AMC AMX/3 Concept - 1971
Bizzarrini Sciabola
6.383 cc
V8
345 bhp
Chassis n° 7 of 9 ex. (AMC)
Widely considered as the best AMC design of all time,ba third-generation AMX concept car, the AMX/3, debuted at the 1970 Chicago Auto Show. Engine-less and fashioned in fiberglass, the original AMC/3 prototype was a show car only.
American Motors placed an order for 30 operational cars. The AMX/3 body mold was sent to Italian GT maker Giotto Bizzarrini, whose Turin facility hand made drivable mid-engined, steel bodied cars. Built on a 105,3-inch (2.675 mm) wheelbase, the Bizzarrini prototypes used the AMC 390 cu in (6,4 L) V8 and an Italian OTO Melara four-speed transaxle. Road testing was done by BMW, which declared the AMX/3's chassis one of the stiffest and most neutral handling they had ever tested. The steel Italian cars differed from the original AMC design in having fewer but functional rear decklid louvers, louvered hoods, and, in some cases, hood scoops to direct fresh air into the heating-A/C system.
Five completed cars were produced before the US$ 2.000.000 program was cancelled. Escalating costs and pending bumper regulations put a stop to the mid-engined AMX/3. The remaining extra parts were used to assemble a sixth car.
After American Motors dropped the AMX/3 development Giotto Bizzarrini wanted to turn this special super car design into a real product bearing the Bizzarrini badge. It is too bad he could not pull this off and make a hundred or so like he did with the GT 5300.
Autoworld
Brussels - Belgium
August 2013
AMC AMX/3 Concept - 1971
Bizzarrini Sciabola
6.383 cc
V8
345 bhp
Chassis n° 7 of 9 ex. (AMC)
Widely considered as the best AMC design of all time,ba third-generation AMX concept car, the AMX/3, debuted at the 1970 Chicago Auto Show. Engine-less and fashioned in fiberglass, the original AMC/3 prototype was a show car only.
American Motors placed an order for 30 operational cars. The AMX/3 body mold was sent to Italian GT maker Giotto Bizzarrini, whose Turin facility hand made drivable mid-engined, steel bodied cars. Built on a 105,3-inch (2.675 mm) wheelbase, the Bizzarrini prototypes used the AMC 390 cu in (6,4 L) V8 and an Italian OTO Melara four-speed transaxle. Road testing was done by BMW, which declared the AMX/3's chassis one of the stiffest and most neutral handling they had ever tested. The steel Italian cars differed from the original AMC design in having fewer but functional rear decklid louvers, louvered hoods, and, in some cases, hood scoops to direct fresh air into the heating-A/C system.
Five completed cars were produced before the US$ 2.000.000 program was cancelled. Escalating costs and pending bumper regulations put a stop to the mid-engined AMX/3. The remaining extra parts were used to assemble a sixth car.
After American Motors dropped the AMX/3 development Giotto Bizzarrini wanted to turn this special super car design into a real product bearing the Bizzarrini badge. It is too bad he could not pull this off and make a hundred or so like he did with the GT 5300.
Autoworld
Brussels - Belgium
August 2013