1969 AMC AMX III Coupe

Before the final AMX 3 was built, two prototypes were tested by AMC during 1968. AMC's in-house designer Richard Teague worked with Giotto Bizzarrini to develop the image-defining model into a road-going 160 mph sports car. All three prototypes were built by Salvatore Diomante in Turin, and BMW and Polytecnico di Torino performed rigidity testing with high-speed runs at Monza. In March 1970 the car was launched and the reviews were very favorable, but a few months later the program came to a halt.

The third-generation AMX concept car, the AMX/3, debuted at the 1970 Chicago Auto Show. Engineless and fashioned in fiberglass, the original AMX/3 prototype was a show car only and designed largely by AMC styling chief Dick Teague. The body mold was sent to Bizzarini and Ital Design, which fashioned the handmade drivable prototypes. AMC's 390 cubic-inch, 340 horsepower V8 was mounted amidship along with an Italian OTO Melara four-speed transaxle and German 4-wheel disc brakes. Further engineering improvements and road testing were done by BMW at Italy's Monza racetrack.

This car was finished in November 1969 and is the actual car tested by Bizzarrini at the Monza Autodrome. It has a number of unique modifications, which provided the necessary cooling for the powerful V8 engine; it has extra air inlets for the radiator under the front lights, on the front hood and two scoops behind the rear windows.


AMC placed an order for 30 operational cars, but only five were completed before the $2 million project was canceled. Originally, AMC hoped to build 5,000 cars per year, then as little as two per month, before the program was deemed economically unfeasible - at more than $20,000 per copy.

This car has a fresh concours restoration as well as FIVA identity and German road registration. Power is from a 390 cubic-inch V8 paired to a four-speed manual gearbox. When tested at Monza, it was able to surpass its original estimated top speed of 160 miles per hour thanks in part to Teague's super slippery design. This car currently resides in West Virginia. This example was essentially the closest of all the prototype vehicles to being production-ready.