(first posted 10/10/2015. I don’t normally rerun COALs but this one is well worth it)
Last week I shared my brief fling with a respectable vehicle, the above car represents my retreat back into beater-hood. That may sound like a bad thing but it wasn’t, I have always loved beaters and still do. While I knew my decision to sell my Jeep and go back to school meant getting another beater, it still had to be unique. I still had a pile of parts from my previous Gremlin parts car and knew how to wrench on them, so when I saw this car for sale across from my old high school I knew it would be mine.
pic via galleryhip.com
The story goes that the seller had bought the Hornet from a little old lady for his teenage son but he didn’t want it. How can anyone not love that face? What an ungrateful brat. Or maybe the seller just crawled underneath the car and figured the rocker rust repair wasn’t worth it for a 6 cylinder Hornet. Sure some rust repair was needed but I took it for a rip around the block and it did everything a car should do. Nothing particularly well but I knew I could get it to pass a safety inspection. Somewhere around $600 changed hands and I threw some dummy plates on it and drove it home.
Once I had the Hornet home I again experienced a bit of buyer’s remorse upon examining the rotted rocker panels. Someone had fiberglassed a chunk of 2 x 4 lumber to reinforce the passenger rocker panel! My creative juices were summoned and the solution I found was to fashion a patch from some sheet metal that could be welded over the offending area.
The Hornet was brought to the shop of my friend’s Dad that had passed my Gremlin a few years earlier. A precedent had been set, he had passed my earlier beater so he had to pass this one. I remember him laughing at my very amateur welding job on the rocker panels, but he was okay with it. He wasn’t okay with the brakes though as they had been sitting quite a while and were rusted. Some other minor issues were present as well, but finding new drums for all 4 wheels proved rather difficult and expensive. Once found and installed, they caused the car to shudder while braking. They must have been stored (for decades) on their sides and come out of round as the problem gradually decreased as I put more kms on them. Having never driven 4 wheel drums brakes before I just thought that it might be one the idiosyncrasies of the antiquated system. That and not being able to stop cars as well as disc brakes. You get used to it.
While I did not buy my Hornet directly from the old lady who bought it new, there was no doubt in my mind that this was a “little old lady” car. For one, it came with the original owner’s manual and receipts from April 1973. It also had all the options of a car I would describe as a “lazy stripper”. By that I mean, it was a 2 door sedan with only the most practical of convenience options like automatic transmission and AM radio. That is all. It had the base 232 cid 6 cylinder that allegedly produced 100 hp, the Chrysler sourced Torque-Command tranny, manual steering and brakes, and AMC’s world renown church pew bench seats in a charming black and white hound’s tooth pattern. Sadly I have no pics of this and neither does Google. It also had that ugly steering wheel you see above that managed to get into about 90% of all AMCs.
pic via chevelles.com
Remember non-retractable shoulder harnesses? I didn’t, I had never seen them before, it didn’t make any sense to me. I guess that was the cheapest way to comply with government mandated shoulder harnesses. I could see why no one would have used these, you’re either strapped too tight to the seat or too loose to do anything in the event of an accident. For the most part I actually used these in the Hornet but the automatic seat belts buzzers lasted about a month before I cut the wires. Those were the most shrill buzzers I’ve ever heard. The automotive industry had come a long way in the pleasant sounding buzzer department.
No discussion of this car could be complete without acknowledging it’s twin from The Man With The Golden Gun. While my car was unfortunately not a hatchback, it’s the same colour and Mr. Bond and I share not only a name but similar driving styles. I never jumped a river with a spiral ramp but I got air a few times in my Hornet. Funny thing is, I never knew about this movie till after I sold the car.
This car was certainly not fast but it was dependable. I don’t recall any breakdowns, but I did manage to overheat the cooling system in -50°C weather once. A friend and I had planned a ski trip on a Saturday following a Friday late night pizza delivery shift. Once I had cashed out at about midnight I went out to my car to discover a flat tire. Not wanting to deal with it at the time (or not having a spare?) I caught a ride home, planning on changing it in the morning. I got up early, got a ride to the car and managed to start it despite the severe weather. I then quickly changed the tire without incurring any frostbite and drove off to my friend’s place to pick him up.
