American Motors Corp. was formed in 1954 by the merger of Rambler, Nash and Hudson. By the 1960s Nash and Hudson were gone, and to most American buyers Rambler meant dowdy, compact cars. In the mid-1960s AMC sought to move upscale and compete with the Big Three. This was a tall order, and the company's oxymoronic advertising line, the "Sensible Spectaculars," only muddled the promotion.
