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=== Innovation === {{multiple image |align = right |direction = vertical |perrow = |total_width = 230 |image1 = 1964 Rambler 440H-2door-HT front NJ-show.JPG |caption1 = 1964 Rambler American 440-H |image2 = 1964 Rambler Classic 770 wagon-green.jpg |caption2 = 1964 Rambler Classic 770 |footer = }} To stay competitive, American Motors produced a wide range of products during the 1960s and added innovations long before the "Big Three" introduced them. For example, the [[Rambler Classic]] was equipped with a standard tandem [[master cylinder]] in 1962 that provided stopping ability even if there was a failure in the brake system.<ref>{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=CyBFAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA65 |pages=63β65|title=American Motors Corporation: The Rise and Fall of America's Last Independent Automaker|first=Patrick R. |last=Foster |isbn=978-0-7603-4425-5 |publisher=Motorbooks |year=2013 |via=Google Books |access-date=June 23, 2022}}</ref> Only [[Cadillac]] also included this safety feature six years before U.S. safety regulations required it on all cars. Rambler also was an early pioneer in offering an automatic shift indicator sequence (P R N D2 D1 L, where if one selected "D2", the car started in second gear, while "1" began in first gear) on its "Flash-O-Matic" transmission which is similar to today's "PRNDSL" shift pattern, made mandatory for the 1968 model year cars,<ref>{{cite magazine |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=jSEDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA82 |title=What the new auto safety laws will mean to you |page=82 |magazine=Popular Science |date=June 1967 |volume=190 |issue=6 |via=Google Books |access-date=June 23, 2022}}</ref> which required a neutral position between reverse and drive,<ref>{{cite web |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=p_k6AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA240 |page=240 |title=The Code of Federal Regulations of the United States of America |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |year= 1966 |via=Google Books |access-date=June 23, 2022}}</ref> while [[General Motors]] still offered a shift selector that had reverse immediately next to low gear (PNDSLR) well into the 1960s. Unique in the U. S. automotive industry, American Motors offered adjustable front seat backrests from their Nash-origin,<ref>{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=r9j7MWLE_jMC&dq=adjustable+seat+AMC+was+unique+in+thinking+it&pg=PA11 |page=11 |title=The Cars of American Motors: An Illustrated History |first=Marc |last=Cranswick |publisher=McFarland |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-7864-8570-3 |via=Google Books |access-date=June 23, 2022 |archive-date=April 9, 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230409193719/https://books.google.com/books?id=r9j7MWLE_jMC&dq=adjustable+seat+AMC+was+unique+in+thinking+it&pg=PA11 |url-status=live }}</ref> and in 1964, the Classic and Ambassador were equipped with standard dual reclining front seats nearly a decade before the Big Three offered them as options. [[Bendix Corporation|Bendix]] [[disc brake]]s were made standard on the Marlin and optional on other models in 1965.<ref>{{cite web |title=Introduction to the 1965β1967 AMC Marlin |url= https://auto.howstuffworks.com/1965-1967-amc-marlin.htm#pt2 |work=How Stuff Works |author=((Auto Editors of ''Consumer Guide'')) |date=October 26, 2007 |access-date=June 23, 2022 |archive-date=June 28, 2022 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220628223822/https://auto.howstuffworks.com/1965-1967-amc-marlin.htm#pt2 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |title=What's new at American Motors |magazine=Popular Science |volume=185 |issue=4 |pages=90β91 |date=October 1964 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=1yUDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA90 |via=Google Books |access-date=June 23, 2022}}</ref> This made the Marlin one of the first modern American cars with standard disc brakes, while the Big Three did not offer them until the early 1970s on most of their models to meet [[Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards]].<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.secondchancegarage.com/public/history-of-automotive-brakes-1.cfm |title=Hitting the Brakes: A History of Automotive Brakes |first=Llewellyn |last=Hedgbeth |work=Second Chance Garage |access-date=June 23, 2022 |archive-date=February 24, 2013 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130224033919/http://www.secondchancegarage.com/public/history-of-automotive-brakes-1.cfm |url-status=live }}</ref> In the early part of the decade, sales were strong, thanks in no small part to the company's history of building small cars, which came into vogue in 1961.