During the short drive to my friend’s place I noticed the heater was not defrosting the windshield despite the car having been running for a half hour and the temperature gauge rising. As is the custom in Winnipeg, I drove with one hand and scraped the inside of the windshield with the other. When I got there, I noticed the temperature gauge was in the hot zone. Huh? I popped the hood and the motor was giving off a lot of heat, but one squeeze of the heater hose told me the anti-freeze had frozen solid. No coolant was making it to the heater! I shut it down and let the radiant heat melt the blockage and we were on our way. The weather warmed to a balmy -30°C, we got some good skiing in and made the 4 hour return trip no problem.
It may have been dependable but it didn’t take long to incur a lifetime of wear on this poor unsuspecting Hornet. I know this will offend some lovers of old cars but there really wasn’t anyone else to love this thing. Rust soon appeared everywhere, most notably at the mount for the hinge on the driver’s side door. I did a quick clean-up of the door from my old parts Gremlin and bought some spray paint from a local body shop. Apparently I had picked the wrong 70’s AMC orange (I picked ’74 Sienna Orange instead or ’73 Trans-Am Red) and the colour was way off. It looked extra weird. The exhaust soon blew a hole and it got loud. I had a stupid-loud stereo system to overpower the exhaust noise but that soon attracted unwanted attention.
While attending a very large party at a very unreputable part of town one weekend, I walked over to my car in the early morning hours to find a window smashed and the entire stereo system gone. The deck was hidden and locked in the glove box but that was pried open and the trunk lock was yanked to get at the subwoofers and amplifier. Since I had a fair bit of money into the stereo I made an insurance claim and she was written off. I can’t remember what I got but I’m sure I at least got what I put into it.
Sorry, I may have spilled beer on this pic
So I had a month to turn in my car to the insurance company, how do you think I drove it? It was written off so no one else could put it back on the road without a very onerous safety inspection that it would never pass. I tried to kill it but it wouldn’t die. I left it first gear with the throttle pinned for minutes and it would only rev to 5000 rpms and could hold that all day. The night before it’s last day I decided to do a one legged burnout for as long as it could do it. Fortunately it was raining. I had it spinning for at least 10 minute before the tire blew. Mission accomplished I guess. The next day I drove it about 10 kms via the side streets to the insurance depot and parked it among the other corpses without any insurance people noticing.
Six months later I was at a swap meet and came across a guy selling a Hornet grille with one lower middle tooth missing. He had bought my car at the insurance auction and was using the parts to fix up his Hornet. She would live on.
What is it about disposable cars that makes them so indestructible? When i was in high school; I was given a rough 1957 Ford 2 door hardtop by a friend that owed money on it to two fellas from the “wrong” side of town, the kind that you didn’t mess with. After driving it around town for a while and getting pulled over by these two in a Starsky and Hutch type of maneuver; I figured out why my friend let me have the car. To see how far I could spin the tires on tar; I would hold the throttle to the floor till the engine would stop winding; then drop it into drive, with a loud bang it would go into gear and fish-tail for half a block or more; did this for 15-20 times and nothing broke. After a bunch of other types of mayhem, we finally drove it to the junk yard and got $10 out of it. Why i didn’t put that engine in another car, I don’t know.
Beautifully crafted story, Nelson, and a great read. It really shows the every day adaptability of people who are native to exotic fringe climates. And the coda almost brought a tear to a motorhead’s eye!
The AMC Hornet is a lovable old pooch. The cheap suit interior featuring that cringeworthy cantilevered dash nearly kills it, but the exterior shape works well. Among its contemporaries in the 1970 school of long hood/short deck, it manages to embody utility with a dash of sportiness.
But speaking of the cringeworthy, that movie scene is tops. Between the shitkickin’ redneck sheriff’s yammering, the too loud score and the derelict bridge that shouts “spiral carny thrill show ramp”, it’s a total fail. Not even good camp. These were not the best of times for the Bond movies.
Thanks for the kind words.
I’ve never been a fan of Bond movies because of scenes like this. I can’t believe they added that stupid, clown sound effect while the car is spiraling through the air. I had to check a few different Youtube videos just to be sure that someone else hadn’t added it.
The Connery Bonds were all good, but the series kinda died when Roger Moore took over. They were played for laughs and Bond became a characture of himself. Pierce Brosnan was even worse and I find his Bonds to be utterly unwatchable,especially the wretched “Die Another Day”. Daniel Craig isn`t Sean Connery, but at least he brings an edge to Bond, something that was missing for almost 25 years. Not too much to say about George Lazenby and Timothy Dalton-also rans.
