Joining forces isn’t entirely evil. It’s losing your identity in the process that ultimately puts a dent in the long-established wisdom that there's strength in numbers. But it goes without saying that joining forces can create a hotbed of innovation, and among other things, enlarge financial capacities, increase distribution capabilities, improve economies of scale, and lower labor costs. Take AMC (American Motors Corporation) for example.

After three decades and unforgettable offerings like the Nash Rambler, AMC Gremlin, Matador, Marlin, and Javelin; it got absorbed into Chrysler, in the process of which it lost its identity to become the Jeep-Eagle Division, Chrysler’s automobile sales division responsible for marketing a variety of its vehicles until 1997. Interestingly, AMC itself was the product of a merger that occurred on May 1, 1954, between two struggling automakers, Hudson Motor Car Company and Nash-Kelvinator Corporation.

As always, it was a numbers game, a sudden reversal in both companies’ financial fortunes that forced them to join forces to preserve their corporate existence. But, in the late 1980s, AMC was a small company (by auto industry standards) struggling to keep its head above water. Although Chrysler bought it in 1987, AMC cars remain on American roads and garages, the sights of which evoke the question, ‘what happened?’

Related: The Hidden Truth Behind The AMC Javelin

A Brief Overview Of AMC

via Geocaching

Best known for the front-engined Javelin pony car, the American automobile manufacturer AMC was born in 1954 following the Hudson-Nash-Kelvinator merger. It was the largest corporate merger in U.S. history. In the face of competition, including Packard, Willys-Overland, Studebaker, and Kaiser Motors (as well as the Big Three rivals – Ford, Chrysler, and GM) AMC went on to produce many popular cars, several of which made a substantial impact on their generations.

The “small company deft enough to exploit special market segments left untended by the giants” did so with products like the Nash Rambler (later Rambler American), Hornet, Gremlin, and Pacer among its small car class. Its intermediate and full-size offerings include the AMC Ambassador, Rambler Classic, Rebel, and Matador. AMC is also to thank for what are verifiably the first true American crossovers – the AMC Eagle and Jeep Wagoneer.

Among all these, the Marlin, AMX, and Javelin muscle cars will keep the spirit of AMC alive for a long time in the future, even if the others get forgotten. The company got its first taste of a takeover in 1979 when the French Renault conclusively bought a 49 percent stake in the company. The events preceding the Renault 'rescue' is another long story. But long story short, AMC asked Renault for a $90 million loan to help it survive getting strangled by Japanese imports like Datsun, Honda, and Toyota.

Banks refused to give the American marque any more money, and AMC also faced mounting pressure to improve fuel efficiency and engineering of its Jeep products. The company would've surely gone belly up then had Renault not agreed to acquire 49% of AMC instead of lending the money. And so, in January 1982, AMC "sort of" became part of Le Regie.

Notably, AMC enjoyed periods of intermittent success before the Renault buyout, which was mostly thanks to the marque’s chief stylist Dick Teague, who "had to make do with a much tighter budget than his counterparts at Detroit's Big Three", but "had a knack for making the most of his employer's investment."

Stepping back, we understand Hudson and Nash’s primary objective for joining forces in the 1950s was to compete against the Big Three in the American market. It proved easier on paper, so AMC needed something fresh and faddy to shed its ‘economy-car’ image and appeal to the younger American buyers. And so, the Javelin was born.

The AMC Javelin

American Motors' 1970 AMC Javelin SST
Via: Mecum

The Javelin hatched at a time Chrysler, General Motors, and Ford dominated the US automotive market. AMC, on the other hand, was akin to an upstart and knew it couldn’t square up to the likes of Ford and their Mustangs except to at least chip away at their market. That too, was a tall task, considering that the Mustang, for example, sold in the hundreds of thousands.

Luckily for AMC, it had an investor, Robert Beverly Evans, who knew that to even move a market like that, talk less of dislodging it, required something fresh to rebrand the company he felt undervalued. Evans suggested something everyone at AMC should've thought of, anyway – the pony market. And so, AMC rolled out the Javelin in 1968 to attract younger buyers and get some of that pie from Ford.

To succeed, the Javelin stood as a roomier, more comfortable alternative in the US pony car market. By 'comfortable,' it also implies innovative features like fiberglass, safety padding, headrests, 3-point seat belts, and an anti-glare interior. And, of course, Dick Teague is to thank for the Javelin's design. For power, the first-generation Javelin got a 145-hp 3.8-liter (232 cu-in) inline-six or 155-hp 4.8-liter (290 cu-in) V8 engine paired with a 3- or 4-speed manual transmission.

It turned out that Evans was right; the Javelin was a resounding success, finishing third in the Trans-Am series in its first year. Although the Javelin's production got discontinued in 1974, it won the Trans-Am race series in 1971, 1972, and 1976, toting a curb weight of 2,836 lbs. Notably, the AMX variant of the 2nd-gen Javelin was the first pony car to enlist as a standard highway police car with the American law enforcement agency.

The Javelin’s short-lived existence is a classic case of ‘life happens.’ It was the perfect mix when it debuted in 1968 but quickly fell out of favor with a ‘70s era market always searching for something different. The recession didn't help, and neither did Javelin's poor fuel economy in the face of soaring energy costs. The Javelin's fate spelled the beginning of the end for AMC, but the model's charm lives on today.

Related: Last-Standing AMC Dealership Still Has Over 200 Classic Cars

The Rise And Fall Of AMC

1970_AMC_Javelin_SST_Mark_Donohue_Edition
Via Yahoo

AMC's Javelin may not have stuck permanently, but it did spare the Mustang and proved just as formidable during the late '60s and early '70s horsepower wars. It was no small feat taking on the Mustang, the most successful new car ever offered to the American public. However, Javelin’s rather abrupt departure meant taking on the Big Three didn’t work out.

The circumstances of the Javelin’s relegation to the ‘also-rans’ is mostly due to the impact of the 1973 Arab oil embargo that sent fuel prices soaring and made the gas-guzzling Javelin an impractical purchase for most shoppers. AMC even followed in the footsteps of the Big Three and started an EV program but lacked the financial means to bankroll the R&D.

During this time, AMC adjusted its target on the newly-discovered compact segment but made the grave mistake of rolling out the Pacer with the gas-guzzling inline-six. The Pacer thus left the company in the middle of the ocean, sharing no components with its other models to help it improvise and ultimately costing the already cash-strapped AMC $74 million between 1978 and 1979.

AMC had to accept Renault’s offer but didn’t see the end of the tunnel in France despite the promising Eagle C-SUV and George Beese’s last-ditch cost-cutting measures in 1985. The company suffered a curious case of shifting trends each time it built a new great car, ultimately leading to its demise.