Automotive WI - AMC: Alternate In-House Engine Options

While mention is made of prototype engines such as the air-cooled 1.8 V4 or 288 Kaiser-Frazer V8, what other engine projects or variants of existing in-house engines could have helped an ATL successful AMC as well as give a better idea of what was potentially available?

1) - In OTL AMC produced the AMC Straight-4 (from 1984), AMC Straight-6 (from 1964) and AMC V8 engines (from 1956 and again from 1966).

An earlier ATL AMC Straight-4 would have initially had a displacement of around 2172cc+ and could have been doubled up to form the basis for a more compact AMC V8 initially displacing around 4344cc+.

2) - There was also the OTL 230 Jeep Tornado SOHC Inline-6 (from 1962) though it was neither designed by AMC nor used in a domestic AMC branded vehicle, which later in South America spawned 181 cubic inch to 241 cubic inch variants in the IKA-Renault Torino as well as a smaller 153 Tornado Inline-4 unit used in overseas Jeeps.

An ATL AMC that adopts and improves the Jeep Tornado engine (instead of pensioning it off to South America) for the 1970s would have potentially given the company a 2986-3950cc Inline-6 SOHC as well as a 1978-2644cc Tornado Inline-4 and even a 3956-5288cc Tornado V8 engine.

Which route would have benefited AMC or were other engine options available?

Also what impact would in-house 4-cylinder engines such as an earlier ATL 2172cc+ AMC Straight-4 or ATL 1978cc+ Jeep Tornado-4 have had on AMC's compact / subcompact models, especially in place of the OTL (Mercedes-designed) Volkswagen EA831 and GM Iron Duke 4-cylinder engines?
 
making a full aluminum aircooled V8 from the V4 'Mighty Mite' would have been an interesting competitor to the Buick (and later Rover) 215 if dropped into the in the early '58 Rambler American to replace the old Flathead 6, that AMC kept using thru the '65 model year
 
making a full aluminum aircooled V8 from the V4 'Mighty Mite' would have been an interesting competitor to the Buick (and later Rover) 215 if dropped into the in the early '58 Rambler American to replace the old Flathead 6, that AMC kept using thru the '65 model year

Is it known whether the air-cooled AMC V4 used in the M422 Mighty Mite had a V angle of 60° or 90° as well as whether a hypothetical civilian version of the V4 would have put out more power?

Though not 100% sure also seem to recall AMC looking at developing a Twin-Cam 4-cylinder engine.
 
Was thinking that an earlier 2172cc AMC Straight-4 could have powered a sub-Rambler model during the early/mid-60s whether via earlier Gremlin or what amounts to a compact saloon in the mold of the later Triumph Dolomite with 3nd generation Rambler styling (given AMC's dealings with Standard-Triumph prior to the latter being acquired by Leyland Motors).

While a 1978cc Jeep Tornado 4 (and 2986cc Jeep Tornado 6) could have potentially powered a production version of the 1958 Jeep FC Commuter Wagon prototype built by Reutter as a challenger to the Volkswagen Type 2 and Chevrolet Corvair Greenbrier (which could have benefited AMC after they acquired Kaiser Jeep whether in 1970 as OTL or earlier), along with potentially other models.

There is another engine option to consider, an earlier ATL partnership with Renault in tandem with Renault producing a production version of its Project 114 Frégate Replacement would have resulted in an Inline-6 version of the Renault A-Type / Cléon-Alu engine used in the OTL Renault 16 being available.
 
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Was thinking that an earlier 2172cc AMC Straight-4 could have powered a sub-Rambler model during the early/mid-60s whether via earlier Gremlin or what amounts to a compact saloon in the mold of the later Triumph Dolomite with 3nd generation Rambler styling (given AMC's dealings with Standard-Triumph prior to the latter being acquired by Leyland Motors).

The late '50s Rambler American had a 100" wheelbase, while the Gremlin had 96".

The earlier Metropolitan was 85", but they got those unibodies from Fisher and Ludlow in the UK, with motors and drivetrains from Austin, all assembled by BMC. That V4 had as much HP as the Austin A50, if you want to put a small US powerplant in there that was lighter and shorter than the 195c.i. flathead 6
 
Was AMC capable of producing a 1st/2nd generation Rambler American-based 2-door sub-compact with an air-cooled 1.8 V4 engine as an indirect stop-gap replacement for the Metropolitan?

Not sure about the air-cooled 1.8-litre V4 as it is a bit of an unknown in civilian form compared to an earlier 2172cc AMC Straight-4, which could be derived from the AMC Straight-6 as in OTL. Whereas a hypothetical 1978cc Jeep Tornado 4 should have similar tuning potential to the Jeep Tornado 6 used in the OTL IKA-Renault Torino.

Envisioning an early/mid-60s sub-compact AMC Gremlin in terms of dimensions powered by compact 4-cylinder (possibly even sub 3-litre 6-cylinder) engines, though as a small Euro-inspired 2/4-door 3 box similar to the BMW 02, Audi F103 / Audi 80 B1 or Triumph Dolomite featuring downscaled 3rd generation Rambler-American or IKA-Renault Torino styling.

