The Machine
AMC and Hurst teamed up to create Rebel Machine Story and photos by John Gunnell
usually a patriotic looking red, white and blue high-performance model that had actually made its debut at the National “ tanding before you is the car you’ve always wanted,” Hot Rod Association World Championship drag races two American Motors Corporation teasingly titillated potential months earlier. buyers in a two-page advertisement introducing a new high-performance car to readers of Hot Rod magazine in Using a very unusual product promotion technique, the December 1969. The ad showcased the Rebel “Machine,” AMC advertising copy warned, “Incidentally, if you have delusions of entering the Daytona 500 with The Machine, or challenging people at random, The Machine is not that fast. You should know that. For instance, it is not as fast on the getaway as a 427 Corvette, or a Hemi, but it is faster on the getaway than a Volkswagen, a slow freight train and your old man’s Cadillac.” It was certainly a strange way to introduce a new muscle car.
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Special badges with “The Machine” spelled out in block letters was seen on the front fenders below the bright red, tapering-to-the-front stripe. 36 MUSCLE CAR PLUS MAGAZINE JUNE/JULY 2021
In reality, The Machine was fast enough to make many buyers happy. It had a 390-cid V8 that was AMC’s most powerful engine offering at that time. This engine produced 340-hp at 5,100 rpm. Also on The Machine’s standard equipment list was a four-speed, close-ratio synchromesh transmission; a Hurst gear shifter; a lighted 8,000-rpm hood tachometer,
