Rare Heirloom 1967 Rambler Rebel SST Convertible Last Ran in 1979; Old Gas Smells Divine

The first generation of the Rebel sat alone in a class of automobiles that later became known as the intermediates. Coincidence or not, the same platforms, armed with big, powerful V8, would go down in history as the ‘muscle cars.’ However, the term has come to include other architectures. Nonetheless, American Motors Corporation foretold the niche several years before the famous 389 V8 dropped in the Pontiac Tempest Le Mans in the fall of 1963 under the GTO call sign.

With some corporate inertia holding it back, the Oldsmobile 4-4-2 followed suit in the spring of 1964, and then the rest of Detroit rushed it. By then, the Rambler Rebel was out of production, but in 1966, the name would respawn as a top trim for the Classic. In 1967, it was promoted to a ‘separate model’ rank and got a convertible variant.

The ragtop lived on the AMC Rambler Rebel in 1967 because in 1968, the Rambler part was dropped, and the line was simply called AMC Rebel. In both years, the convertible Rebels were offered only in the Super Spot Touring trim options, better known by the initials SST.

The new version was offered as a two-door – hardtop and convertible – and the best possible engine was the new-for-the-year Typhoon V8 with 343 cubic inches of displacement and a four-barrel carburetor. This combination offered the four-speed manual transmission (the 5.6-liter with a two-barrel was excluded from this pairing) with AMC’s biggest engine.

Alternatively, the fun gearbox could be had with the 290 V8 (4.7-liter with both two- and four-barrel), and the thrifty option was a 232-cube inline-six (3.8-liter). But the drop-dead cool package came with the big motor, its four-speed tranny, and the four-throat single carb. In this configuration, the V8 delivered 280 hp and 365 lb-ft (284 PS, 495 Nm). Linked to an optional (at no extra cost) rear with 3.54 gears, the Rebel was fun and good value for the money.

Thanks to an industry-first five-year/50,000-mile powertrain - engine, drivetrain, suspension, and steering - and two-year/24,000-mile overall warranty, the $2,300 Rebel was tempting enough to convince 95,170 buyers. However, the ragtop SST didn’t get that much attention, with 1,686 examples built in 1967 and 832 the following year.

One of those rare Rambler Rebels of ’67 has a nice story to tell, but it waited 43 years in a barn, gathering dust and patina, before it came out to share it with us. It was originally acquired by the owner of an AMC dealership in Pikeville, North Carolina. In 1979, the Rebel SST convertible was presented to his nine-year-old son as a gift.

Naturally, the boy didn’t have much use for a life-sized AMC back then – or any other time afterward – and the Rebel sat in a garage, getting slowly buried under stuff people no longer need but don’t throw away either. Finally, it was time to get back on the road – with a big helping hand from one of YouTube’s most popular mechanics. Derek Bieri unburied the wrench and put new twists on the old 343 Typhoon V8 (a carburetor and distributor), along with new brake lines and wheels.

The odometer shows 15,079 miles (24,262 kilometers). Still, the vlogger deems the figure overly promising (maybe the clock rolled over?), given the wear on the pedals. Apart from minor cosmetic blemishes, the car is surprisingly solid and would leave a OK-ish 50-50 impression (with the notable exception of the torn cloth roof). That’s gearhead lingo for viewing the car from 50 feet away while its going at 50 miles per hour (roughly 16 meters and 80 kph, for metric nerds).

No, the paint is not original, and without any details about the car’s original specs, we can only presume it is the same shade as what American Motors Corporation sprayed on it in the factory. What’s surprising about this whole resurrection is that the agile V8 (at the time, it was the highest-compression engine in the AMC line-up, at 10.2:1) is not fussy about the 43-year-fresh gasoline.

At its launch, the 1967 Rambler Rebel was tested by Mechanix Illustrated; the magazine declared, ‘There isn't a better intermediate-size car sold in the United States than the 1967 Rebel.’ Faithfully, the nameplate was retired at the end of 1970, succeeded by the Matador on the company’s intermediate platform, but the corporation didn't get the upper hand in the war against the Big Three.