Interestingly, Mercedes-Benz must have been busy, poring over the old brochures for colourful inspiration, especially the 1973 AMC brochure.
This colour palette below is from 2015 Mercedes-Benz G-Class (German edition).
G-Wagens should be tomato red, construction-site yellow, or beige with brown stripes, all with matte black grilles, white steelies and brown plaid seats. That is all.
Very nice article. I have a soft spot for AMCs also – and after the Javelin, the Hornet is my favorite, preferably the Sportabout. But I also can acknowledge their weaknesses and the interiors were always sub-par compared to the Big Three – and I agree with the opinion of that steering wheel design – it was in almost every AMC model and it always looked cheap…..
Great read! You’re probably the closest (geographically speaking) CCer to me; I’m in northeastern North Dakota…half-hour drive to the border!
Grand Forks area? My parents have a place in Lancaster MN so we used to go down there a bit, mostly on the MN side though. I now live out in South East BC so I’ve escaped the terrible winters. Much nicer to write about cold weather than live through it.
I’m an hour away from Grand Forks…actually, if you get off I-29 at the Drayton exit and head straight west, you’ll run into my place eventually! 😛 And I’ve been to Lancaster, MN too a couple times. I’d actually like to get back up to the Peg sometime soon, too and take advantage of the exchange rate…haha. You made the right move by heading west away from the brutal “continental” winters…I still dread them and I’ve lived here most of my life!
The latest 007 movie is out here in London this month. I doubt the film ‘Spectre’ will feature an AMC this time – although there is a new Aston Martin driven by Bond.
And for all those doubters who do not consider these movies to be true documentaries of life here in the UK, heck here we have Bond’s Aston Martin DB5 parked up outside in my neighbourhood – possibly the ultimate Curbside Classic?
Undercover DB5
Just one question… what kind of masochist skis in -30C (-22F) weather? I’m a native Clevelander and I know cold… but when it’s that damn cold I’m stayin’ in!!! BTW, nice story, brings back memories of my rather short-lived ’74 Sportabout.
I worked at a ski hill in the upper peninsula of Michigan. As a chairlift operator, I can attest to the number of skiers willing to ski under those conditions.
Great COAL. Always good to hear from people who appreciate these under-appreciated cars.
This was my ’73 Hornet Hatchback. Pewter Silver, 258, 3 speed manual, X package, power steering, A/C, manual drum brakes, AM radio.
Beauty Hornet! Every AMC looks great with Rally rims. Was that one of the years they didn’t offer 4 speeds? I always thought 3 on the floor seemed odd. There was one of these for sale out here in base trim but in my favourite Baby Blue paint. They wanted too much for me to be tempted by it though.
Your Hornet really had nice rims with moon hubcaps, and I didn’t even see noticeable rust spots on steel rims!
In elementary and middle school one of my friends’ parents were AMC people. They had two Concords followed by two Eagles, a Hornet as a chicken coop. Or rather a chicken sedan since it was a four-door.
-50, nice. Welcome to Manitoba.
The pic of the overpass during the snowstorm made me shudder. Winter just weeks away..if we’re lucky. I have a new winter beater, an 02 Mazda Protege LX with manual transmission and very rusted rocker panels. It’s been cleaned and checked over ready for whatever winter brings. For $900 I’m hoping it will transport me through at least two winters.
It will last. It takes more than two winters for suspension mountings to fall apart for a car looks like this, even with Mazda’s rust resistance ( and I appreciate the bare metal body, so we wouldn’t be too shocked when a huge plastic panel falling off the ground. At least we know how rusted it is )
However, keep an eye for the fuel line and brake lines. I didn’t know enough back then and brake line wore off after hanging down for a while.
Back in the eighties I worked full-time for the Army National Guard. Our unit was about a four hour drive from the state headquarters and we lobbied endlessly for a motor pool sedan so that we weren’t putting miles on our personal cars driving to headquarters and back. This was one of the tank companies in an armor battalion so we did have some tactical vehicles but no one would ever want to drive one of those M151A1 quarter-ton trucks (they were definitely not Jeeps) that far if they didn’t have to.
After years of begging the powers that be assigned us a Hornet sedan from the state motor pool. It was likely from the late seventies-early eighties and was both well used and minimally equipped. The only options I remember it having were the auto trans and power steering, definitely no radio and no A/C. The little beast certainly wasn’t fast but it was reliable; we beat on it hard for several years and it never quit. It was still going strong when I left that job ca 1991. Not a car I would have considered purchasing with my own money but it served its purpose well.
