History Did you have a Rambler?

For the last 2 years whenever I told someone that I'm working on a Rambler, they'd always say "oh I had Rambler" and they'd tell me a story about their Rambler.

One that stuck out to me was an old timer telling me about how he'd drive his son to school everyday in his old Rambler wagon. One day when he took a left at the 4way stop before the school, he heard a CLUNK! And in the rear view mirror he could see his back passenger wheel rolling away! Just fell off.
He also told me he used to take that wagon duck hunting. He'd just sit on the tailgate in a nook of a field and hunt.

So if you've ever had a Rambler, what was it and what do you remember about it?
Even if you don't have a story to tell, if you had one I'd like to hear about it.

 

I was once a rambler. I went from affair to affair and couldn't settle down.....

 

I was gassing up my 65 Classic wagon a few years ago when a fifty something dude walked up and said ... cool car, what is it? I said Rambler. He said, Oh... My wife and I had a Rambler Corvair when we got married. I just said Cool.

 

I never owned a Rambler but my grandparents did, two infact a 67 and a 64 maybe. Both were the same color a bright turquoise.
One thing about going with my grandfather as a kid I couldn't figure out how everyone new he was my grandpa...

 

Mine was featured in the Hot Rod Magazine article a few years ago about people who still have their first cars. Bought it when I was thirteen. I'm 44 now. People try to buy it off me all the time but I tell them my sentimental price exceeds fair market value. I'd sell it if somebody offered me stupid money but still regret it later probably.

 

I had a '64 rambler (ugly car) when I was 15 years old. First running car I ever owned. Paid $40 for it. Drove it for about a week until I decided to throw it sideways at 50mph in a dirt pullout. It was sliding nicely until the wheels caught and I rolled it completely over and it landed back on it's wheels. Turned the key, started right up and I drove it back to school. Ahhh.......to be young again!

 

My older Sister had a mid 50's Rambler station wagon, in 1960, Sister, her son, Mom and I drove from Milwaukee Wisconsin to Clovis New Mexico to visit Brother, he was in the Air Force. I remember a Long hot ride, no AC back then, I got to drive it plenty, I was 12, as Mom did not drive. Somewhere in Texas the muffler fell off so we stopped at a gas station for a repair and I can remember the good old boy asking us, "What the Hell kind of car is this ?", they had never seen or heard of a Nash Rambler. He fixed it by adapting what he had, welded it all up and back on the road again we were, that muffler stayed on till my sister sold the car. It's a Good family memory, we stopped at many tourist places, Carlsbad Caverns was spectacular, we drove that thing all over, a 2/3 week adventure, made it back home, only problem was the muffler. I can't tell all that much about the car itself, remember it was blue, in line 4 or 6, stick shift, no power anything including horse power, but at 12 it was a fun ride/time. Thank You, I have not thought about that trip for Many years, The HAMB is great for us Senior's, wakes up the old brain.

 

In about 68,I got a 1958 Rambler 4door wagon 6cly, faded,a bit ruff for $75 bucks,with out rust or dents though.
I like all wagons,so got that one an cleaned it up,got it running pretty good,even gave it a backyard paint job. In all that working on the thing,I didn't see a spairtire or even a place for one !!!! Hummm.?
I desided to run by the AMC dealer,an ask about were to put a spair ???
When I pulled in to AMC lot,a salesman came right over"Hay,I'm Jim, and I can give you a great trade-in on that clean looking Wagon !"
I said,I'll think about it,, if you can show me were the spairtire go's in this one???
He looks my old Rambler over rear to front,inside an under ! Nothing! Same as I had failed!
So tells me he'll be right back!
About 15min. later,here Jim comes back with a much older guy beside him,who was smiling an laughing at Jim,all the way !!
First thing the older guy said was"That old wagon looks better then new"but then more laughing!! Added; ,"So you can't find the spairtire LOL ?"
me "Nope"
The old guy,opens door to back seat behind drivers seat. Flips bottom of seat up,an points tiny "U" bracket . Told me,that right there holds a inter tube patch kit,but it is missing. You can get one at any pedalbike shop !
This model wagon didn't come with a spair tire !
I did get a spair at the junkyard ,just layed it the back. I had never known of a car that didn't have a spair,before that one. A month later coming home from work,big bang sound. I stopped,opened the hood,and a rod was poping in an out of the side of the block,big oily mess,yet still running. Well it was running,so drove the rest of the way home. Parked out back n pulled the 6cly out. Made a lot of phone calls hunting up another 6cly=none to be had in south Fla..
I put it up 4 sale,as is with the broken 6 in the rear. In two days I guy came by who offered $120,an it was gone!
It didn't need a spair tire,but a spair engine would help!! LOL

 

Yeah, about 5 or 6 years ago. A 1960, flat head I-6, 2dr. wagon. The body didn't have a dent in it, very little rust, even the suspension was in ok condition.
Great (long) story about getting it home !
I decided that it was gonna cost much more money than I thought, to do to it what I wanted, so I drove it around town a little and sold it.

Mike

 

Not mine, but a friend in high school had a very clean '68 two door, red inside and out with an inline six. Then another kid in school showed up with an S/C Rambler that needed a lot of work, but it was all there. No idea what became of the cars, but they were both really cool.

