Let them eat cheese…

…or at least the dust left behind by this monster:

I think I could handle this buzzing around in my garage...

When the AMC Hornets were new, the ads read with slogans like “If you think it looks good, wait’ll you feel it perform!”, “It’s not our strong guarantee that makes our Hornet a tough little car”, and “It’s beautiful when you fill it up”… Taking those sales pitches waaaaayyyy out of context bred the bright yellow beast above.

Right out of the box, I wanted to play up the automaker’s legacy, by using some references to Wisconsin, naturally, and then just say “screw convention”, and mess aound with a largely forgotten car… Thus, we have an AMC, some Green Bay colors, and, uh, well… that’s about it, aside from the crappy “cheese” line at the start.

Moving along, I’ve had this sick road racing-inspired ride “buzzing” in my head for about two years, and have played with the drawing on and off over that time span. I had watched The Man With the Golden Gun some time back, and it re-kindled a love affair with all things AMC (even if it would have been better had they used Alice Cooper’s song of the same name… but that’s another story for another time). When the master, Steve Stanford played with some AMC concepts last year, it re-kindled my interest in the idea, and after seeing just how dedicated the AMC guys are, I finally got all of the sketches into one place.

The concept: A ‘74 Hornet built with a nod to the Mulholland road-race crowd of the ’70’s. A tube chassis with a 9-inch center section IRS and Corvette-based front suspension allows the car to sit right on the ground, and the full ‘cage helps everyone insode feel safe as the world rushes by in a blur.
Speaking of “rushing by”, motivational power would be via a twin turbo 360, backed by a six speed… no LS-motors or otherwise… this baby would be an AMC through-and-through.

Body-wise, a late-model Challenger hood would donate its center, while retaining the stock Hornet hood peak and emblem recess, as it looks almost natural that way. The factory parking lamps would hit the swap meet, and air inlets installed to feed the mighty engine. While we’re up front, let’s drill out the heavy front bumper, add some driving lights, and then lightly tuck it to the body, and rework the fenders for a flush-fit look. A chin spoiler and splitters further play up the idea, and help to cut through the night air.

Side-exit exhaust just looked so damn cool, and sitting as low as this thing does, it made sense, too. Out back, I’m seeing a pair of ‘89 Mustang LX tail lights (nothing personal, just never liked the stock units), and a notched rear bumper to show off the rear belly pan.

Just wanted to share one of the little “side” projects that always seem to be floating around the Studio, and show a little love to the hard-core AMC crowd. Hope you dig it.�..