[Elegant orchestra music plays] NARRATOR: In September of 1982, the partnership between American Motors Corporation and the French automaker, Renault, finally yielded its first new product.

1980s Renault Commercial: Introducing Renault Alliance!

European technology, superb economy, now built in America, to be affordable.

NARRATOR: Built by AMC, the 1983 Renault Alliance was named MotorTrend magazine's "Car of the Year," exactly two decades after American Motors' Rambler lineup won the same award.

PATRICK FOSTER: Alliance was one of those products that was exactly right for the market.

People were looking for a car that was comfortable, attractive, roomy, and got incredible fuel economy, and that was the Alliance.

[music ends, car drives past] NARRATOR: But the success came at a cost... as American Motors had financed the partnership by selling 46.1 percent of its stock, and its independence, to Renault.

(From 1983 MotorWeek Episode) JOHN DAVIS: But As Renault plays a bigger part in AMC's future, the French way of doing things is slowly becoming more dominant... [car driving, music fades out] [Bright road trip music] FEMALE ANNOUNCER: Funding for The Last Independent Automaker was provided in part by... [Driving rhythmic music] WOMAN: We are Detroit.

And when we move, you move.

FEMALE ANNOUNCER: Funding was also provided by...

The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation... MotorCities National Heritage Area... And also... For a complete list of funders, visit APTonline.org [bright piano music] [factory machine noise] NARRATOR: By 1983, the Local 72 chapter of the United Autoworkers Union was thrilled, as thousands of laid off employees were back on the assembly line, churning out Renault Alliances.

PAUL ROSKRES: You know, we were building cars.

That's all we cared about, is our paycheck, back in business.

[truck pulls away] NARRATOR: As Renault production ramped up at AMC's two Kenosha, Wisconsin plants, the old 4-wheel-drive AMC Eagle was transferred to a smaller Canadian factory.

Company president and Renault transplant, Jose Dedeurwaerder, celebrated the new car's success, but tensions between the union and management, remained.

[music ends] [beating rock music] NARRATOR: Three years prior, a group of plant supervisors had sued activists John Drew, Jon Melrod, and Tod Onhstad after their newsletter, The Fighting Times, repeatedly attacked them.

JOHN DREW: We thought, "Oh this is no big deal.

It's going to go away."

It didn't go away.

And we ended up having a 14-day jury trial.

[courtroom ambience, crowd mumbling] NARRATOR: In October of '83, the trio had to prove their lurid reports of racism, sexism, and harassment were true.

JOHN DREW: We had dozens of workers who testified that, "I was there, I saw that, yes, this happened..." NARRATOR: Faced with the onslaught of witnesses, the jury ultimately sided with The Fighting Times.

JOHN DREW: And we later went back and proved that the company had financed it and they ended up having to pay our legal fees also.

NARRATOR: The three became heroes at the plant, and soon, leaders in the union.

[music ends] [high tech synth music starts] NARRATOR: For 1984, American Motors' Jeep division prepared to launch its first all-new product in over a decade, code named "XJ."

[factory noises, welding] NARRATOR: Renault had insisted on a design competition between European stylists and AMC's in-house team, directed by Richard Teague and managed by Bob Nixon.

PATRICK FOSTER: The American Motors' design was overwhelmingly the favorite.

And Jose Dedeuwaeder called up Bob Nixon and said, "Alright Bob, your concept won."

And slammed the phone down.

He was furious that the Renault people's design was not accepted by Americans.

But that just shows, the French management just didn't get the 4-wheel-drive market.

1985 Jeep Cherokee Commercial: Bronco II never made it!

S-10 Blazer 4x4 never made it!

No four-wheeler made, ever made it, until the new Jeep Cherokee became the first to win all THREE 4x4 of the year awards in 1984... NARRATOR: Engineered by Roy Lunn and Francois Castaing, the new downsized XJ Cherokee and Wagoneer offered 90 percent of the space, but nearly double the gas mileage, of the old models.

DAVID TRACY: So, you've got more gears, you've got less weight, you've got smaller engines.

It all comes together to improve fuel economy markedly.

You add on a decent ride, it's still great off-road capability, and it's compelling.

