Long-lost 1967 AMC Amitron EV concept discovered in barn after decades

This car enthusiast discovered a long-lost 1967 AMC Amitron EV concept vehicle that had been stashed away inside a barn in Michigan for decades.

The AMC Amitron was an experimental all-electric subcompact vehicle that was a ‘prediction of future subcompact commuter cars’. 

That prediction didn’t quite come to fruition – and despite the car being packed with features that were lightyears ahead – development never went ahead. 

Almost 60 years on, the rare and long-forgotten prototype was discovered in a barn. 

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The 1967 AMC Amitron was an interesting vehicle

The impressive discovery was made by Ryan Brutt from the Auto Archaeology YouTube channel.

Brutt is certainly no stranger when it comes to wild and unusual barn finds – he’s previously unearthed this super-rare 1970 Dodge Charger and also stumbled upon a 1969 Plymouth GTX with $10,000 stashed away inside.

And a recent trip to Michigan saw Brutt get up close with a super-rare AMC Amitron EV prototype. 

The Amitron is the first all-electric vehicle created by American Motors Corporation and it was lightyears ahead of its time. 

As well as its unusual and eye-catching polygonal exterior design, the EV had some impressive advanced features. 

Despite being built in 1967, the car had regenerative braking – a first for a US-built vehicle.

It also had an advanced battery design, that would have provided 240km (150 miles) of range from a single charge if traveling at 80km/h (50mph) – a speed it was able to hit in 20 seconds.

Sadly, the poor old AMC Amitron was never fully developed due to the high cost of batteries and some technical issues.

An early prototype was discovered in a barn

Fast forward several decades, and Brutt went along to check out a forgotten prototype of the EV.

The 1967 AMC Amitron was stashed away in the rafters after being bought for just $1 by Chuck Mashigan, the head of the AMC design studio, who is the granddad of the barn owner.

After buying the neat concept vehicle, Mashigan kept it on display on his back porch until he passed away.

The Amitron was in surprisingly good condition and still had its original tires and paintwork – although it didn’t come with any of the cool tech AMC had originally planned for the car.

And it seems that the vintage vehicle could be gearing up for a new lease of life.

Its owner told Brutt he plans to give the car a spruce up and is then considering taking it to shows around the US – sounds like a perfect plan for a true piece of automotive history.