Born from the 1954 merger of Nash-Kelvinator Corporation and Hudson Motor Car Company, American Motors Corporation (AMC) quickly streamlined operations by consolidating Nash and Hudson vehicle production while exploring powertrain partnerships with fellow independents Packard and Studebaker.AMC found success focusing on compact cars, which positioned the company well as the industry dove into the pony car and muscle car wars of the mid-to-late 1960s. The company entered this performance arena with the Javelin pony carand the AMX muscle car.The AMX – named after American Motors eXperimental concept vehicles –had a brief two-year production run as a standalone model. At the muscle car era's peak, the AMX nameplate moved to the Javelin, creating the Javelin AMX for two more years before emissions regulations ended the muscle car party. AMC continued using the AMX badge on performance variants through the 1980s, similar to Chevrolet's SS and Dodge's R/T designations.Despite its short lifespan, the original AMX introduced innovative features to the market and created a lasting legacy. The model produced several genuinely rare muscle cars, including at least one particularly exceptional variant that remains significant in automotive history. The 1969 AMX California 500 Special Is The Rarest AMC Muscle Car MecumAMC launched the AMX in 1968, capitalizing on growing consumer appetite for nimble sports cars powered by robust V8 engines. The following spring of 1969, the company rolled out its Big Bad color series, producing 283 vehicles in Big Bad Green. Among these was a special example that served as the official pace car for Riverside International Raceway's 1969 racing season.Mecum Seizing this opportunity, the Southern California American Motors Dealer Association commissioned 32 replicas of the pace car. These vehicles were exclusively distributed through association dealerships, instantly creating what would become one of 1969's scarcest muscle cars and arguably AMC's most collectible performance offering ever produced.Mecum While AMC regularly developed special editions to generate enthusiasm across the country, the California 500 Special remained a regional exclusive, priced just below the $5,000 mark. The model came generously equipped with features including tinted windows, air-conditioning, automatic transmission, and a 3.54 rear differential.Mecum Distinctive brass badges adorned the hood, featuring "500 Special" script alongside crossed checkered flags to mark its racing heritage. The centerpiece of the California 500 Special, however, was its 390-cubic-inch V8 powerplant, delivering an impressive 315 horsepower and 425 pound-feet of torque. AMC AMX California 500 Performance Specifications MecumAny automotive historian will tell you that a muscle car is only as good as its engine, and the 1969 AMX California 500 Special benefited from AMC’s small-block 6.4-liter V8, which shared its block with smaller 290-cid and 343-cid versions but featured larger rod bearings (2.25 inches, up from 2.1) and a forged steel crankshaft and connecting rods.Mecum The latter proved advantageous in high-performance situations for their durability, especially under high-stress, maximum-load situations such as quarter-mile runs. Its legacy stretched to future higher-performance variants, like the 340-hp version in the AMC Rebel muscle car and the 330-hp 401-cid V8 in the 1971 AMC Javelin AMX. The AMC AMX Was A Corvette Competitor Mecum Even though it looked more like the pony cars that were gaining acceptance at the time, the 1969 AMC AMX was taking direct aim at the Corvette, which at the time was just a year into its third generation. The two were the only American-built two-seaters at the time and are very similar in their dimensions, with the AMX undercutting the Corvette's price by about $900 (the equivalent of roughly $7,800 today).Dimensionally, the 1969 AMX was over five inches shorter than the C3 Corvette and rode on a marginally smaller wheelbase (just one inch). It was wider than the Corvette, but its front and rear tracks were narrower, and it was higher, with the end result that the AMX probably wasn’t as stable in higher-speed handling.Mecum But because it was slightly lighter and its engine more powerful than the Corvette’s, the two would run neck-and-neck in the zero to 60 mph sprint. However, the Corvette did have a 390-hp engine option that would blow the AMX off the quarter-mile strip.The AMC AMX wasn’t just a competitor for what the Big Three were putting on the road at the time; it was also an innovator in performance and vehicle safety. Twice named the SAE Best Engineered Car, the AMX also featured an automatic transmission that drivers could shift manually in a 1-2-D pattern, holding on to each of the bottom gears until a manual shift was performed. What The 1969 AMC AMX California 500 Special Is Worth Today MecumIt’s difficult to precisely ascertain what a 1969 AMX California 500 Special is worth today becauseso few of them change hands, mainly because there were only 32 builtin 1969 (and some estimate fewer than that). Only a handful may survive.MecumA 1969 AMX 390 in good condition is valued at $33,200, according to Hagerty, so it’s a pretty safe bet that a California 500 Special will be valued at least double that. By comparison, the almost equally rare S/S AMX in good condition is valued at $84,000.Mecum Classic.com doesn’t separate statistics for the California 500 Special but pegs the 1969 AMC AMX transaction current average at $40,353. This is down about $4,000 from where it was a year ago, and down nearly $7,000 from two years ago. The 1969 Hurst S/S AMX Is Another Rare And Collectible AMC Muscle Car The second-rarest AMC muscle car is also from 1969 – the 1969 Hurst S/S AMX. The S/S stands for Super Stock, an NHRA class for street stock cars. Its sole purpose was to run fast quarter-miles, and it shipped from the factory in white and without a radio, heater, sound insulation, or a factory warranty, because race cars often live fast and die hard. Engine Specs (Specs courtesy of Automobile-Catalog)The cars were delivered from the factory to Hurst Performance for race prep, before going to their respective dealers. American Motors rated the S/S AMX engine at 340 hp, but then the NHRA stepped in and reclassified it at over 400 hp, though many think it made more than that. Regardless, the one-ton car could accelerate to 60 mph in less than 4.5 seconds and scorch the quarter mile in the low 11-second range.The 1969 Hurst S/S AMX is in high demand, and the Hagerty valuation tables reflect this. There aren’t many bought and sold, even though it is rumored that as many as 40 could still exist. Classic.com reports the highest transaction price for an S/S AMX was $181,000 in spring 2022, while another sold for $38,000 in fall of that year. The AMC AMX Is A Rare, Forgotten Muscle-Car Mecum The AMC AMX is one of those overlooked gems in the auto industry, save for its dedicated owners and fans. The two-seat muscle car was only around for three model years and was overshadowed by its big brother, the Javelin, which proved itself on America’s tracks against the Big Three’s Camaros and Mustangs.Mecum Unlike its two-seat contemporary, the Corvette, the AMX is long gone, as is American Motors and the models it produced (save for Jeep). But in its brief time, AMC left us with some rare cars, such as the California 500 Special and the Hurst S/S.Mecum More than a muscle car, it was also an innovator and there were some impressive one-offs, such as the highly modified Breedlove AMX. These cars set 90 speed and endurance records in the hands of Craig Breedlove before the AMX even made it to showrooms.