Puzzle #56 - Solved! AMC Rambler Tarpon

[Otto Puzzell]

Know what it is?

Please, respond below and let us know what make and model you think you see here.


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Thanks!

[Jagman]

Well, the body says AMC Marlin, but the name on the flanks looks to be something else, so maybe an AMC sold in South America under a different name............

BTW, I've gotten what, 2 right in the past? Am I too qualified for the Rookie ranks?  Cause I sure feel like a rookie when I see the puzzles others like Sea Lion and Porridgehead have solved!

[Ultra]

Well, the body says AMC Marlin, but the name on the flanks looks to be something else, so maybe an AMC sold in South America under a different name............

BTW, I've gotten what, 2 right in the past? Am I too qualified for the Rookie ranks?  Cause I sure feel like a rookie when I see the puzzles others like Sea Lion and Porridgehead have solved!

You have been designated a pro.

I thought I had the forum rigged so Pros could not post here in the Rookie forum.  Now it is rigged that way.

If you would rather be designated a rookie with two solves, that is your call.  Out of deference and respect to all of the puzzles you had solved in the past, I designated you a pro.  Just send me a PM and let me know which designation you prefer.

[Rich]

Pretty close, Jagman....I thought it looked a bit like a cross b/w the Marlin and the first gen Barracuda...then I was able to decipher the flank script:  Rambler. (!).  Still...that's as close as I come....

r

[Otto Puzzell]

You are on the right track - it even has a fishy name!

[Ultra]

Jagman, your designation has been changed to rookie.

:)

[MG]

Damn! My superanuated synapses were SURE that was a Marlin. So......Rambler Bonito, perhaps?    ;D

[shoveldog]

AMC Tarpon, concept car for the Marlin

[Otto Puzzell]

AMC Tarpon, concept car for the Marlin

Welcome, shoveldog!  :D

Tarpon is correct. A Marlin prototype it was not. More of a predecessor. From the AMXFiles.com site:

Derived from the American, the Tarpon was the car that AMC could have, should have, but didn't make in response to the Mustang. Instead AMC built the Marlin, which, on the larger Classic chassis, was too big to be a pony car, too slow to be a muscle car, and cursed with ungainly proportions due to the Classic's stubby hood. The Tarpon wasn't perfect, either, but its awkward side window treatment (which prefigured the Marlin's) could have been fixed easily, along with some tweaks to the stock American front end, to create a convincing sporty car. First shown in January 1964, the Tarpon was well-received, but the project was moved to the Classic platform because AMC lacked a small V-8 to fit in the smaller car. By 1966 AMC had fit the new 290 into a slightly elongated American, but by then the Marlin was in the second year of its unsuccessful run.

[porridgehead]

Now where have I seen that rear end treatment recently?

Coincidence? I think not!

[Otto Puzzell]

Puzzle pic restored; here's another look. 

[Otto Puzzell]

A couple of 'under construction' shots.