One-of-a-kind car up for grabs

The most awesome car that does not work is going under the hammer, writes Nile Bijoux.

American Motors Corporation was arguably the most interesting of the United States carmakers around in the second half of the 20th century.

It was one of the first to consider fuel consumption in its designs, instead of ignoring it like other American brands, and it gave us the Pacer hatchback, which is eternally awesome.

But in the 1970s, AMCcame close to building what could have been the best American car ever, a ridiculously cool twodoor van with the bubbly-yetboxyAMCdesign of the era. And the rolling concept is for sale.

Called theAMVan, the first thing you’ll notice is the amount of glass, which makes the compact look quite airy, although the rear windows don’t appear to open, so it might get a bit stuffy back there.

The front has those coolAMC square headlights that mould into the bodywork, four dashes in the bonnet to let heat out of the engine bay, a 4x4 decal to indicate this van could definitely go off-road and some lowmounted foglights, one of which has taken a knock at some point.

Around the side are aggressively flared arches housing the coolest rims, a set of deep-dish red and white wheels with what look like tiny pod filters on the centre hub.

Underneath theAMVan text is the word ‘‘Turbo’’, although there isn’t any information on what sort of engine the turbocharger would be applied to.

If we were to buy it, we’d drop in the 1.6-litre turbo triple from the GR Yaris, especially with those side pipes.

Unfortunately, we can’t even pop the bonnet to see whatAMC would have powered the Van with, because the concept was built on a rolling wooden frame with a fibreglass body on top and a partial interior for show purposes only.

It was part of a travelling AMCmotor show in the 1970s, with half a dozen other cars, including an electric door stop on wheels and a Gremlin crossed with a Pacer.

The show was intended to get people excited about the future of AMC, and the crowds were asked to vote on their favourite car on display.

TheAMVan always won, and thenAMCdecided not to build it at all. I’m not saying it would have saved the company, but I’m not not saying that either.

TheAMVan will be up for grabs duringRMSotheby’s Sand Lots auction from May 25 to June 1.

RM SOTHEBY’S The coolest van never to make production? Probably.

Left: It might not be practical, but those side pipes sure are sexy. Right: That left-hand foglight has taken a knock, but is probably an easier fix than putting an actual engine into the wooden frame.