We seem to be keeping an aircooled VW theme going for a bit.  There are many rare aircooled VWs, lots of coachbuilders took the Beetle chassis then built custom bodies on top. familiar names like Hebmuller and Rometsch through to Ascort and Kaiserslautern.  These would some low hanging fruit for a quick rare car feature, one day we may well run through the VW coach built cars, today however we're bringing you something a bit different.
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A single line in one of those coffee table type books I was recently reading intrigued me. "About 50 AMX SS models were built strictly for drag racing; they put out more than 350 horsepower" I decided to find out more.

The AMC AMX was a very unusual car in its day, being the first steel bodied two seat car produced in the USA for over a decade. Introduced in 1968 it was essentially an AMC Javelin with a much shorter wheelbase. Various engine options were available from a basic 290ci V8 up to a performance 390ci engine with over 300bhp which could do a mid 14 second 1/4mile time straight off the showroom floor.

There was always room for more though. In 1969 AMC decided to enter the NRHA Super Stock fray, sending 52 manual box, 390ci examples off to Hurst to be further modified. The compression ratio went up to 12.3:1 and a cross ram, dual-quad intake manifold fitted. The result was an eventual NHRA rating of 420hp and timing slips dropped into the 10s

The survival rate seems to be very good considering the potential for old race cars to get neglected or changed beyond recognition. The fantastic SS/AMX website lists 39 of the 52 with their current whereabouts and many period and recent photos. There are also documents and descriptions of the modifications made to the factory cars.

There is also a very good website dedicated to the range at AMX Files

See/hear a couple on you tube!

While this might not be one of the original SS cars it’s a great launch!

I like this car, I like this car for one specific reason, although there are lots to like, it is the car that given the budget and equipment most of 'us' would have built out of a Mk3 Capri.  Take a Mk3 Capri, add a bit of body kit (it was the 80's), add a really nice interior, lower and stiffen the suspension, then slap a turbo charger and put it on the street.

Tickford had a long an illustrious history before getting the chance to breathe on Ford's sporty coupe, started in the 1820s as a coachbuilder, they naturally moved onto automobile coachbuilding until they effectively become part of Aston Martin in the 1950s.  In 1981 Tickford under the guise of "Aston Martin Tickford" was formed and their services opened up to other customers.  One of those companies that chose to work with Tickford was Ford.  The partnership produced some great work, including the road going versions of the Sierra Cosworth RS500 and the fantastic RS200.  However it is the Tickford Capri that kicked all this off for them.

The Tickford Capri was based on the V6 2.8i model, receiving a turbo on the engine, walnut and leather interior as well as electric windows and the obvious body kit.  Motor Sport magazine compared it to the 2.7 litre Porsche 911 in performance terms, it raced to 60 from standing in just 6.7 seconds and it topped out at 140mph.  More could probably have been done, certainly there was room for improvement in the engine department, but the car was already pretty expensive.  In fact the price was its only real failing point. eventually just 85 Tickford Turbos hit the streets.

Picking one up now days is a tricky affair, and they demand a premium, unsurprisingly.  You can find more information about the cars Tickford created at the Tickford Owners Club website.  The photos in the entry have been taken from this excellent Flickr account.

Tomorrow we'll be heading back East for some wild small car action.