<ref name=Flory133>{{cite book|last=Flory Jr. |first=J. "Kelly" |title=American Cars, 1960β1972: Every Model, Year by Year |publisher=McFarland |year=2004 |page=133 |isbn=978-0-7864-1273-0}}</ref> In both 1960 and 1961, Ramblers ranked in third place among U. S. automobile sales,<ref>{{cite web |url= https://auto.howstuffworks.com/1965-1966-rambler-ambassador.htm#pt1 |title=1965β1966 Rambler Ambassador |work=How Stuff Works |author=((Auto Editors of ''Consumer Guide'')) |date=October 23, 2007 |access-date=June 23, 2022 |archive-date=June 25, 2022 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220625144414/https://auto.howstuffworks.com/1965-1966-rambler-ambassador.htm#pt1 |url-status=live }}</ref> up from third on the strength of small-car sales, even in the face of a lot of new competition.<ref name=Flory133/> Romney's [[Strategic management|strategic focus]] was very successful, as reflected in the firm's healthy profits year after year. The company became completely debt-free. The financial success allowed the company to reach an agreement on August 26, 1961, with the [[United Auto Workers]] for a [[profit sharing]] plan that was new in the automobile industry. Its new three-year labor contract included generous annual improvement pay increases, and automatic cost-of-living raises.<ref>{{cite news |first=Damon |last=Stetson |title=American Motors And U.A.W. Agree To Share Profits |url= https://www.nytimes.com/1961/08/27/archives/american-motors-and-uaw-agree-to-share-profits-accord-reached-in.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=November 24, 2010 |newspaper=The New York Times |date=August 27, 1961 |page=1 |archive-date=August 27, 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210827004835/https://www.nytimes.com/1961/08/27/archives/american-motors-and-uaw-agree-to-share-profits-accord-reached-in.html |url-status=live }}</ref> However, in 1962, Romney resigned to run for Governor of [[Michigan]]. His replacement was [[Roy Abernethy]], American Motors' successful sales executive. By 1964, Studebaker production in the United States had ended, and its Canadian operations ceased in 1966. The "Big Three", plus the smaller American Motors, [[Kaiser Jeep]], [[International Harvester]], [[Avanti cars (non-Studebaker)|Avanti]], and [[Checker Motors Corporation|Checker]] companies were the remaining North American auto manufacturers. [[File:1965 Marlin aqua white md-rr.jpg|thumb|1965 Rambler Marlin]] Abernethy believed that American Motors's reputation of building reliable, economical cars could translate into a new strategy that could follow AMC buyers as they traded into larger, more expensive vehicles. American Motors, in reality, had produced large cars throughout its history. The Rambler Ambassadors were as large as a full-sized Ford or Chevy. There was only an absence of largest-sized cars from the American Motors lineup in 1963 and 1964<ref>{{cite news |first=David R. |last=Jones |title=American Motors Putting Stress on Power and Luxury |newspaper=The New York Times |date=September 7, 1964 |page=6 |url= https://www.nytimes.com/1964/09/07/archives/american-motors-putting-stress-on-power-and-luxury-rambler-maker.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=August 8, 2010 |archive-date=July 22, 2018 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180722190748/https://www.nytimes.com/1964/09/07/archives/american-motors-putting-stress-on-power-and-luxury-rambler-maker.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The first cars bearing his signature were the 1965 models.<ref>{{cite magazine|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=olEEAAAAMBAJ&q=1965+Rambler+Ambassador+sensible+spectaculars&pg=PA79 |title=Rambler Ambassador (advertisement) |pages=78β79 |magazine=Life |date=December 1964|volume=58 |issue=8 |via=Google Books |access-date=June 23, 2022}}</ref> The 1965 models were a major makeover of the new platform that had just been introduced in 1963. These were a longer [[AMC Ambassador|Ambassador]] series and new [[convertible]]s for the larger models. During mid-year, a [[fastback]], called the [[Rambler Marlin|Marlin]], was added.<ref>{{cite web |work=How Stuff Works |author=((Auto Editors of ''Consumer Guide'')) |title=Introduction to the 1965-1967 AMC Marlin |url= https://auto.howstuffworks.com/1965-1967-amc-marlin.htm |date=October 26, 2007 |access-date=June 23, 2022 |archive-date=June 28, 2022 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220628223822/https://auto.howstuffworks.com/1965-1967-amc-marlin.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> It competed directly with cars like the [[Dodge Charger (1966)|Dodge Charger]], but AMC's "family-sized" fastback emphasized [[Personal luxury car|personal-luxury]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Wilcox |first1=Lee |title=Curbside Classic: 1967 Dodge Charger β Chrysler's Marlin |url= https://www.curbsideclassic.com/curbside-classics-american/curbside-classic-1967-dodge-charger-a-chrysler-marlin/ |work=Curbside Classic |date=June 7, 2022 |access-date=June 23, 2022 |archive-date=June 21, 2022 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220621203345/https://www.curbsideclassic.com/curbside-classics-american/curbside-classic-1967-dodge-charger-a-chrysler-marlin/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
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