Originally Posted by +fireamx

Mike-

Thank you very much for the great feedback and the compliments on the Crossfire design. I'm sort of a closet AMC fan myself. But the main inspiration for the Crossfire design were cars like the Auburn boattail speedster, and later the '63 Stingray and '68 Mustang fastback. The objective was to create a purely American art deco streamliner aesthetic. Tom Gale chose the design because it reminded him of the Stingray. But I never thought about the Marlin until Jim Holden, Chrysler's COO at the time, said it reminded him of a Marlin! I thought the project would get buried right there, but we kept going, and no one mentioned the Marlin again. The rest is history. I have a book on AMC history, and I've always been fascinated by underdog car companies. Maybe that's one of the reasons I went to Hyundai. Another AMC footnote, the clay modeler who modeled the Crossfire is an ex-AMC guy who claims Chrysler bought AMC because of him! Thanks again for your support and great feedback.

-Eric