390/4-Speed: 1969 AMC Hurst SC/Rambler
Is this Barn Find’y enough? I thought so. This 1969 AMC Hurst SC/Rambler is a car that a few million of us dream about finding hidden away in a barn or garage somewhere, forgotten, hidden amongst the general stuff. Don’t fret, here’s how it looks cleaned up! The seller has this jewel in the rough listed here on eBay in one of the great cities of America, The Gateway to the West: St. Louis, Missouri. Bidders have upped the ante to $17,000 and there are over three days left on the auction as I write this.
From what I understand about the history of this car, the seller has had it for a year and they bought it as part of a package deal but I don’t know what the other part or parts of the package were – more cars? I’m assuming that the opening photo and this one above are how it looked when they got it, but I don’t know for sure. The cleaned-up photos sure look good compared to these dusty no-grille barn photos.
AMC had a serious muscle car on their hands with the SC/Rambler, which was based on the Rambler Rogue which was itself based on the Rambler American. They were made for one year only, 1969, and they are incredibly collectible and valuable today with just over 1,500 examples being built. It was a partnership with Hurst and there were no automatic transmissions available, they were all Hurst 4-speed manual shifters with Borg-Warner T-10 transmissions.
The interior is rough with rust in the floor pans that needs work both front and rear. The back seats and door panels are missing but the seller says that otherwise, it’s 95% complete with a lot of parts being stored in the trunk. The whole car needs a full restoration which won’t be inexpensive. For a general reference, Hagerty is at $43,500 for a #3 good condition car and $55,500 for a #2 excellent condition car so this one is very doable if the high bidder does a lot of the work him/herself.
The big deal, of course, is the AMC 390 cubic-inch V8 which pumped out a conservative 315 horsepower and 425 ft-lb of torque. These were low-14-second cars right off of the showroom floor so they were fast and they’re rare today. Have any of you owned or driven a Hurst SC/Rambler?
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Comments
Well there’s no doubt it needs everything gone over. I can’t wait to read what the naysayers have in store for this one. Im also curious what the other cars were in the package deal. Owning one of these has some obstacles as the are not a catalog car but I assure you its not as bad as some like to make it out to be. Sure this barn fresh beauty needs work but at least it has all of its important parts there. I dont see the mirrors, they may be in the trunk but if not they can be found. This is no “overnight” restoration but all the parts are available even if you have to go the route of a base model donor car. Itll be a little longer ride but these cars are worth it. This car deserves the right enthusiast to bring new life into it. Ill be watching this one to see what kind of number it brings. They don’t pop up every day….
Nice car!!
Tooyoung4heyday You are right on target with your comment.
Also have say there are too many naysayers that make comments on this site. So, Tooyoung4heyday , get ready !!!
If it wasn’t halfway across the country, I would definitely look at the car. For the price, wouldn’t even do a full restoration, just mechanical.
The SC on the left in the pic above is mine. Its hard to see the blemishes but im not ready to restore it yet. I pulled it from the barn in 2012 and did the mechanicals on it. Original paint and tin with 60k on it now. It has scratches and dents and minor rust spots but i drive it all over the place. It gets as much attention at a gas station as it does a car show. My point is they don’t have to be perfect, just make you happy. Its just a fun ride….
Nice ride, Tooyoung4heyday. A good friend in HS had one-we really had a good time surprising other cruisers who thought they were all that and a bag of chips.
BTW-you’re 100% with your frame of mind insofar as drive it if it makes you happy regardless of what others think of it.
Ones perspective is not always another’s reality, and we’re all the better for the difference.
You know what really grinds my gears?
Rust..
What you say when an AMC heavy metal cadie?
Rust in peace
Anyone know why this car is getting faster with age?
Pieces are falling off to lighten iy 😦
Too Rusty, !! as they said in The movie Christine YA CANT POLISH A TURD…….Ive been in the AMC hobbie for 40 years.
This one looks beyond resurrection…….. Sorry guys and dolls
Maybe 3500 Max and use it as a parts car….
Biggest single issue is no inner fender liners. My grandmother had a Rogue (quick car for a 232 six) and after about 8 years water was spraying up through the front fenders.
Nice A and B schemes in that pic.
My experience with Rambler S/C Hurst cars ;
1) Purchased all original # 3 or 4 driver,out of Jersey in 07,after several years of searching .Drove it a bit for the fall,loving every minute of it,then took it apart for restoration.
2) Purchased 28,000 mile ,all original paint ,survivor but caged racecar out of West Virginia in 2008.Ran 12:30’s out of the box.Hooked up the Nitrous that came with the car,and ran 11:30’s with ridiculous consistancy.Not sure what internal mods were done as the seller was unsure,and I’ve never had it apart.2010 spent a bunch of money with AMC guru Barry Allen,for a 420 stroker,and gained a second.Ran low 11’s no spray,and low 10’s on a 150 shot.Best time of 10:07 at 140 mph.Stock AMC diff,and 3:55 gears.tried 4:10 and gained nothing .I do run built 727 reverse manual valve.The car is still very much street legal with a tire switch.It will not be sold in my lifetime.
Sold the restored car for 60k at BJ in 2016,after showing it for many years.
Brought my first “B” scheme car out of the bush in 2009.It’s been sitting outside here in Northern Canada for 45 years and is in worse shape than this and has no engine or tranny.Finally advertised it on FB marketplace,and sold it immediately for 9 grand.74 year old guy wisely decided it was ” too much for him “.Back up buyer is coming this weekend to pick it up ,and restore it so it can sit next to his collection of every year of AMX or Javelin.