Popular with the DoD until the Aspen and K car?.
When I went to high school we had a different driver/mother and/or father every week for our car pool. One of the moms had a hornet wagon. It was blue on blue and had a column stick shift. I thought it was the weirdest thing the first time I saw it as I had never ever see that before! The first time you see 3 on the tree in action it is a very shocking experience, especially coming from a full-size GM wagon family as a kid. That Hornet wagon moved 5 passengers and all their high school junk – books, athletic gear etc. with ease. I always thought that car had to have a big engine since it moved so easily. And believe it or not it felt like it was made well, too. I truly have a good memory riding in that car!
Great story, Nelson! You are right about those non-tensioned front shoulder belts – they are super-uncomfortable. I love that your Hornet had matching “Trans-Am Red”-painted wheels and dog-dishes. I have always liked my AMC’s – glad to see so many others have, too.
Inertia reels came in the very next year, in ’74. They were tied into the Interlock system, which took effect at the same time. We all know what happened to the interlock, probably the very last time in US history that public outcry resulted in unpopular legislation being retracted.
My 1969 Chevrolet Malibu came with those shoulder belts.
The Colonel approves this car.
You AMC was made a couple years after I stepped off the assembly
line in Kenosha, WI which is why there were some imperfections.
Maybe we should never get rid of a well beloved car?
Nobody wore seatbelts back then so nobody cared how inconvenient or poorly designed a seatbelt was. Most of the time the buckle fell through the crack between the seat and the seat back and laid on the floor at the backseat passenger’s feet. The shoulder strap was often tied in a knot up to the ceiling to make sure it could not come down by accident while driving
I’m sorry, but the truth is your antics which you recount about trying to intentionally destroy a car just disgust me. A sensible person would buy the car back from the insurance company and fix the window and continue to use it without the silly stereo.
Your disgust is duly noted.
Did you two actually read the article properly? He made it perfectly clear that this car was not only rusted beyond redemption in the first place, but once it had been damaged, it was utterly doomed to be scrapped. Please save your disgust for something more disgust-worthy in life. Believe me, there’s plenty of actual disgusting things happening in the world.This is not one of them.
The use of “duly noted” was meant to be sarcastic. My generation has actually used it sarcastically so much that I was never familiar with its use sincerely. I also share the belief that life is too short to be disgusted over every little thing. Apologies for any confusion.
Sorry; I should have picked up on that, especially coming from you.
As I stated in the article there was absolutely no way this car would again pass another safety inspection. Once a vehicle was written off it had to pass a much more thorough inspection that no old rusty car would ever pass without investing triple it’s value into the car. A sensible person would buy this car from an insurance auction and use it for parts. That’s exactly what happened.
It’s really easy to sit in front of a computer screen and say old cars should be saved but the reality is far more complicated. I was a broke 20 year old University student, how would I save this car? Where would I put it? I had no money or time for it and no one else wanted it.
After being scared away by $1000/mo charge from the university for half of a tiny room in campus housing sharing with one person in bedroom, two more in living room, I saved $200/mo by moving out to a house with a long driveway and two-car garage, and cost for housing is further reduced by sharing with one roommate. After that, here comes three cars! LeSabre without cold air is for winter, and two more for summer.
For each student stuck in university housing ( especially athletes and freshman, 40 credits or less such ) with a poor little car like Fiesta, if they move out smoothly, they all can afford two cars ( if housing isn’t paid by government, of course) And I prefer spending money on cars than those administrations in the education system and crappy meal plans.
I never said anything saving an old car. I was not advocating spending any money on the car other than a replacement window. I do not live where there are any car inspections. The part about the inspection must not have registered in my mind because I do not understand it. I still do not. There are stricter inspections when an insurance company takes a car? How can they apply modern standards to a car that was produced before they existed? Never heard of this before. Makes no sense to me. There is something called a grandfather clause. Seat belts are not required in cars built before they were mandatory equipment. Catalytic converters are not required in cars built before they were equipped with them. etc etc.
But all this is extraneous.
Yes, a sensible person bought the car for parts. That sensible person was not you. You tried to intentionally do damage to it, for, what I can tell, served zero purpose other than your enjoyment. I do not get it.
