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Greetings and Welcome to The 405 Coffee Break with O.K. Solberg
New episodes tend to air over the local KMMR radio station @ 5 minutes past 4PM each M-F. And have been doing so, nearly every week since Sept 2018.
I'm D.J. Rasmussen, O.K.s friend since junior high, possibly your neighbor & this websites maintainer, whom strives to get each episode's show notes written, the transcript proofed and the audio posted to the internet within a few hours of that days KMMR air time. NOTE: recently been publishing most new releases by 4:30PM.
Thanks for visiting and I hope you enjoy the time we can spend together.
Wanna again welcome you to The 405 Coffee Break. Nice rain. Get you a cup of coffee, glass iced tea bottle of water, 3/10ths over at my house, and let's see what's happening out there.
OK Solberg:Spring wheat $5.85 a bushel, a 700lb steer calf in Billings will bring ya $4.21 50, Butcher hog in Iowa 71ยข a pound, and a 100lb fat lamb in Billings $3.08 a pound. But, guys, there's more, much more.
OK Solberg:OK, it's Monday, and that can mean only one thing. It's Jay & Joe's Motor Monday. And today, well, we're gonna be looking at AMC. AMC stood for American Motors Corporation. You gotta remember makers of the AMC Gremlin, the AMC Pacer, the Rambler American, and who can forget the Jeep Cherokee.
OK Solberg:Let's look into this company that once existed yet quietly slipped away into recent memory. That right after our bible verse. Listen now.
OK Solberg:Buddy, you got your pencil? Isaiah 43:18 Isaiah 43:18 Remember not the former things nor consider the things of old. Again, Isaiah 43:18
OK Solberg:Now if you read the context, it means don't let the past, good or bad, limit your vision of what God is about to do. So it doesn't mean we can't remember American Motors Corporation.
OK Solberg:Now AMC was formed in 1954 through the merger of 2 struggling independent automakers. Who were they? Name them. Joe. Nash Calvinator Corporation, and the Hudson Motor Company.
OK Solberg:At the time, the American auto industry was dominated by the big 3. You know the big 3, General Motors, Ford Motor Company, and Chrysler, making survival difficult for smaller firms. AMC's strategy from the start was different. Instead of competing head on with large powerful cars, it focused on compact economical vehicles. This approach was ahead of its time and would later become one of its defining strengths.
OK Solberg:The Rambler American became a hit during the late 50s and early 60s as consumers began to value fuel efficiency and affordability. Now you might even remember one or two driving the streets of Malta, Montana in the past. Can you remember a Rambler? Even though Rambler wasn't sold in Malta, I believe my old friend Melvin Kjos owned one. AMC built a reputation as an innovative underdog.
OK Solberg:It introduced early compact cars before they were mainstream. It experimented with unique designs like the AMC Pacer known for its wide rounded shape, and it acquired the Jeep brand in 1970, which would later become its most valuable asset. AMC never consistently matched the 3 big the big 3 in volume, but its most successful passenger line was the Rambler series, especially the Rambler American, which became its best selling model overall. The last Rambler rolled off the assembly line, listen, on 06/30/1969. Yep.
OK Solberg:Just 20 days before Neil Armstrong said one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind. Yes, sir. Say goodbye to the Rambler on 06/30/1969, 2 and a half months before Sugar Sugar by the Archies reached the number one slot. Now after the Rambler disappeared, AMC kept going. And in terms of long term legacy and total production impact, AMC's biggest winner was arguably the Jeep line, particularly models like the Jeep Cherokee XJ, which actually revolutionized the modern SUV market after its launch in 1984.
OK Solberg:By the late 1970s and early 1980s AMC was struggling and financially. In 1987, the company was acquired by Chrysler. This effectively marked the end of AMC as a standalone automaker. However, Chrysler was primarily interested in one thing. What do you think that was?
OK Solberg:It's still out there today. That was the Jeep. There you have a brief history of AMC, so never forget. It came into being in 1954 and it stopped making Ramblers in 1969. That year, 1969, so many things happened.
OK Solberg:Woodstock, the moon landing, sugar sugar, but sadly, it was the year, the last year Rambler rolled off the assembly line there in Wisconsin. And of course, we don't even have time for a discussion on the Rambler Scrambler, AMC's only muscle car and their own muscle car. And guess what, guys? It was made only in the year 1969. Oh, what a year to remember.
OK Solberg:So until next time, as you go out there, remember now. Don't be bitter.