When I was just 16 - and before my dad gave me his cream-colored, 1974 Chevy Vega (with plaid upholstery) - my buddy Kent would pick me up and drive me around in his AMC AMX. I thought that car was pretty cool. It had nice wheels and an 8-track player. And it wasn't the Vega.

Yes - the American Motors Corporation gave it a healthy shot in the 70s, but finally folded. The company was based in Detroit with former Michigan governor George Romney as an early CEO of the company. The Javelins and the AMX models of the 70s (IMO) were the coolest cars they made. And I still argue that, done right, a mid-70s AMC Gremlin with a V-8, big racing tires and mag wheels was nothing to sneeze at. The Pacer? That was another story.

Enter the AMC AMX/3 prototype. In the early 1970s, AMC commissioned a company in Italy to make the AMX/3 - a mid-engine sportscar to seal their coolness. It looked NOTHING like my buddy Kent's ride. The plan was to make and sell 5000 AMX/3s a year. The Italian company hand-made 5 cars, before AMC ended the experiment. They were great cars, reaching speeds of 170 mph on the test track, but high cost and regulations shut the program down. According to WXYZ-TV, one of those cars made it back to Michigan, where it ended up being stored in numerous barns over the years. Somebody recently found it and bought it and a Milford shop will now restore it. This weekend it will be on display at the Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals in Rosemont, Illinois.

What else is still sitting in barns? Here's the story. (With photos)

 

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