Origins

• AMC was slow to enter the muscle car fray. Two years after the Pontiac broke ground with the GTO by jamming a massive 389-cubic-inch V-8 in it, AMC offered a 290 V-8 that on the surface didn't speak for much, but offered a chance at performance. In fact, only 625 AMC cars received the 290 in 1966. In 1967, however, the 390 V-8 debuted. AMC based it on the 290 design. The 290 also served as a template for the 304 V-8 in 1970. Also launched in 1967 was the short-lived 343 that AMC enlarged in 1970 to 360 cubic inches. The 402 followed in 1971. The 360 featured forged steel connecting rods and crankshaft. It also had unusual dogleg heads, so named for the shape of the exhaust port. By virtue of its shape, the exhausts were larger than conventional rectangle-port heads, and allowed for a better flow. The 360 remained in production through 1991.
  
  

Specifications

• The AMC 360 V-8 featured a 4.08-inch bore and 3.44-inch stroke. Its 8.5-to-1 compression ratio and two-barrel carburetor provided 245 horsepower and 365 foot-pounds of torque. By 1972, its horsepower rating dropped dramatically as automakers shifted from "gross" horsepower ratings to "net" horsepower, and the U.S. government imposed stricter emissions requirements on automobiles. For 1972, AMC detuned the 360 to 175 horsepower and 285 foot-pounds of torque. In 1973, the 360 received an optional four-barrel carb to increase the horsepower to 195 and the torque rating to 295 foot-pounds.
  
  

Applications

• The AMC 360 V-8 was available in all AMC cars. It was an optional engine in the Gremlin, Hornet, Javelin, AMX, and Matador sedan, coupe and station wagon, Brougham coupe and Ambassador. Buyers could order the 1971 Hornet, for example, with an optional SC/360 performance package that included rally wheels, pinstriping, hood scoop, sports-style upholstery and the 360 V-8. AMC's Jeeps and Wagoneers also featured the AMC 360. The Jeep line included the Gladiator pickup and CJ-5. Perhaps the most unusual application was the four-barrel carb 360 installed in the rare 1974 gull-wing Bricklin SV-1 sports car produced in Canada.
  
  

Performance

• The sporty 1971 AMC AMX coupe, with its short 97-inch wheelbase and equipped with the 360, could reach 0 to 60 mph in 6.9 seconds and cover the quarter mile in 15.4 seconds at 93 mph. It earned 7 to 8 mpg in the city and 11 to 13 mpg on the highway for a combined mpg of 9.2. By 1974, the Javelin 's weaker 360 reached 60 in 8.5 seconds and the quarter mile in 16.5 seconds at 83 mph.