All American Monday
The AMX/3 program was entered into at the request of Dick Teague, who wanted to produce a car that would showcase AMC’s technical expertise and put the company on a comparatively equal footing with the Detroit competition. The car was to be a mid-engine design powered by an AMC 390 ci V8.
The final styling was Teague’s, after winning a competition against Giorgetto Giugiaro of ItalDesign. The pre-production prototypes were built by ItalDesign, and BMW conducted testing at Monza in 1970 in anticipation of production. But the project never got that far. The projected price for the production car was set at $14,000, and the cars were to be built in Italy. However, after the NHTSA announced the new 5-mph bumper regulations and Ford began selling the DeTomaso Pantera in select Lincoln-Mercury dealerships at a lower $10,000 starting price, the project was cancelled. Only the five prototypes were ever built (one was a “roller” without an engine).