AMX/3 came before the C8 Corvette with AMC building six cars that all still survive to this day

Did you know that the C8 Corvette has a forgotten parent in the form of AMX/3 cars and that six of these AMC cars still survive to this day?

Back in the 1960s, AMC (American Motors Corporation) decided it needed a halo car, something to reposition its brand beyond economy and muscle cars.

Don’t think that the idea for an American mid-engine supercar like this was stolen from anyone else, AMC had conceptualized and prototyped the AMX/3 decades before the Corvette C8 was even an idea.

Most modern sources report that only six of these cars were ever completed, so the fact that all six remain is incredibly impressive, although the exact number that count as originals is still debated to this day.

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The AMX/3 came before the C8 Corvette

When Chevrolet finally unveiled the mid-engine C8 Corvette in 2019, the automotive world called it revolutionary, but the kicker is that half a century earlier, AMC had already built its own mid-engine supercar.

The AMX/3 was AMC’s way to shake off its reputation as a budget-friendly brand and prove it was part of the big leagues with the likes of Ferrari, Lamborghini, and Corvette.

But in doing so, it accidentally created a spiritual predecessor of the C8 Corvette.

The answer to all its creativity came in the form of the AMX/3, a mid-engine design with an exotic design made by some of Europe’s finest engineers, a surprise from the American Motors Corporation.

The dramatic beast had a mid-mounted AMC V8 engine that could produce an impressive 340 horsepower and had fully independent suspension.

All six cars still survive to this day

AMC originally planned to build 24 cars in 1970, but it only managed to complete six before the whole project was completely shelved.

Unlike most prototypes, all six of them have allegedly survived to this day.

But developing and certifying 24 cars for the road would have required money that the American Motors Corporation didn’t have.

Blending European style with American power, this forgotten legend could have given the C8 Corvette a run for its money and it wasn’t killed by a lack of performance or design – just a lack of funds.

In a disappointing story of ‘what ifs’, the small US automaker proved that even the smallest automaker can rival some big European brands.