Inspection wise, it’s up to different states. All New England states are shameful enough to require periodic inspection after pouring so much salt in the winter. ( or it makes sense if sue city municipals for salt damage on the cars then ) while most other states with better common sense, they wouldn’t expect cars to pass inspection for the damage they cause. ( like in MI, OH ) Some municipals use sand, it will damage cars in other ways. But the disadvantage for no inspection is many people only realized the rust problem after their Tacoma ( or smaller Toyota trucks years ago, Ford Escape ) folds up in some ways. I get tired of avoiding hitting cars with suspension collapsing in front of me.
Regular insurance companies are crooks, and they don’t have meaningful regulations against them. Maybe except specific classic car insurance companies. And first generation of catalytic converter really overheats too much.
I can’t imagine the use for that AMC Hornet though, because it’s too rusted. And it’s even too small for demolition derby.
“Somebody did something for their own enjoyment! They must be a bad person!”
John, It’s all to obvious you don’t get it, despite the author having laid out the facts and explanation for his actions perfectly clearly. But here’s the thing: it’s a much better idea to not judge folks when you “don’t get” the situation. Confusion or being clueless is not a basis for judgment.
Ultimately, even if he chose to destroy an old rusty car for other reasons than the ones given, it’s really not something to get so indignant about.
john;
I understand your thoughts on this looking from my current age of 51.
I hate to see ANY kind of machinery abused but looking back 30+ years I can remember some dumb car stunts I did that could be racked up to “youthful indiscretions” or as more commonly called “lotta balls, not much brains”.
if you were one of the few that missed that stage of life I congratulate you on maturing early. for the rest of us I’m sure it brings back some memories and a reminder why we don’t kill our own kids when they have their “moments”!
I’m sure you don’t realize the how bad the rust damage is on a car like that. From the rust damage on left fender, I can imagine there isn’t much life left on this car anyway, and I don’t think it was undercoated neither ( otherwise the hole wouldn’t be that big and rocker panel wouldn’t be shot like that ) and it’s just so much better to part it out with that much damage. Usually the bottom will be horrible especially the frame rails.
For even much newer cars, rust damage can make the car absolutely worthless. A rusted 10yo 4Runner/Escape doesn’t worth anything other than rust scrap value, unless the owner keeps running the car till it breaks into pieces ( or suspension falls out ) even though their book values can be as high as $10000 and $6000 each. In 4Runner’s case, the owner can put a huge factory spoiler over the rear door to cover it up until it falls to the ground in the future. Usually by the time 4Runner shows rust like that, the frame mountings are compromised, and by the time wheel well bubbles, Escape’s whole door bottom is rotten behind plastic covers.
Well, actually the statement that “nobody used seat belts back then” is incorrect. The correct statement would be, “nobody with half a brain didn’t use seat belts”. Those two piece belts were a pain, but they still gave you a better chance of keeping your teeth than if you didn’t use them.
Even in my family with totally car-unaware Cheapskate 50’s Dad he had belts put in the back seat of the 1963 Falcon (cars came with factory mounts by then for the front seat by federal regs, and it came with those belts installed) and we all wore them all the time.
I had a Renault 16 with nonretractable lap/shoulder belt combo. Was fine until I forgot and reached for something – oof!
Minor point of correction: seat belt anchorages at all four outboard seating positions came in as standard equipment for ’62, but not by federal regulations, which did not exist in the US until 1968. It was by a clumsy dance of state requirements and industry agreement—the same way the sealed-beam “mandate” came in for ’40, the amber front turn signal came in for ’63, etc.
I think the US federal regulations called for rear belts starting in ’66. Our family had a number of ’65 and older cars with belts in the front seats (outboard) only. Our ’66 and later cars had seat belts for the outboard front and rear. I don’t know when the center seat belts were required.
There was no federal regulation of automobile equipment, design, construction, safety performance, or anything else in the United States until 1/1/68 when the first versions of the first Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards took effect. Details here.
I have driven many cars from that era with 2 piece lap and shoulder belts. I used the lap belts religiously but never the shoulder belts. When the shoulder belts were properly worn I could not reach any of the controls on the dashboard. Heck if it had a dash mounted ignition switch (1967-68) I couldn’t start the car. They really were just a cheap way to meet a federal safety standard. The one piece inertia real belts were a huge improvement.
Nelson, my 78 Concord was new when I bought it and was still the same car. Good article. Back then they weren’t classics – just old cars.
