American Motors Incorporated
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American Motors Incorporated (AMI) designed, manufactured, and sold a minivan for commercial delivery use in the late 1940s.


History

American Motors Incorporated was established around 1946. It was very short-lived; it does not seem to have been in operation after 1949. It had executive offices on
Park Avenue Park Avenue is a wide New York City boulevard which carries north and southbound traffic in the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx. For most of the road's length in Manhattan, it runs parallel to Madison Avenue to the west and Lexington Av ...
in New York City, and a factory and service facility located upstate in
Troy, New York Troy is a city in the U.S. state of New York and the county seat of Rensselaer County. The city is located on the western edge of Rensselaer County and on the eastern bank of the Hudson River. Troy has close ties to the nearby cities of Albany ...
.


Lack of success

Small delivery vehicles such as the Delcar did not succeed. Purchasers were limited by their carrying capacity. A larger truck can haul more cargo, resulting in less cost per mile traveled. Few niche market customers demand such a specialized service vehicle.


Products

The company manufactured a minivan designed for business delivery uses called the Delcar. The
wheelbase In both road and rail vehicles, the wheelbase is the horizontal distance between the centers of the front and rear wheels. For road vehicles with more than two axles (e.g. some trucks), the wheelbase is the distance between the steering (front ...
was only with a engine, and it was priced at
US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
890. The Delcar was the first American vehicle with independent suspension on all four wheels, though the suspension used airplane landing gear-like rubber tension cords. One or more station wagons were produced using the same chassis, as well as the Delcar van. The station wagon could seat six passengers.


References

{{Reflist


Further reading

* Original Delcar retail sales
brochure A brochure is originally an informative paper document (often also used for advertising) that can be folded into a template, pamphlet, or leaflet. A brochure can also be a set of related unfolded papers put into a pocket folder or packet or can ...
(four pages) printed by AMI - see images * ''
Mechanix Illustrated ''Mechanix Illustrated'' was an American printed magazine that was originally published by Fawcett Publications. Its title was founded in 1928 to compete against the older ''Popular Science'' and ''Popular Mechanics''. Billed as "The How-To-Do M ...
'', August 1949 — brief article and picture depicting the Delcar * ''Special Interest Auto'' magazine (''
Hemmings Motor News ''Hemmings Motor News'' (HMN) is a monthly magazine catering to traders and collectors of antique, classic, and exotic sports cars. It is the largest and oldest publication of its type in the United States, with sales of 215,000 copies per mont ...
''), October 1978 — brief article about the Delcar Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of the United States Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1946 Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 1948 1946 establishments in New York (state) 1948 disestablishments in New York (state) Motor vehicle manufacturers based in New York (state)