[Jeep drives through woods] NARRATOR: And it offered something NO other compact SUV had: four doors.

JOHN DAVIS: I really give American Motors credit for starting the SUV boom that we see today.

That vehicle was absolutely a turning point in the "American family car."

[families talking] JOSEPH CAPPY: We did fantastic with it.

Sales record after sales record.

We were building as many as we could.

NARRATOR: Whether or not the French understood Jeep, they couldn't argue with the results.

[Jeep drives by, music ends] [small crowd cheers, applauds] NARRATOR: In February of 1985, AMC's legendary Vice President of Styling, Richard Teague, retired.

For 26 years, he designed dozens of successful cars, often on tight budgets.

[Tense string music starts] NARRATOR: But after Renault invested a fortune to build the Alliance and XJ, the French now expected profits from American Motors.

JOSEPH: From 1980 to 1983, American Motors lost three quarters of a billion dollars.

I don't care what you say, when it comes with a "B," it's a lot of money.

NARRATOR: To finance a new factory in Canada, American Motors had to sell its government vehicle division and even its new headquarters, becoming a tenant in its own building.

NARRATOR: And the headwinds were growing.

(From MotorWeek Episode) JOHN DAVIS: What we're seeing is a repeat of the mid-70s when gasoline prices temporarily leveled off.

The result now is the same as then, small cars are beginning to languish on dealers' lots, and big cars are once again selling strong.

Now, billions were spent to make small, front-drive, fuel-conscious cars, so this trend is provoking panic in both Detroit and Tokyo... NARRATOR: Cheap gas was great for Jeep, but Renault and AMC didn't offer any big cars, and their latest model wasn't taking off.

Renault Encore Commercial: Imagine yourself in a Renault Encore, stylishly European in design, Renault Encore, from Europe's leading carmarker... PATRICK: The Encore, in my opinion, was just too weird I think for most Americans.

Generally, the market has a herd mentality.

All of the sudden in 1985, everybody wanted a big car, and it killed the subcompact market.

NARRATOR: To make matters worse, French management was unreceptive to a growing number of quality problems.

[mechanic shop sound effects] JOSEPH CAPPY: We find we have a leaky transmission.

The Renault people said, "We don't have that problem in France."

Well, in the United States, people have garages and they can see the oil on the garage floor.

In France, they're parking on the street.

They never know they have an oil leak!

[street traffic noise] JOHN DREW: Uh, a lot of people in the plant bought Alliances.

The first really cold night, we came out after second shift and nobody could start their Alliances!

[Laughs] There was hoods up all over the parking lot.

Something in the French design wasn't quite robust enough for Wisconsin winters.

NARRATOR: It all culminated in a brutal drop in sales.

PATRICK: And that just pulled the rug out of everything.

When you've got a huge plant that's been built up to build 200 or 300,000 cars a year, and all of the sudden you're building 80,000 cars, you're not making any money.

You're losing tons of money.

[factory noise, music ends] NARRATOR: Compounding the problem, in 1981 AMC had made a desperate deal with the UAW for a 10 percent wage cut, to be repaid later.

But when the bill came due in 1985, AMC didn't have the money.

NARRATOR: Local 72 prepared for a showdown, until Union president Rudy Kuzel, prudently but begrudgingly convinced them to avoid layoffs by accepting more concessions.

JOHN DREW: It was a contract that no one was happy with, but that we all agreed needed to be ratified, because it was in everybody's best interest.

[traffic noise, factory noise] NARRATOR: Back in France, Renault's new state-appointed chairman, Georges Besse, cut costs by laying off 20,000 French workers, igniting a public firestorm.

JOSEPH: So, they had a political problem, because they saw all of this money going overseas to American Motors and then being lost in these huge numbers.

NARRATOR: As partial owner of Renault, the French government pressured Besse to unload American Motors.

But he had faith in AMC, and its new Canadian plant, that would soon build an all-new midsize sedan: the Renault Premiere.

But then, he got an unexpected offer.

[factory noise, music ends] 1980s Chrysler Commercial with Lee Iacocca: Our Chrysler LeBaron series: nobody has anything like them!

Not Ford, not GM, not the imports.

