be like calling a Corvette a GM Chevrolet Corvette, but the Corvette was never produced by any other manufacturer. My intent was to inform those who did not know Rambler was a company owned by AMC in 1962.
> Correct, they are hubcaps. IMO, “hubcaps” is largely (improperly) over used. I fell into the trap of erring on the side of the more common “wheel cover”, but was incorrect in my writing. My mistake. I’ll review with a larger magnifying glass next time.
Jonny, I’m in my late 50s, and as far as I’m concerned, hubcaps are hubcaps. Jeez, when did everyone get so specific with hubcaps and wheel covers? Anyways, I love Ramblers. My grandfather had a 1960 Rambler Six the exact same color as this one.
I agree with Bob, I’m 63 and when I was a kid and into my teens they were all called hubcaps by everybody in East Texas anyway. The small was a dog dish hubcap and the big one was a fullsize hubcap LOL. By the 80’s we started hearing the wheel cover thang. Thanks for keeping us entertained.
Good angle on Ramblers. I was an army brat in France in 1963 – 65, and my parents bought a Rambler 660 station wagon off the dock after the original buyer failed to show up to get it – new. They drove that thing all over Europe, and across the Pyrenees a couple of times with four boys fighting like steers in the back. My dad mastered driving with his fist balled up and hovering over the back of the front bench seat, into our “Indian Country” in the back seat. Good times. They replaced a yellow over gray ’57 Buick Caballero wagon with that Rambler. Out of the frying pan…
The only problem with them was the front end didn’t hold up. My uncle had a 61, drove it on Montana country roads, and the thing you knew the front collapsed.
Cute car in nice shape and I really like the colors. A clean interior, a dependable straight six and an attractive price should help this little Rambler sell fairly quickly. The only thing I don’t like are the wheels; too much black with the plain black tires. I’d paint the wheels body color and add thin-line whitewall tires. Overall, a cute little classic car that would make for an economical daily driver, one you could also take to your local Cars & Coffee where it would generate a lot of attention.
Please bear with me while I shed a tear. My late wife and I owned one when we first got married in ’81. Ours was a 2 door
sedan that did indeed have the DeLuxe trim package that featured chrome trim that ran the entire length of the car that
was located just under the crease where the door handles were
placed, and yes, our car had full wheel covers and not the dog dish hubcaps that this car has. Ours had the Borg Warner auto
tranny too which was a pushbutton shift type like Chrysler’s
Torqueflite was back then. The only real modification I made to
the car was the addition of a Kraco AM/FM casette stereo radio
with 5 speaker audio. Everything else was left original. I also
enjoyed the fact that the car was very easy to maintain. All your
vital systems were easy to get at so repairs took little or no time
at all. The only real problem I had was the fact that my nephew
always wanted to borrow it to take his date to the drive in movie!
For 3years or so, that old car took us anywhere we wanted to go
and got 30 MPG doing it. Sadly, it was sold in 1984 to pay for
medical bills brought about by my first heart attack. Both the
car and my wife are gone now, by I’m always reminded of all
the good times we had together every time I see one of these.
Thanks again for letting me relive all those wonderful old
memories.
Sorry you lost your wife, Ken. Sounds like she was the real thing, and you were too.
Great story, Ken and thanks for sharing. Condolences for your wife. Yep these were everywhere and I hated working on them at the garage. As AMCguy says you need to inspect the underbelly , it may have seen some salt water. Sure is cute, but make sure that its not just skin deep. caveat emptor.
Cheers
GPC
I believe that 1962 was the first year for Cadillac to use a dual braking system as well.
Nice cars to cruise in and the fold down seats utilitarian
https://i.imgur.com/j70vJHo.jpg
Does a loony torque-induced incline = “fold down seats” in some circles?! ;-D
Yeah Charles, I miss them both very much. And now that I think about it, oue
car had the stainless steel trim going across the dashboard too. One thing I
would do for safety’s sake would be to
convert the wipers over to electric units
with an intermittent feature found most
cars today. The original units ran off the
vacuum of the fuel pump which really
sucked. You just couldn’t go fast enough to keep the rain and snow off ypur windshield well enough to see where you
were going. I’d also add 4-way flashers
and an extra brake light in the rear window to let other drivers know that I’m
stopping. Here in Florida, we have people
who drive like fools and have no business
behind the wheel.
