It is Thursday once again and time for a brand new Muscle Car of the Week. This week we take a look at a car from a company that made a name for itself by making nothing but bland Rambler Wagons and Pacers. However, there were a few years in the life of American Motors in which they made some real fire breathers. Check out the 1969 AMC Rambler Scrambler.

In the years when the muscle car wars were in full swing, little-known American Motors was doing their best to get into the performance market with cars like their fabled AMX and Javelin. Although these cars did fairly well, the little automaker was seeking something loud and vibrant that grabbed peoples attention instantly. What they sought was presented by designers in the form of the Rambler Scrambler. Now, the car wasn’t actually named the Rambler Scrambler, rather, it was a nickname given to it at the time. In reality, the car was a project of renowned racing and aftermarket manufacturer, Hurst Performance, who named it the SC/Rambler. Well, people took a liking to the little car and named it accordingly.

*Hurst also had a hand in creating other muscle cars of the era, such as the Chrysler 300 Hurst Edition and a later model of the Oldsmobile 4-4-2*

The SC/Rambler’s nickname that happened to be synonymous with breakfast actually described how the car ran pretty well. The little thing cooked the tires on the quarter to the tune of 14.3 second passes at just under 100 miles per hour. But what could a company like AMC do to a Rambler to make it move so fast? Well, for starters they dropped in the beefiest V8 in their engine department between the fenders of the little car. Displacing every bit of 390 cubic inches the mean V8 cranked out 315 horsepower and 425 lb feet of torque. Backed with a Borg-Warner 4-speed transmission that ran to a 3.54:1 rear gear, the 3,000 pound monster had everything it needed to haul ass. A heavy duty rear leaf spring setup, anti-sway bar and anti-hop link system rounded out the handling package to keep the car on the track. Bringing it to a stop came courtesy of front disc brakes and rear drums. It wouldn’t be a muscle car without a loud paint scheme and the Scrambler certainly does not disappoint. Adorned with white paint and bright red side stripes, the car also featured light blue print on the hood that read “390 CU I.N.” and “AIR” with an arrow pointing into the ram air hood scoop.

The little SC/Rambler was only made for one model year and sold just over 1,500 units during its run, making it another one of the rare muscle machines. The aftermarket for American Motors is already small enough, so most Scrambler projects involve lots of searching and fabrication. None the less, they are still sweet little cars that I hope you enjoyed learning about. Until next week, Big_Blocker out.