Baja Rambler Racing with Spencer Murray

Spencer Murray and the Rambler

Mexico hosted a grueling mostly off-road race, the Baja 500. In July 1967, a Rambler American in the passenger-car category was driven by Spencer Murray and Ralph Poole and finished the run in a record 31 hours.[67]
Feature Article from Hemmings Muscle Machines
July, 2005 - Pat Foster

It was 1969, and AMC was eager to get its cars involved in racing in all sorts of venues. They agreed to sponsor actor James Garner, who apparently thought there was a decent chance the Ramblers could run competitively. But even so, the affable actor probably couldn't have imagined how things would turn out. After all, even though American Motors had spent nearly two years focused on racing, it certainly wasn't making the most noise in the performance world. Sure, AMC cars were doing pretty well in Trans-Am racing, but running a Javelin pony car in the prestigious Trans-Am series was one thing; entering a Rambler in Mexico's grueling Baja 500 was quite another.

But that's exactly what the American actor, famous for playing Bret Maverick in the popular TV series Maverick and later as Jim Rockford in The Rockford Files, was determined to do. Aside from TV and film stardom, Garner also was known as a competitive racer. He had formed his own team, and off-road racing was one of his specialties. His team ran a squad of four-wheel-drive vehicles in the 1968 Mexican 1000 race, and had done well. How successful they would be running Ramblers as off-road racers was subject to speculation, though.

The whole "passenger car on an off-road racer" idea wasn't entirely without precedent for AMC. Back in December 1966, a band of intrepid souls (Spencer Murray, et al) drove a brand-new, box-stock Rambler Rebel hardtop through Baja (to La Paz) just to see how it would do. Despite conditions that could have broken a Land Rover, they managed to make it back to civilization, where they bragged about their adventure. That got others interested in Baja. By 1967, racers were flocking to Baja to try to beat established times for driving from Tijuana to La Paz. A 39 1/2-hour record was soon beaten by a 34.45-hour run. Then, in July 1967, a Rambler American driven by Spencer Murray and Ralph Poole did the run in 31 hours, flat!

So American Motors signed a three-year contract with Garner and his American International Racers (AIR) to field a team of Ramblers modified for off-road racing. Their first showing would be in the June 10, 1969, running of the Baja 500.

The cars chosen for the race would be specially modified versions of the limited-production 1969 SC/Rambler two-door hardtop. The Hurst-prepared Ramblers already were fast street cars, equipped with 390-cu.in., 315hp AMC V-8s. AMC shipped ten new SC/Ramblers to Garner's shops, where the AIR team disassembled the engines to check for defects, then reassembled them to blueprint tolerances. Horsepower was increased to 410 at the flywheel, and the cars were capable of speeds as high as 140 mph along smooth straights at about 7,000 rpm in fourth gear.

Lift kits were used to raise the front suspensions, and the rear springs were re-arched for better ground clearance. Huge Goodyear 10x15-inch tires were fitted on plain steel wheels. For safety reasons, all window glass was removed and massive roll cages were installed. Enormous 44-gallon fuel cells were added, and the undercarriages were beefed up with heavy-duty skid plates. Eight of the Ramblers were entered into the passenger-car category. The other two Ramblers had been fitted with four-wheel drive and were entered in the Experimental class.
Wearing AMC's trademark tri-tone red, white and blue racing colors, the prepared SC/Ramblers reportedly tipped the scales at 3,140 pounds, same as stock-apparently, the removal of most of the trim and the glass offset the increased weight of the roll cages and skid plates.

The Baja 500 race began on June 11th, 1969. Jim Garner wasn't able to be there to drive in the race, due to a film commitment in Spain. However, some of the top drivers in the business were on the AIR team including Bob Bondurant, Hunter Floyd and Davey Jordan.

The Ramblers tore off across the Baja desert churning up great clouds of dust in their wake. The rugged Baja course ran through hills, stones, sand, shale and worse. Leaping from rock to rock and pothole to pothole, the ten cars raced along the 558-mile route, a punishing run that was sheer torture for both man and machine.

A 30-hour race meant driving part of the way at night, with only headlamps and big roof-mounted rally lights to show the way. The entire course wasn't off-road; in fact, nearly 100 miles was on pavement, though anyone who has driven in Mexico knows that even the paved roads can be treacherous. When paved sections were under the wheels, the cars were driven flat out.
The race ended back in Ensenada the following day, June 12th. It had been a tough competition. Of the 134 assorted vehicles (cars, motorcycles, sand buggies, etc.) that set out on June 11, only 73 made it across the finish line within the required 30 hours. Among the finishers were seven of Garner's 10 Ramblers.
What they accomplished was nothing short of amazing. The car driven by Bob Bondurant and Tony Murphy took first place. In fact, the tough little Ramblers took three of the top five places in the sedan class, including 1st, 3rd and 5th. AIR drivers Ed Orr and J.W. Wright were the third-place finishers, while teammates Don Simpson and Walker Evans drove the Rambler that came in fifth. In the Experimental class, the four-wheel-drive Rambler driven by Carl Jackson and Jim Fricker managed to come in fourth. It was a stunning success for everyone involved. AMC showed the world what its cars were capable of.

This article originally appeared in the July, 2005 issue of Hemmings Muscle Machines.

Thanks ... had forgotten all about that car...

Oh yeah... There's a station wagon just a few blocks away from me that's been in my eye for months. Looks like a late '5os. I haven't approached it yet for an "up close and personal look".

I have many regrets about vehicles that I've sold...always to get something better, right? An MGTC, a '53 1300S Porsche, an MGA Twin Cam, a Jaguar XK120 Drop Head Coupe, and others. One of those "others" was a '52 Nash Healey. That one went on to win prizes at several Concours around the west.

Ramblers, as well as other marques like Crosley (remember the Hotshot?) and Kaiser were ahead of their times.

Allen R.
P.S. Oh, Neal, thanks for the OP. Great read. I haven't seen SM for nearly thirty years. Glad to hear he's doing well. His 'handbook' (with JC) is still one of my favorites to show these Young Turks who think they know everything.

[Edited on 3-15-2012 by bufeo]

In high school I had a 1953 Hudson Super Jet. What a awesom little car It was a true Sleeper.

bufeo,
You mentioned the Off-Roader's Handbook by Spencer Murray and Jim Crow. I was with Spencer when he was getting "stuck" pictures for the book at Soda Lake and volunteered my FJ-40 Land Cruiser for pulling his Jeep pickup out with a snatch strap. I was fairly new to 4x4s then and decided that since he was just barely stuck, I would just tow him out rather than snatch him. Wrong!

I gently let the clutch out, the FJ moved forward, the slack came out of the strap, and ....nothing moved anymore. My bias ply BFG's were spinning but they were on a half inch of slimy clay. Woe, woe, woe!

If I remember right, I am on page 97. Stuck! a half inch down.

No problem, said the innocent in the FJ, I'll just back up and give it a sharp yank.
Uh, it isn't moving backwards either! OK, I'll take the strap off and start all over.
Oops, the strap is too tight to remove! Now what?

Help came to me in the form of one of those Ken Cooke things, a nearby J***. The shame, the shame!
Neal Johns

That's pretty funny, Neal.

I have the 1986 edition in front of me and page 97 is the beginning of Chapter 13 on skidplates.

But....on page 118 there's a photo at the top of a nice little LC and the caption reads: "Mud filled tread grooves of this Land Cruiser and while it doesn't appear to be stuck, it took winch on CJ in background to literally slide it to drier ground".

Could that be the photo??? You're saved a bit by the fact that on the next page are two photos of a J. Cherokee buried.

Allen R