Great story. Despite the cheap interior, etc., I think this was an attractive car, good work by Richard Teague who managed to do a lot with a little. AMC especially did a nice job in incorporating the new front bumper standards for 1973 without creating a battering ram look that plagued other cars of this era.
I never could quite understand why AMC gave their cars just enough styling oddities, to make their models appear different in a quirky way, and probably harder to sell. I do follow their rationale behind the Pacer. Aiming to appear like a futuristic car for 1980, in 1975. I was a little kid at the time, and I thought the Hornet’s extra sculpted wheel openings, was overdone. Though they later addressed it better visually with proper fender flares on the Eagle. They were more purposeful, and suited the all wheel drive nature, being less ambiguous. On the Hornet and Concord, the wheel openings just looked bulbous. Without adding any added sense of style or sportiness. The Hornet needed to be seen as mainstream at the time. Though I’ve warmed up to the design element, it just seemed to add a significant frumpy element to otherwise good looking cars.
I think they were looking for a break-out design. Hard to do that if you follow the leader.
Chrysler has been almost psychotic in its swings from leadership that wins, leadership that fails, and follow the leader in remorse for the previous failure.
I’m amazed at the number of Hornet owners who are here. Count me in, my first car was a 72 Hornet SST (2 door sedan),with the 258/auto in that classic AMC metallic orange. An old lady car as well, with only an AM radio for creature comforts. Bulletproof engine, but rusted away far too easily, esp. at the top of the front fenders, the rockers and rear quarters. Loved the shelf under the dash, held a small set of radio shack dash speakers perfectly, the bench seat wasn’t a terrible thing to have on date nights. Great car in the snow with some grandpa-grips on the back, the 258 pulled fairly well but with no more than 18 or 19 mpg, and stopping took a bit of preplanning. Still a fine first car. Would i own another? Nope. But glad I had chance to have one as a kid. Great article, brought back some good memories.
Ive not seen very many Hornets from AMC more than from Wolseley I admit but not many at all They probably sold here new but survivors are quite rare and we dont use salt on our roads but they rust anyway.
Oh. If they don’t use salt on road and they still rust, it must be really bad.
Because many famous rust buckets are pretty rust resistant where salt isn’t used ( Chrysler F-Body, Ford Taurus, Buick Century, Dodge Caravan etc. )
My family had a ’75 Sportabout when I was growing up. I thought it was a great looking wagon (had the fake wood on the sides). That shot of the dashboard reminded me just how cheap, ill-fitting and ugly the interior was. That horrible plastic shelf under the dash was the piece-de-resistance (sorry for lack of correct accents)…
The best thing about our first beater cars was the freedom we had to learn from them. Wrench on them – errors were pretty forgiving, Beat on them, and we learned a lot about limits – from handling to how well the machine would tolerate something.
Nice article, thank you for sharing.
Back in the day, I had a buddy of mine who had an early 80’s Dodge Challenger (Mitsubishi Lancer?) with the Astron engine. Something related to the balance shafts had broken and there was a six week wait to get the parts from Japan. In the meantime, he bought an early 70’s Hornet to get to and from work. It was very much like the one described in the post, except his was green. Eventually, the parts made it in for the Challenger and he got it back on the road. But, he hung on to the Hornet for several more years as it was a completely reliable (if rusty) car to get him around town and use as a defacto pickup truck.
In a related vein, my one brother had a 1984 Eagle sedan that he drove for 17 years in Northwest Pennsylvania. What took it off the road is because the body could not pass Pennsylvania’s inspection routine, the mechanicals had well over 200,000 miles on them but were still in decent running condition.
These were really tough cars.
Maybe I’ve just forgotten them all, but it seems like I never saw many AMC products on the road other than Eagles and Alliances. And I was born in ’80 so one would think there would have been plenty of older ones still running about. So as an interesting, and to me slightly exotic, car I quite like this old Hornet.
In college I had the ’73 hatchback model with the exception of having power steering. Same “ooooo, pick me, officer!’ red paint. The hatchback was quite a stunning design for it’s time, and I think Teague did a great job on the front end. The back end had the silver strip between the taillights, which they dropped with the bigger ’74 rear bumper.
I still remember always carrying a screwdriver and a spare Sears voltage regulator #1487, and a ballast resistor. My Hornet loved them.
Great car…..
