This Bizzarrini is Rare and Beautiful, not Bizarre

The car: 1970 AMC AMX/3

Price: $795,000

Location: Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA

Original Ad: Click here

Dick Teague’s place in American automobile design is up there with the great talents of the post-war period, but his work on the AMC Pacer could be a distraction to some. After stints at Kaiser, Packard, and Chrysler, Dick landed at American Motors Corporation in 1959 where his contributions coincided with AMC’s quest to shake its image as a car for librarians. Starting with the Rambler Classic and Ambassador, American, Marlin, and the Javelin and AMX ponycars, his pièce de résistance followed taking shape as the AMX/3.

Of course, the 1969 AMX/2 came first, which was a mid-engined (ironically, sans motor) fiberglass concept car inspired by sports cars from Lamborghini and Lotus. Debuting at the 1969 Chicago Auto Show, the AMX/2 aroused enough interest for AMC to commission a complete, engineered version that could be built on a limited basis. Giorgetto Giugiaro handled the duties, with Giotto Bizzarrini developing the semi-monocoque chassis with double-wishbones front and rear. AMC’s 340hp 390 was paired with a ZF four-speed transaxle (for cars #2-6, a OTO Melara gearbox was used). First shown in Rome in 1970, the plan was to build 24 AMX/3s per year but upcoming safety and emissions regulations, AMC’s financial situation, and logistical issues all prevented the project from becoming fully realized.

Still, five AMX/3s were built, plus one more created a year later from leftover parts. This red example is car #4 and is the vehicle BMW evaluated at Monza at AMC’s behest. It is also believed that car #4 is the only one that was branded “AMX/3 by Bizzarrini.” Owner history is just as interesting, as it was bought by Indianapolis restaurateur Jim Demichielli for $6500 and brought to the US in 1971, then resold in 1976 and headed to Louisiana in 1989. As you can imagine, AMX/3s don’t come up for sale very often, but if you have a spare $795,000, you can own the neatest mid-engined sports car this side of a Miura.

If you know of a great, stylish car for sale and would like us to feature it, let us know!

Petrolicious makes no claim as to the accuracy of the information contained in the car’s original listing, nor will it be held responsible for any errors in said information. If you’re interested in this car, do your homework and research it extensively before you buy.