Highly Original: 1970 AMC Ambassador SST
“Ask the man who drives one. The Ambassador is American Motors’ finest car. As Cadillac is General Motors’, Lincoln Continental is Ford’s and Imperial is Chrysler’s.” That is how AMC described their top-of-the-line 1970 Ambassador in their attractive color sales brochure. I’ll give it to AMC. They may not have had great sales success in the luxury car field, but they had moxie. First, they, um, “borrowed” Packards famous “Ask the man who owns one” slogan (they substituted the word “owns” with “drives”), then they did some serious Big Three luxury car namedropping in an effort to remind readers that AMC could build luxury cars, too. The next sentence in their brochure reinforced AMC’s value proposition: “The luxurious Ambassador is considerably smaller and about the size and price of their Impalas, Galaxies and Furys.” The Ambassador was AMC’s flagship model with the highest level of trim and luxury appointments. Available in two trim levels, DPL and SST, Ambassadors were available in a 4-door sedan, a 4-door wagon, and what we’re featuring here: the SST 2-Door Hardtop Coupe.
I’d like to know the story behind this car and how it’s lived a pampered, protected life for the last 54 years. When was the last time you saw one of these? Especially in this kind of condition? Except for a new blue vinyl top, the rest of this Ambassador is original. Based on the photos, it’s in very good condition. The original Frost White paint is shiny, and the chrome, glass, and trim all look good. The SST’s panels are straight and I’m not spotting rust or body damage. And I personally like the sporty fastback. It reminds me of the ’67-’68 Plymouth Fury’s which I’ve always liked. Although the front end styling is a bit pedestrian, I really like the rear three-quarter view of this Ambassador.
The Ambassador’s blue interior would never be mistaken for a Cadillac, Lincoln, or Imperial, but it’s still nice and has a good blend of luxury, sportiness, and AMC practicality. I’m not seeing any major wear or tear on the vinyl/cloth bucket seats (with the buddy seat option) and the cockpit looks very clean and well preserved overall. Like all 1970 Ambassadors, this one came standard with factory air conditioning (one advantage the Ambassador had over Cadillac, Lincoln, or Imperial in the comparison wars). The seller doesn’t mention if the A/C is working or what other power goodies and creature comforts are on this Ambassador.
A 304-cubic inch V8 with a Shift-Command automatic transmission was standard on the SST with a choice of 360 or 390 cubic inch V8’s also available. This one left the factory with the optional 360 and has only 44,000 on the clock. The seller says the car has a newer battery and that it “runs and drives nice”. This well-preserved Ambassador is currently located in Okemos, Michigan, and is for sale here on craigslist with an asking price of $12,000 or best offer. Only 8,255 of these Ambassador SST 2-Door Hardtop Coupes were built and this may be one of the nicest one around. What do you think?
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Comments
Like the great Eagles song… 🎵
🎤 Already Gone “
Ha! Who’s stupid now, eh? We took a lot of guff back then, and while I don’t think the buyer is all gung-ho on the AMC part, it, to most today, is just a sharp looking 2 door. With Adam-12 being cancelled left and right on the “classics” channel, it was, for most, the only exposure they had to these cars. They were babies( or less) when these cars came out, and any trace of the cars were long gone as they grew up. Not everybody had the luxury of growing up where these were made, they were good enough for us, and the Midwest. With the Michigan location, kind of bolsters what I say about a regional make. While there were many dealers all over the country, they never were big sellers, except in the Midwest. I guess you could say this was the “anti-Machine”, again, for that single uncle that worked at AMC, went bowling every Wed. night. Cars like these littered the AMC employee parking lots, not because, like ol’ Hank, that demanded his employees drive Fords, it was because, they probably made their own cars, and were proud of it. Great find here, even for non-AMC buffs.
“Littered the AMC parking lot…” Yep. FYI: Most Ford employees drove Fords because they didn’t bite the hand that feeds. And, if you wanted to walk a half mile to the time clock? You could drive any other brand you wanted to.
