AMC (American Motors) Hornet History

The Hornet arrived for 1970 to replace the Rambler American, effectively retiring the Rambler nameplate in the US and Canada. A clean, well-engineered compact, it was offered as a two- and four-door sedan, the Sportabout wagon (from 1971), and a hatchback (from 1973). Its platform proved enormously versatile, underpinning the Gremlin, the later Concord and Spirit, and ultimately the four-wheel-drive Eagle.

For 1971 AMC built the SC/360, a sleeper compact muscle car with a 360-cubic-inch V8 (245 hp, or 285 hp with the optional 'Go' package and ram-air); high insurance costs killed it after just 784 cars in one model year. A 1974 Hornet hatchback also earned screen fame performing a spiraling 360° 'astro spiral' jump across a broken bridge in the James Bond film The Man with the Golden Gun.