I have a feeling that many of you reading this will have no idea what is a Rambler Rogue and that's fine as I like to say to each his own. My very first car, 30 years ago, was a white on red 1965 Rambler American 440H 2-door hardtop and since that time I've owned four other 1964-1969 Rambler American or Rogue 2-door hardtops. I just think that they are really cool looking cars, certainly at least as good looking as Chevy IIs, Ford Falcons or Plymouth Valiants of the same era. Best of all, weighing in at 3,000 pounds and equippd with the AMC small block V8, these little compacts offer ver respectable performance. In fact in 1969 AMC offered about 1,500 red, white and blue American hardtops equipped with the bored and stroked 390 cubic inch version of the AMC small block V8, specially modified by Hurst Performance Products. At less than $3,000, the SC/Rambler as it was called, was a killer performance package. To get a look at why I think these cars are so cool, visit these web sites:

www.ramblerrogue.com/scrambler.htm
www.ramblerrogue.com/index.htm

The reasons for building and equipping my Rogue are a bit complex. Back in 1972, I had equipped my 1965 American with what was then a state-of-the-art mobile audio system. I had a Sony/Superscope stereo field recorder mounted in a slide bracket underneath my dash as my source unit. I used a combination of a Sherwood 40-watt per channel home stereo unit and a Radio Shack RV 12-volt to 110-volt power inverter to power the system. In each front door I mounted a set of Peerless separates, a 5.25-inch midwoofer with a soft dome tweeter. In the trunk compartment I had a set of 8-inch Peerless woofers mounted in a 4-cubic foot enclosure and used a passive 3-way crossover to divide the signal to the appropriate speakers (500/5000 Hz crossover points).

When state-of-the-art at the time was an 8-Track deck and/or an FM converter, this was a pretty revolutionary setup and set the stage for what I've done the rest of my life (owning a car stereo store in NJ; writing about mobile electronics; becoming editor of Car Audio and Electronics in March of 1997; and now contributing to more than two dozen automotive and consumer electronics magazines around the world).

Now on to my current car, the 1968 Rogue you see here. I saw the car on eBay in May 2002 and since it was equipped with the then brand new AMC 290 V8 (the same basic block is used in Jeeps up to the 1991 Grand Wagoneer - it was offered in 290, 304, 343, 360, 390 and 401 cubic inch versions and is not to be confused with any other MOPAR or Ford V8s of the same displacement)

Obviously I've yet to detail the engine compartment as I have some performance upgrades planned that are outlined on page three.

I quickly negotiated a "Buy It Now" sale and flew up to British Columbia to drive it back, a trip that took three days and is chroniceled on its own web site at:

www.richtruesdell.com/Rogue_Trip.html

This web site explains the 3-week restoration process that involved removing all of the exterior trim, repairing both rear quarter panels, painting the car Lexus Pearl White, replacing the tattered black vinyl top with a silver vinyl top and reupholstering the interior.

Here's how the Rogue looked at the end of the first stage of its restoration in June 2002.