American Motors Corporation

Ghost Corp Apparel — resurrecting iconic corporate ghosts.

American Motors Corporation arrived on May 1, 1954, when Nash-Kelvinator and Hudson Motor Car Company combined to form America’s fourth-largest automaker. AMC called Detroit home at 14250 Plymouth Road through 1975, then moved its corporate headquarters to the American Center in Southfield, Michigan. Not bad for a company built from two independents trying to avoid becoming chrome-plated roadkill.

AMC made economy cars fashionable before “downsizing” became corporate wallpaper. The Rambler built its reputation on compact practicality, while later machines gave the company its wonderfully oddball edge: the muscular AMX and Javelin, the tiny Gremlin, the bubble-canopy Pacer, and the pioneering Eagle, which paired passenger-car comfort with four-wheel-drive capability.

The company expanded its portfolio by acquiring Kaiser Jeep in 1970, bringing Jeep into the AMC family. Renault took a significant ownership stake beginning in 1979, but Chrysler acquired AMC in 1987. The deal delivered Jeep, dealer relationships, engineering talent, and a fresh supply of Detroit-area underdog lore into Chrysler’s orbit.

Our American Motors Corporation collection celebrates the improbable independent that kept swinging at the Big Three, left behind some of the most recognizable shapes on American roads, and proved that sensible, strange, speedy, and 4WD could all share one badge.