I am a multi -denominational collector ,Mike is all AMC /All the time LOL.
Bought my second B,for about the same money,also no driveline.I happened to have an all aluminum sbc full race,on the shelf ,so that’s what went in.We are building this one for Mrs. Muscle ,who may just kick my ass as the SBC went mid 9’s in a lightened 69 Camaro.We may not be the fastest at the track ,but we WILL be the coolest !!
I guess all of the above means nothing ,but I like to think I’m as familiar with the market for Scramblers as anyone,and $15-20,000 is the market price for this featured car.
Thanks for featuring a true uber rare barn find !
Was the Virginia car the one that was on ebay a couple times, had black wheels? Tough looking car….
I bought one on a trailer(Paint scheme #1, Red, White, and Blue) $1300, all thetre but nothing hooked up. Several years later(1984, 1986) I needed a PBrake booster which were hard to find, but my Dad was driving around Plymouth , MI. from Church and spotted another Rambler American, parts car, roller painted bathroom blue, raised up due to no engine. Ninety bucks later he hooked a chain up then pulled me 10 miles home to Detroit–Hardly any steering, zero brakes. Pretty exciting!! As he’s pulling the part the door was opned and I notice the ‘special paint ‘ code on the door tag!. I popped opened glove box : There was the original Owner’s Manual, the round glove box sticker(back then impossible to find) . I popped the trunk, yep, the 2 RWB headrests! RWB Floor mats-I believe an option?-and a couple of spare SC/Rambler Rambler emblems. This blue parts car WAS AN ORIGINAL one of first 500, Red, White, and Blue Sc/Rambler!. I now had 2 Hursts!. Reluctantly, we took the few parts off, AND, the doortag, and sent the remains to the crusher_ Back then, considered too far gone!. Even had the top back seat, charcoal/basketweave of course.
No naysayer here! Just the idea of taking a plain jane rambler body and stuffing a huge mill and 4 speed in it makes the juices flow. I had a customer at the Sunoco station I worked at come in once a week and top his scrambler off with expensive (49.9!) 260 gas. From then on I was impressed. AMC was really scratching the bottom to survive, and I felt their performance builds were amazing, but it didnt save them . This ones a ruffian but should be saved, IMHO. Good luck and stay safe.
Cheers
GPC
Never could get past the ho hum grandma grocery getter styling….yeah I know it was pretty quick but I have to like what I see too…..its a fast Rambler, but its “still” a Rambler!
As for styling….Not much different than a Chevy II SS /Pontiac Acadian, or for that matter a Merc Comet or Ford Falcon.
1969 was the last year for the Rambler name, The former “Rambler American” in its last year was the AMC Rambler replaced by the AMC Hornet (& AMC Gremlin) in 1970. In 1968 the Rambler Rebel became the AMC Rebel, the Rambler Ambassador became the AMC Ambassador and the brand new sporty cars were the AMC Javelin and AMC AMX. AMC Ramblers from their beginning in the mid 1950’s to the last Rambler in 1969 were most famous as winner of the Mobil Economy Run and roomy economical sedans and station wagons. AMC took well built economy cars (1960 Rambler and 1970 Rebel Machine) and showed that they had what it takes to be limited edition competitive racers combined with their mid-1960’s designed small block AMC V-8 originally available as the 290, 343 and 390, and later changed to the 304, 360 and 401.
The wfe worked for the Rambler dealer down in New Mexico when I came home from Vietnam in 69 and they had one on the floor I could have got the real deal on.Went for the 65 Corvette fastback instead.The Corvette was mint and at $1950 cheaper then the Rambler.Remember those days of prices like that on Corvettes? At 76 I still have one.
Catalog car..?
Catalog car = car you can open up a catalog and order anything for i.e.; camaro, mustang, tri five, pickup and more….
As a 17 year old I drove my mom’s 64 four door flathead six auto Rambler American. When SC/Ramblers were new I didn’t have much interest in them. Time has changed my perspective. It looks like there’s enough SC/Rambler here to be worth restoration. It’s a pretty rare car, and although it’s pretty rough, it’d be great to see it back on the road.
JoeBob drove his Moms Rambler……I rest my case! 😁
Ramblers had the amazing split bench with ratchet down seat backs that “miraculously” turned into a Queensize bed. I wonder how many young women got to curl their toes into the headliner ?
I stuffed a built 390 and 4 speed into a 1968 American which I painted RWB in the Penske Javelin format. With a lot of stripping and tweaking I was able to get mid 11’s on a regular basis. On one absolutely perfect run, I broke into the 10’s with 10.99.
This SC/Rambler sold for $17,700.
Through the years, I have owned 5 of these Big 3 ravagers. Dragging the gut in downtown Portland, Oregon until the motorcycle cops ran us out of the core. Everyone always thought that I built it and I had to do the 20 minute history lesson to enlighten the unknowing. Many a Chevelle and Roadrunner wanted to race me multiple times as they could not believe they were just dusted by a ‘Rambler’. The craziest one I owned had 4:56 gears and you could start out in 4th. It was truly an 1/8 miler and at 45 if you punched it, the car would do a circle passing itself to where it just came from…it was like driving a drug. Only thing I found more fun so far is a Viper, top down, suck out everything on the interior fast, pure adrenalin and steam roller tires. I would watch the street race potentials come up and see the Viper and take a right…Maybe a T-Bucket next, just for the noise and something to make the cops chase me around and at my age they better be committed because I am from ‘paint to pass’ days and it is on…Rachel