Good if basic cars but that was AMC’s bread and butter for decades……. old or cheap people’s transportation .
I think this was a nice looking little car .
-Nate
The picture of the clipped up seat belt got a grin from me, I remember those on my Matador, one day I tried it out and attached the shoulder strap into the lap belt.
Once I got it adjusted right I couldn’t reach anything past the shift lever, so I clipped it back up to the ceiling and that was the end of that.
I also affirm the futility of trying to fix an AMC product with substantial rocker rust, ain’t worth it, it’s kind of like fixing rocker rust in an Etype Jaguar except the car still isn’t worth anything when you’re done.
Great article and story, thanks.
1974 Hornet in Fawn Beige. The car I first kissed my late wife in on April 21, 1979 after working our shift at McDonald’s. I was a manager at 21, and she was a crew member at 19 and had been flirting with me for a long time,about a year, and that Saturday night after we closed the store she asked me if I wanted to go for a ride in her “new” car, and I went. When we got back to the store, I slid over to her and kissed her. She told me, “My heart’s beatin’!” That meant I had made her heart flutter, as did mine, and our lives changed forever at that moment. She passed away on Valentine’s day of this year, 2015, from complications due to breast cancer treatment. I loved her so, and the lowly Hornet will always have a place in my heart.
A picture of said girl rocking her McDonald’s uniform 4 days before said kiss…..
That’s so sweet George .
-Nate
My dad bought a new “Mellow Yellow” ’74 Hornet HB, big 6. Lousy seats but a darn good basic car in 1974; far superior to my also new ’74 Pinto wagon. Both cars did suffer from the dreaded “tinworm” tho…. 🙁
To my designer eyes the Hornet HB was a very clean, flowing design which still looks good today. Visually I much prefer it to my over worked but under done 2021 Civic EX!! 🙂 DFO
Agreed about the seats, my ’70 Hornet and ’81 Concord base model had the same, and they were terrible for support. Definitely miss both cars though.
Well worth running again – i do not recall reading it previously
Our family car was a 74 Sportabout in Sienna. Lots of memories in that car, and I have a soft spot for AMC to this day. Ours rusted out as well, Cleveland’s winters took a toll. Great story!
It’s been a long time (close to 40 years) since I lived up north; I never had an AMC (that was my father’s car, he had two, both wagons, a 1961 and a 1963 Rambler Classic). I’m interested in a Hornet, particularly an early (say, 1970) 2 door. When I did live up north, I owned a 1974 Datsun 710…yes, it was an import (my father also owned imports but they were always his 2nd cars…starting with a ’59 Beetle. The 710 was kind of like a Rambler (without the trunions) in that it was a pretty simple car, but it did require periodic maintenance, but was a good car for me during college in that there wasn’t much to go wrong with it, it needed classic tuneup (points, plugs, and condensor). There were a few issues I never addressed, such as the high idle when cold, which required me to shift into neutral at a stoplight in slippery weather until it warmed up, otherwise the rear end would fishtail. My sister borrowed the car for her job in the hospital at night, and I warned her about it, but of course she forgot, and I had to go rescue her in my Mother’s car (we were commuter students from home). Being RWD, and a light car, that was the other problem up North, as traction wasn’t very good, even with snow tires. My father took mercy on me and got me a Sears toolkit when I was 21 (as well as a car battery), I still have the toolkit, and it came in handy many times keeping the car going. The car was kept outdoors and still almost always started, the exception being the blizzard of ’78, when it felt like a block of ice, and I had to bum a ride into school from my father for that week. Other than that, it had a ruptured heater hose that I had to patch (during a trip for an interview, which got me my first professional job after graduating). Oh, and the alternator went out, had mine rebuilt at a generator/alternator shop (it never had so much power when the alternator wasn’t working, but of course eventually the battery would have quit, so it needed to be repaired).
I miss simple, straightforward cars like the Hornet. For some they’re a bit too basic, now that I live in the sunbelt I’d have to have air conditioning; not sure but probably power steering would be nice especially with wider than stock tires. They did require more attention than cars today but were very easy to work on. I’d guess these are a bit too simple for most people who want something a bit fancier; power windows/locks, etc. or even AWD. My next car is going to need to be an automatic, as nobody else in my family drives manual and having a car only I can drive is limiting as I get older and feel my incapacity at times, and of course I do require air conditioning, but that’s about it, the rest isn’t really necessary.