When we had our Family Service Station it doubled at times as a junk yard. Usually family cars beyond help but at least one occasion a customer. One I recall very well was a Rambler very similar to this. The rear end dropped out and they were torque tube and the car was very tired so they gave it to us and I cut it up. You can’t even think of doing this now. If we still had the place and wanted to dispose or even have old cars sitting around for various purposes the Neighbors would extremely UPSET. Of course there are very few Neighborhood Service Stations now just gas stations with garbage store often.
You know Hub caps are standard equipment and WHEEL COVERS are extra cost on the order form and at time of delivery.
And it is gone.
had very sim car (yr, motor, model) as DD my 3rd or 4th car (banged up or blew up several fiats’n alfas) except 2 dor and a vert. Man, after the Itialians it seemed huge ( this wuz early 70s so same price range – few hundred bucks).
It wuz a wounderful vehicle !
Quiet, easy to wrk on, solid…just the abandoned stepchild to the Big Three so outcast.
I would take this car (unfortunatly, empty the rear, use like a station wagon) in a minute if seeking a DD. The station wagon is actually too big 4 me (R’s Amer, 440):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rambler_American
Thnx Jonny !
I happen to have a 1962 Rambler Classic 4 door Custom sedan. My late dad bought it new in nearby Norwalk California from Dell-Kraft Rambler/Metropolitan. It has the optional full size wheel covers. AMC did start using dual master cylinders in 1962. Mine is paint code 42 Sirocco Beige. It has the standard 3 speed column shift transmission. I retrofitted the car with a third brake lamp made by Wink (the company that made multi panel inside mirrors). The brake lamp matches the contour of the back window. I’ve seen that green Rambler around town, as I live near Cerritos. I’m in Orange County, in a OC border city to Los Angeles County. That Rambler engine appears to be from a Rambler sold outside of California, as it doesn’t appear to have a factory PCV Valve required on 1961 and later cars. My Rambler engine has the factory PCV valve. The air cleaner on the green Rambler is not original. I added back up lights to my 62. They were optional, and the taillight assembly has a dummy knockout to break off.
I have some more thoughts since I last commented. As I mentioned that I have the Classic Custom, there were 3 packages that all 62 Ramblers came in, and to be more clear, this applies to all 3 models (American, Classic and Ambassador): Deluxe, Custom and 400. The Deluxe is the basic model: no chrome trim on the body, rubber mats, optional heater, optional door light switches, and no clock. The Custom adds carpets, front door light switches, Weather Eye heater, exterior chrome and the dash clock. The top line 400 adds all the Custom features and on the American, it comes with the OHV 196 cast iron engine used on the Classics. On the Classic and Ambassador, it adds additional chrome trim pierces. On the Classic, the aluminum block 196 is standard, but the cast iron engine is a no cost option. Finally, full size wheel covers are standard.
The interior of this green Rambler is Inca Silver. Most likely, the rims were originally Inca Silver from the factory, and repainted black. Whitewall tires were optional. The original tire size on the Classic was 6.50 15. The Classic also had an optional tire size 6.70 15, using the same rims. The replacement radial tire size for the 6.70 15 bias ply original is P 205 75R15. The featured Rambler has the optional bucket seats. A split back bench seat without recliners is standard, while many with the split back bench came with the optional reclining mechanism. My 62 has the bench seat with the reclining option. My interior color is rose copper, and the rims are rose copper.
I hope someone near Cerritos bought that Rambler. I saw that car in a shopping center on the border of Cerritos and the Orange County city of La Palma back in late 2019. It’s nice to see that the engine wasn’t butchered by a California State Approved garage in the 60s that carried out the mandatory PCV Valve retrofitting job starting in 1966. I’ve seen some engine valve covers butchered by the garages approved by the state. This car engine appears to be clean and unmolested.
On another note, Cadillac and Jaguar were the other makes using a dual master cylinder in 62.