One would not want “Ford Service” to pay you a visit.
Back in 1973-1974, I was stationed at SAC HQ. in Omaha. Due to gas shortages, car pools were encouraged by the USAF and they were rewarded by getting the closest parking spaces near the door. I talked a coworker into carpooling, so we got a killer parking spot. It was a lot of fun in the winter weather (as junior enlisted airmen) to drive by all of those senior officers getting out of their single occupant vehicles and trudging through the snow in the huge parking lot towards Building 500 while we drove by and waved on our way to our close in parking spot.
@Big C
Back in the 70s I had 2 friends who worked for Ford. One had a fully loaded 1973 Ford LTD in the classic brown with a beige vinyl top and interior. The other had a 1974 Oldsmobile 98 LS in a beautiful burgundy but it had what I considered the tacky velvet interior.
You’re right about the long walk to the time clock for non Ford owners.
I myself have always been a General Morors gal.
One thing for sure, no Cadillac ever had seats as comfortable as the bucket seats in the early 70s AMCs.
Given the flowery language in AMC’s brochure for the 1970 Ambassadors, these models fell whoafully short of even trying to compete with Cadillacs, Lincolns, and Imperials. PS & PB make it world class for the day? Hardly. These may have rode nice, but that’s about it. AMC did away with power windows/seats some years earlier as they didn’t sell enough to warrant offering them. IMHO this put the Ambassador back in the Plymouth-Chevy-Ford Galaxie bracket. Not exactly top shelf.
Classy. Perfect for a Sunday drive.
This car was featured here in Nov. of ’23. https://barnfinds.com/collectors-car-1970-amc-ambassador-sst/
At that time, it was in Racine, WI, and a comment seems to indicate that it sold for 10K.
No car, in factory “trim”, ever launched like these cars did from a stop. The entire car lifted, not just the left front. I was a mechanic in an AMC dealership and, it was my pleasure to abuse these cars on a regular basis. . . . .
In college, I worked part time for a company that provided aftermarket equipment for car dealers- upgraded stereos, sunroofs, cruise control, etc. As the dealers were always in a hurry, we regularly drove new cars with no miles on them as fast as we could from the dealer to the shop and back. Ninety on the freeway was common, with 5 miles on the odometer. The smoke from the cosmoline on Honda engines stunk as it burned off. Despite all of our stupid antics, I only wrecked one new car- a sold Dodge Daytona, whose new owners, sitting in the waiting room for their new stereo, had to be told that their new car was wrecked by the sales manager. This was after they snuck the car into the back door of the service area, where they briefly considered swapping the front clip from another (same color) Daytona on to it without telling the customer. After taking a quick glance, the body shop manager put an end to that scheme. 🫢
I can picture all of this.
John Eder , aka Feris Bueller
A friend had a 73 Ambassador, blue over blue coupe, no vinyl top, and a 401. This was back in the late 80’s. Bone stock and that car had no right to be as fast as it was. It beat almost anything that lined up against it. AMC power was WAY underrated.
I do love that roofline and notchback C pillar. Ah la Plymounth Fury, Dodge Monaco & Chrysler 300. Basically all 70s Mopars
I took drivers ed in 1969. We had 5 instructors and 5 different cars. My instructors car was a 1969 AMC Ambassador 4 door sedan. It was very easy to drive. I got my learners permit in February of 1969. I did a lot of driving with my dad before September. There were 3 of us and the instructor. He asked if any of us had experience, I was the only one. A couple of weeks later I’m driving, sitting at a stop sign trying to cross a busy one way street. I saw an opening, smashed the pedal and across we went. The 2 in the back seat were horrified. The instructor gave me a compliment and said good driving.
We had AMC cars exclusively in my Dr. Ed. program. Naturally, being Milwaukee, AMC was the choice. We had a local dealer that donated several cars, including a Javelin, that we lined up for, but most got a Gremlin or a Rebel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJUwAZSBWIQ
Seems to look like a lux cousin of the Rebel – do they share the same underlying structure/platform?