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With its factory red, white, and blue paint and 390 V8, this 1970 AMC Rebel Machine offers a unique entry point into classic muscle cars.
AMC’s Muscle Car
AMC is often remembered as the scrappy underdog carmaker from Kenosha, Wisconsin, that took on Detroit’s Big Three not head on but by building economical, quirky, yet quality automobiles. And while later cars like the Gremlin and Pacer of the 1970s are perhaps AMC’s most remembered nameplates, cars like the Ambassador, Rambler, and AMX attest to the diversity and ingenuity of the company’s legacy.
To best illustrate AMC’s unique charms, I hunted down a 1970 AMC Rebel Machine on Carsforsale.com for your consideration. The one-year-only effort was AMC’s earnest attempt to build a competitive muscle car, and while the Rebel Machine didn’t set the world on fire at the time, it’s proven to be one of the most unique and underappreciated muscle cars from that year.
From Rambler to Rebel
The AMC Rambler Rebel debuted in 1967, but the Rambler name goes back to the pre-merger days of Nash-Kelvinator circa 1950. Post-merger the Rambler moniker was shared between both the Nash and Hudson brands before eventually coming under the AMC badge proper starting in 1958. From there the Rambler name was whittled down to just a single model line, the Rambler American, by 1968. That same year saw the initially collaboration between AMC and Hurst for a performance version of the Rambler, the SC/Rambler a.k.a. the “scrambler.” Though the Rambler name was retired after 1969, the Hurst collaboration continued with the subsequent performance version of the Rebel, the Rebel Machine of 1970.
The Rebel Machine of 1970
In its first year, the Rambler Rebel had offered a trio of engines: a 232 cu.-in. I-6, a 290 cu.-in. V8, or a 343 cu.-in. V8 making up to 280 horsepower. Alongside its new, smaller muscle car sibling, the AMX, the Rambler Rebel got a new 390 cu.-in. V8 for 1968 good for 315 horsepower. The ’69 SC/Rambler, built with the help of Hurst Performance, was built with the National Hot Rod Association’s F/Stock drag competition in mind and served as the basis for the Rebel Machine to follow.
For “The Machine” of 1970, AMC gave the Rebel its highest output engine at the time, tweaking the 390 V8 to 340 horsepower which was sent to the wheels via either a Borg-Warner T-10 four-speed manual with Hurst shifter or a Shift Command automatic with a pistol grip shifter. The Rebel Machine’s 390 V8 shared numerous performance features with the AMX’s including high-end camshafts, a tougher crankshaft, a 10.0:1 compression ratio, and forged connecting rods.
Unique to the Rebel were its intake, exhaust manifold, and cylinder heads. It also received front disc brakes, rear coil springs borrowed from the wagon version of the Rebel, and anti-roll bars front and back. The Rebel Machine’s most distinctive feature was its functional hood scoop complete with tachometer (note the bulge on the driver’s side). Prior to Jan. 1st, 1970, the first 300 or so Rebel Machines came in just one paint job of red, white, and blue.
The AMC Rebel Machine was as short-lived as it was spectacular, succeeded by AMC’s mid-size Matador for 1971.
This Example
The 1970 AMC Rebel Machine listed on Carsforsale.com is an excellent example with all the hallmarks of this singular muscle car. It features the Rebel Machine’s quintessential red, white, and blue paint scheme, the factory 390 V8 rebuilt in 2020, and an admittedly loud Flowmaster dual exhaust. It’s equipped with the four-speed manual and runs on American Racing Torque Thrust wheels and BFG radial tires.
Just 2,326 1970 AMC Rebel Machines were built and sold for approximately $3,500 apiece, a few hundred more than the average for an entry-level muscle car. AMC’s unique approach to the car business extended to their marketing efforts, including their pitch for the Rebel Machine which was “not as fast as a 7.0L Chevrolet Corvette or a Chrysler Hemi, but it will beat a Volkswagen, a slow freight train, or your old man’s Cadillac.”
This 1970 AMC Rebel Machine, with its heritage and styling, beats old Caddys and VWs, most vintage Corvettes, and a lot of run-of-the-mill Hemis, at least when it comes to uniqueness among the old school classics of its day.
