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AMC’s Rebel spent 1967 through 1970 quietly doing everything right, offering full-size room in a midsize body, backing it with the most comprehensive warranty in the industry, and proving the point with a record-setting endurance run down the Baja peninsula. Then in 1970 it produced The Machine, painted red, white and blue, with a 340-horsepower 390 as standard equipment. Read on for how the underdog got loud.
AMC’s Rebel started life in 1957 as a forgotten one-year V8 option, then reemerged a decade later as a genuine mid-size performance car that could run 0-60 in 9 seconds while still seating a family in as much room as a full-size Chevrolet. By 1968 it wore AMC’s own badge for the first time and went racing to prove it. Read on to find out how a 390-cubic-inch V8 option turned the practical Rebel SST into a genuine muscle car contender.