Ideally would have the early/mid-60s AMC sub-compact derived from a shortened 3rd generation Rambler-American platform or failing that either a shortened 2nd generation Rambler-American platform or another platform entirely (possibly from outside).
 
Was AMC capable of producing a 1st/2nd generation Rambler American-based 2-door sub-compact with an air-cooled 1.8 V4 engine as an indirect stop-gap replacement for the Metropolitan?

The Tooling used for the '58 American existed back to '50 with the Nash Rambler, still 100", so not much difference at all between the 1st and 2nd generations

They really brought back the old Nash Rambler as the American to replace the Metropolitan, as it was just too small and there was no growth potential to that chassis

For a Four, the best option would have been to shorten the 60 series OHV 253c.i. 130 HP six, that was in turn derived from their OVH 8 of 1930, for an 87HP 169c.i.Four at 7.6:1 compression or 93HP at 8:1
These were real long stoke motors, 3.5"x4.38", so as styling would soon dictate a lower hoodline, would need to slant it over, and this four would be able to be moved ahead, that would have less a tranny hump in the passenger area than the flathead six.
For 1954, that Six was still thier top line motor, so did have dual carb, twin plug ignition pre-war, but not after 1946, and did have prototype DOHC heads, that didn't see production, but were trialled.

Buying public didn't want advanced Sixes that had been the forte of Nash and Hudson, so until they could cast their own blocks, bought V8s from Packard
 
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Find it difficult to believe there was no scope to add 130-250mm to the Metropolitan chassis, it is interesting to note the Metropolitan shares the same width as the Austin A40/A55 Cambridge though unsure is any other direct connection exists.

Failing that perhaps Nash / AMC should have also considered bring over the Austin A40/A55 Cambridge together with the Metropolitan, prior to replacing both with the BMC Farina B (which remained in production until 1969 and) carried over much of the A55 Cambridge's mechanicals) akin to the OTL Argentinian licensed Siam Di Tella 1500 as well as a 2-door SWB proper 4-seater Metropolitan replacement.

Regarding a hypothetical 196 4-cylinder derived from the 262 Nash 6-cylinder, its pre-war roots hold likely hold it back compared to a hypothetical 53-92 hp 1885-2136cc 4-cylinder OHV version of the (2.8-3.2-litre) 195.6 AMC Straight-6 used from 1952-1965 possibly featuring an earlier die-cast aluminum block. The latter could have been used at the lower-end of the Nash / AMC range prior to being replaced in the early/mid-60s by an earlier ATL AMC Straight-4.

Interested to know more about the DOHC heads and whether they were a realistic possibility, notwithstanding the demands of the OTL buying public.
 
Castle Bromwich built larger Autos, my guess is AMC didn't want to pay for tooling upgrades, as Nash got a killer deal, offer they just couldn't refuse in '54.
By '57 BMC was doing better financially, so it cost less for AMC to start building small cars in Kenosha again than building them in the UK and shipping over.

For motor choices, as long as they can come out with a OVH four with the power of their old flathead Six, that longstroke motor could do pretty well in Europe for places with bore based HP taxes rather than displacement. The big Nash Six didn't compare too poorly with some of the modern V8s like the Plymouth 241 Poly Head, and it didn't have the overheating problems that the smaller Six had, from having the exhaust manifold internal, like the Ford Flathead

As much as I like AL blocks, it was just too early for many. the AMC Al sixes ran into the same problems as Buick and Olds had, with the buying public not understanding the value of specific antifreeze formulas with lots of anti-corrosion additives, and bitching when using just hard water caused problems
 
An earlier OHV 4-cylinder would mainly be conceived for the North American market in mind though any sub 2-litre model would likely be relatively well received in Europe. Perhaps Nash / AMC would have been better off ditching the Metropolitan for producing a version of the Austin A40/A55 Cambridge with the Metropolitan's styling cues, since the mostly positive OTL "surviews" for the Metropolitan did highlight a significant number were concerned with the lack of space in the rear as well as its relatively small size.

The question is which existing or potential OTL Nash / AMC engines could have served such a purpose, since the idea behind an earlier Nash / AMC 4-cylinder is for the company to be a better position prior to the ATL crises of the 70s without having to rely on 4-cylinder engines from outside companies such as VW/Audi and GM or pursue dead ends such as the Wankel Rotary from GM or Curtiss-Wright.

If the ATL 4-cylinder (and possible related 6-cylinder) engines is powerful and compact enough, it should allow ATL AMC to save weight as well as liberate more space from the front bonnet of the AMC Gremlin to create a wide-body 2/4-door 3 box saloon equivalent of the Hillman Avenger based Plymouth Cricket or Triumph Dolomite.

Interestingly thought was given for what became the Nash Metropolitan to be based on the Triumph Mayflower platform and 1247cc side-valve unit (derived from the pre-war Standard Flying Ten), with Triumph themselves planning on producing an "Morgan" type OHV version of the engine as well a restyling proposal for the Mayflower only to later abandon it due to low sales.
 
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