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The AMX/3, Giugiaro and BMW - what you didn't know until now

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Created on January 6, 2017

Reading time 15min

Written by:

Jack Koobs de Hartog und Jürgen M. Wilms

Photos:

Mathieu Heurtault - Courtesy Gooding & Co

Jürgen M. Wilms

ItalDesign / Werk

Bruno von Rotz

AMX

Archiv

Mathieu Heurtault - Courtesy Gooding & Co

Jürgen M. Wilms

ItalDesign / Werk

Bruno von Rotz

AMX

Archiv

AMC AMX/3 (1969) - auch in der Aufsicht attraktiv

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AMC AMX/3 (1969) - hier ist die akzentuierte Front besonders gut sichtbar

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AMC AMX/3 (1969) - der Mittelmotorsportwagen sieht auch heute noch überaus attraktiv aus

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AMC AMX/3 (1969) - die Kühlung des im Heck untergebrachten Motors stellte die Ingenieure vor erhebliche Herausforderungen

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AMC AMX/3 (1969) - schön verteilte Rundungen

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AMC AMX/3 (1969) - zwei Auspuffrohre für den amerikanischen Achtzylinder

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AMC AMX/3 (1969) - Klappscheinwerfer erlaubten eine niedrige Front

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AMC AMX/3 (1969) - die Luftführung am zweiten Prototypen

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AMC AMX/3 (1969) - oben entweicht die arme Luft, die durch den Kühler geflossen ist

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AMC AMX/3 (1969) - Blick auf die spitze Front

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AMC AMX/3 (1969) - komplett instrumentiert

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AMC AMX/3 (1969) - Lüftungssteuerung auf Fahrerseite aussen

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AMC AMX/3 (1969) - vergleichsweise grosse und massive Pedale

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AMC AMX/3 (1969) - sportlich ausgerichtetes Interieur

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AMC AMX/3 (1969) - viel Schwarz im Cockpit

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AMC AMX/3 (1969) - Tacho bis 320 km/h, Schriftzüge von Veglia und Bizzarrini

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AMC AMX/3 (1969) - AMC-Schriftzug auf dem Lenkrad

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AMC AMX/3 (1969) - der amerikanische V8-Motor

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AMC AMX/3 (1969) - geheinmisvolle Nummern

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AMC AMX/3 (1969) - Kofferraum und grosser Wasserkühler im Bug

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AMC AMX/3 (1969) - die Leichtmetallräder von Campagnolo

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AMC AMX/3 (1969) - schöne Leichtmetallräder

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AMC AMX/3 (1969) - Entlüftung des Motors

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AMC AMX/3 (1969) - ohne Schrägstrich - Schriftzug AMX3

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AMC AMX/3 (1969) - schön gestaltete Rückleuchten

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AMC AMX/3 (1969) - mit Modeneser-Nummernschild

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AMC AMX/3 (1969) - der fertige Wagen auf einer Werbeillustration von ItalDesign

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AMC AMX/3 (1969) - Strukturtests bei ItalDesign

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AMC AMX/3 (1969) - aufgenommen im Jahr 2014

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AMC AMX/3 (1969) - anlässlich des Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este 2015

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AMX 2 (1969) - Mittelmotor-Coupé-Designstudie bestimmt für die Chicago Motor Show

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AMX 2 (1969) - Das Coupé war in kupferorange lackiert

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American Motors AMX/3 (1970) - Mittelmotorsportwagen mit V8-Power - gebaut bei Bizzarrini

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AMC AMX/3 (1970) - eindrückliches Design von hinten

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AMC AMX/3 (1970) - Cockpit und Motorraum

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Bizzarrini Sciabola (1976) - die Bizzarrini-Variante des eingestellten Projekts AMC AMX/3 am Turiner Autosalon 1976

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AMC AMX/3 (1969) - der Prototyp Nummer 2

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AMC AMX/3 (1969) - kurzer Überhang hinten

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Summary

If things had gone differently, the American Motors Corporation AMX/3 of the late sixties could have become the best and fastest American sports car of its time. But the project was abandoned, despite the fact that AMC engineers, together with ItalDesign, BMW and Bizzarrini/Diomante, had succeeded in developing a very competitive mid-engined sports car. Until recently, the contributions of ItalDesign and BMW were only known in part, but now this report can finally tell (almost) the whole story of this unusual development.

This article contains the following chapters

Dick Teague and his team won the design competition...
...but ItalDesign was involved in the engineering of the AMX/3
BMW - from overseer to co-developer
A legendary team and a great success

Estimated reading time: 15min

Preview (beginning of the article)

Much has been written about the development of the AMX/3 program from American Motors. It is widely reported that the design was the result of a competition between Dick Teague and Giorgetto Giugiaro, that Giotto Bizzarrini and Salvatore Diomante were responsible for the development and construction of the prototypes, and that BMW was involved in the testing of the cars. Teague's, Bizzarrini's and Diomante's respective contributions have been widely described - however, the same cannot be said for Giugiaro and BMW. So when we started to look into the history of Prototype No. 2, the car that was tested by Bizzarrini himself at Monza in 1970, it made sense to find out more about the role of Giorgetto Giugiaro and ItalDesign and the involvement of BMW.

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