[energetic hard rock music]
- Todd Gerl: Car is a '69 AMX.
- Tony West: AMC Rebel.
- Jerry Fjelsted: It's a 1959 Ambassador.
- Tom Thomas: It's a 1983 Eagle, made here in Kenosha.
- Kenosha Iron, that's what we appreciate.
I am here to celebrate the homecoming of American Motors,
and that's something that we hold very dearly around here.
- Chris Allen: Every three years,
people converge on Kenosha, Wisconsin.
We host the world's largest AMC car show.
We have cars come from almost every state in America.
This week is really more of a family reunion.
- Mark Legon: It's Kenosha, the homecoming.
[engines rev]
- Chris: Car manufacturing started in Kenosha in 1902.
It was the second mass producer in all of America.
You had the big three in Detroit, and AMC was the fourth.
- David F. Bogdala: Now, today, we stand on hallowed ground.
A place where steel once roared,
where thousands of hardworking men and women
rolled up their sleeves and built more than just cars.
You built the city.
It's very exciting to welcome all of these folks home
where all these cars were built
and rekindle that spirit and fire
that really drove this community for over a hundred years.
- I started in 1969 on the Hornet line.
My dad worked for AMC.
My grandpa started in 1935 as a millwright,
so we got a lot of history in our family.
This is where it all happened.
- Everybody is drawn to AMC for different reasons.
- Styling, the uniqueness.
- I had a Gremlin when I was a teenager
and I wanted another one, and I found this one,
and we spent seven and a half years restoring it.
They just tried to build a better car
'cause they were underdogs.
- It's got power windows and power seat, power steering,
power brakes, push-button transmission.
This was their luxury car at that time.
But the Ambassador, that was their most expensive car
back in the day.
- The first SUV made in the United States.
[engine revs]
The four-wheel drive, they're way ahead of their time on this.
- They were either ahead of their time,
maybe a little bit behind at times.
They were never really in their time.
They never really hit the mark on what people were looking for.
- They're tough, tougher than ever before.
- Chris: In the late '80s,
a lot of car companies were going through trouble.
That's when Chrysler came in with an offer.
Spelled the end of AMC.
- Matter of times change, and what goes and what don't.
- Tom: It's sad that they're not around no more,
but got the history at least.
- There's a lot of pride for the cars.
And the quality of those cars as well.
- That's my life story with AMCs.
I'm still hooked.
- And I love it 'cause no one else has got one. [laughs]
- Todd: It's gone, but it's not forgotten.