 

My father bought a brand new one, somewhere between, 61 and 64, a wagon, for his new family, and a six cylinder, for economy. When it was around a year old, we drove from NJ to Canada, for a cousin's wedding...or at least tried to! The car overheated, and kept overheating. We never made it. The dealership would have nothing to do with it. My father made a side up to put in the cargo windows, in big letters, that these cars were LEMONS. Drove around with it for a while like that, until he bought a Chevy wagon.

 

Bought it for $1.00, worth every penny!

 

Back when, a poor divorcee with two kids moved in on my dead end street. She had a Rambler wagon with a blown exhaust gasket, you could hear it chuffing down the street, fft, fft, fft, with the kids and dog hanging out the back windows. So I fixed it. Big mistake, as she paid me the only way she could afford. I was a young bachelor with a good career going, a real meal ticket. Couldn't get rid of her. If I came home with a date she would call and hang up constantly, her kids would doorbell ditch me, her dog shit on my lawn... A real life Play Misty for Me. They finally moved away, probably couldn't pay the rent. I have a soft spot for Ramblers but I still shiver when near one.

 

My wife and I had a '65 Rambler American, 2 dr., bucket seats, center console, 6 cyl, air.
Paid $300 for it in 1975. Best car we ever had.

If you like Rambler's, plan a visit to the Rambler Ranch just outside of Denver. Terry Gale owns
it and does tours as well as events for car groups. Has a vintage ice cream shop on the property
as well as a gas station and kitchen furnished with vintage appliances. The cars are displayed just
like he purchased them in several large buildings. With Covid, he has had to adjust his hours so
be sure to check ahead of time.

Here is the link: Nash, Rambler & AMC | Rambler Ranch | United States

Just one of the buildings:

 

At 13 I had a '62 Rambler American. Drove it all over my grandmother's farm. Messed up the clutch, took it out and took the disc home with me. Monday after school I pulled the handle grip off my bike, slid the disc on and rode over to North Point Automotive with it. $8.00 later I was headed back home with a new one. Next weekend put it back in and was driving the fields again. Always thought about getting another one, just never hunted one down. Gene.

 

Driver's ed car was 59 Rambler. Push button auto, started with neutral button. Preferred to current shifters imitating large radio knobs.

 

In the late 60s my Dad bought my Mom a 64 American 220, Black 2 door with a flat head 6. I thought it was cool. My fondest memory of that little car was my Grandfather laying his hand on the fender and telling us that " this car runs just like a sewing machine". Dad sold it after a few years and bought a Pinto,,,,eeeeeewww. Mitch

 

A coworker had a Rambler that he drove to work. He rearranged the RAMBLER letters in the front to spell MABEL.

 

I like 'em. Been chasing a mid 60's 2 door 440 for a while. In a town I drive thru, was outside a while and I think it's been pulled into one of the sheds. Can't catch anyone at home when I drive thru. What I can see from the road is a complete car with no rust holes.

 

Took high school driver's ed in 1966 when I was 15 in Ramblers. Both an automatic and a stick. No more high school driver's ed anymore. You have to take a private course and they don't even teach parallel parking. But I guess it doesn't matter because its no longer part of the CA driving test to get a license. Times have changed.

 

my old 63 American, 13thousand mile, ariz car, OHV6/auto. ran well. sold it last summer. now it looks like this

 

When I was 18 or 19 I dated a girl who worked at a nursing home part time. She volunteered to baby sit for one of her older co workers who had kids so that lady could go out to dinner on her anniversary. Of course that meant she wanted me to come and hang with her while she did it. So I did. I got there after she did but when I walked up to the house there in the car port was a Hurst Rambler! I wanted to spend the whole time there going over that car but my girlfriend was insistent I spent time with her! What the hell! Very cool car though!

 

I never had one, but I've worked on a few. But when I started working at the junkyard (40+ years ago), they had a rambler wagon as a yard truck. They had cut the rear roof part off, so it was easy to put the torch setup in it, and to haul stuff around. It lasted for a couple years, because no one ever wanted to buy any parts from it.

later yard trucks didn't last long, someone always wanted to buy the engine or something.

 

No Ramblers but a few Javelins and a AMX.

 

No, but I would like one.
A 1961 Rambler Ambassador would be cool.

 

Sounds like a rambler was what the Ford Taurus or Tempo was in the 80’s and 90’s .
Economical, reliable family transportation that once old n beat turned into the oldest kids first car .

shit everyone I knew growing up had a tempo or Taurus in the driveways as one of the family beaters .

 

Had a 1960 Rambler American-flathead 6 and 3 speed.That engine would run on anything!!Was small engine mechanic for a large hardware store at the time,and all the bad gas[2-cycle mix or not] that we had to drain out of customer equipment would get dumped in the tank!!Always started and ran great!Later on had 4 Rambler Marlins,a 65,2 66's and a 67. The 67 was the first year for the open [non-torque tube] deiveline

 

Oh I love the Rambler lancelot turquoise color!

 

In 66 I got to see what rambler tail lights looked like. At the time I had a 1962 Ford Galaxie 375 hp 390 4 speed raced a guy with a 64 Classic that had a 270 hp 327 swapped in and got beat by a half second.

 

Glad you're still holding on to it, I'll probably hold on to my Rambler forever if I can. Very sentimental to me as well