The AMC AMX/3 (alternate spelling: AMX III) is a mid-engine sports car made by American Automobile manufacturer American Motors Corporation (AMC), which was presented in March 1970 and was to be mass-produced in Germany by Karmann from 1971. With this car, AMC wanted to counter the similarly designed De Tomaso Pantera with a competitor. The body design and drivetrain all were developed by and came from AMC, with the chassis and suspension saw development with AMC-consulted and partnering Italian suppliers. The design was originally falsely attributed to Giotto Bizzarrini, however, only some individual components such as parts of the suspension actually came from him. In addition to Bizzarrini, Italdesign, Autocostruzioni S.D. were also involved in the development. The vehicle eventually never reached mass production when, shortly after the official presentation, AMC abandoned the project without giving any reason after about half a dozen cars had already been made. Several attempts to revive the design and license it for a limited production still without AMC's involvement under the Bizzarrini brand name as the Bizzarrini Sciabola were unsuccessful. Later an AMC AMX/3 chassis formed the technical basis for the Iso Varedo concept car in 1972.
Background
The AMX/3 was created in response to business difficulties at American Motors. As the smallest of the four major US car companies, AMC had suffered significant losses in the first half of the 1960s, which was mainly explained by a technically undemanding model range often perceived as staid. Near the end of the 1960s, AMC tried to appeal to younger buyers at the end of the decade with sporty variants of volume models. Introduced for the 1968 model year, the pony car Javelin was three years late compared to the competition. The Javelin-derived two-seat hatchback AMX received good press as an early muscle car, but sold much worse than expected—possibly because of too much stylistic proximity to AMC's standard models.
To give the AMC brand a sporty image, management had been pursuing the goal of adding a high-performance sports car with a mid-engine to the model range since 1967. This was mainly triggered by the motor racing successes of the appropriately designed Ford GT40, which Ford knew how to use for advertising and which had also prompted the GM brand Chevrolet to develop the Astro II concept car. In the spring of 1968, AMC initially showed the stylistically De Tomaso Mangusta-influenced AMC AMX/2, which was purely a show car, and had no prospect of series production. This design was further developed into the AMX/3, which was already a near-production design.
In autumn 1968, the decision was made to produce the AMX/3 in series. Its primary rival was to be the De Tomaso Pantera, which was still in development at the time, of which it was already clear that Ford would distribute it in the United States through its dealer network.
After several prototypes were completed, AMC had promotional photos produced in March 1970 in front of the Colosseum in Rome. AMC presented the car to the Italian press in Rome on 23 March 1970 and to the American press in New York on 4 April 1970. Both dates were one day before the local presentation of the De Tomaso Pantera. From 5 April 1970, the AMX/3 was finally on display at the New York Auto Show, where the Pantera also made its debut. In support, Giotto Bizzarrini drove a few demonstration laps at the Michigan Speedway. However, a little later - depending on the source at the end of April or in the summer of 1970 - AMC surprisingly abandoned the AMX/3. Reasons for the termination were not given. By then, AMC had invested about US$2 million in the project.
Model designation
The abbreviation AMX stands for American Motors Experimental (mutatis mutandis: experimental model of the American Motors Company). From 1968 onwards, AMC used it for a series-produced front-engined sports car. At the beginning of the development phase, the mid-engined coupé was given the designation AMX/3; this was also intended as the sales designation of the production model that was ultimately not realised. The 3 - for the third experimental vehicle - was typographically mostly connected with a slash. This lettering can be found on some prototypes. However, AMC deviated from this and used the styling AMX III on at least one prototype. A contemporary sketch also shows a vehicle with the lettering AMX/K, where the K stands for the body manufacturer Karmann.