There's this sporty coupe... [inspiring music, applause] NARRATOR: Chrysler Corporation CEO, Lee Iacocca, had transformed the once doomed company into the success story of the '80s.

1980s Chrysler Commercial with Lee Iacocca: No cars are perfect, but these come pretty close!

PATRICK FOSTER: Lee Iacocca was the most famous businessman in the world, because you know, he was the man who saved Chrysler.

1980s Chrysler Commercial with Lee Iacocca: Oh, one more thing.

If you can find a better car, buy it!

[Music ends] NARRATOR: In the spring of '86, Iacocca quietly began meeting with Georges Besse.

Meanwhile, Jose Dedeurwaerder moved up the corporate ladder in France, making Joe Cappy AMC's new president and CEO.

[applause and camera flashes, factory noise] NARRATOR: That September, the three companies made a shocking announcement: American Motors would use its extra capacity to build cars for Chrysler...specifically, its old, full-size sedans.

PATRICK: It's ironic that American Motors didn't have a big car, and their small cars weren't selling, so they ended up building big cars for another company.

[factory noise] NARRATOR: What Cappy, and AMC's Board...didn't know, was that Iaccoca wanted more than just factory space.

He wanted to buy Jeep.

JOSEPH: They made the decision not to tell AMC management, not to tell me, the CEO, what was going on.

So here we are working in the dark, not knowing these kind of talks were taking place.

NARRATOR: But Besse refused to sell the most profitable part of AMC.

Chrysler had to take the whole package, or nothing.

As rumors spread, Cappy grew suspicious.

[phone dialing sound effects] JOSEPH: I called an executive VP at Chrysler, Ben Bidwell, and I said, "Can you tell me what the hell's going on between Chrysler and Renault?"

He said, "what are you driving?"

I said "A Renault Alliance."

He said, "I'll tell you what.

I'll have one of my garage doors open.

You drive right into the garage.

'Cause I don't want anyone to see a Renault Alliance parked in front of my house."

[car pulls into garage, garage door shutting noise] NARRATOR: Bidwell confirmed that Chrysler wanted to buy American Motors Corporation, but insisted Cappy tell no one.

JOSEPH: If we did, the stock price would obviously jump and that would mean it would cost more for Chrysler to buy American Motors.

So, they wanted to keep this ultra secret.

[music ends] NARRATOR: But Besse continued to resist, asking for more time to think.

Exactly what he was thinking, would remain unknown.

[busy street noise] NARRATOR: On the evening of November 17, 1986, George Besse stepped out of a chauffeured car in front of his Parisian townhome, as two women approached with a baby carriage.

[car door slams, footsteps, rustling noises] NARRATOR: Reaching into the stroller, they drew guns and opened fire.

[six gunshots echo in rapid succession] NARRATOR: As Besse collapsed onto the sidewalk, two men on motorcycles picked up the shooters and sped into the night.

[Distant police siren] NARRATOR: At 58 years old, the Renault chairman was dead.

[Slow rendition of French national anthem plays] [marching on cobblestone street] NARRATOR: The terrorist group "Action Directe" took credit for the assassination, as part of an anti-capitalist campaign across Europe.

PATRICK: I don't know, if they were communists or just plain anarchists, but they wanted to destroy a symbol of capitalism, so they thought, let us assassinate him, which is just a sick terrible way for a human being to think about another human being.

NARRATOR: As Renault navigated the crisis, American Motors had devised a complicated deal of its own.

[Applause, camera clicks, tense string music starts] NARRATOR: With a 200 million dollar loan from the state of Wisconsin, AMC would update Kenosha to build more Chrysler products, plus...a new Jeep, code named "ZJ."

The plan would create 8,000 jobs, but required major changes to work rules, and Local 72 wasn't pleased.

[Factory noise, crowd noise] JOSEPH: And the Union dragged that out.

And all the time they were dragging it out, unbeknownst to me, Renault was negotiating with Chrysler.

[Flags flapping in the wind] NARRATOR: By February of '87, the secret meetings had resumed; and the French were eager to sell.

Meanwhile, AMC's union talks dragged into March.

JOHN: I think we went till like three in the morning one night, and we went to bed to get a couple hours of sleep, and we felt that were, were going to be able to wrap things up that next day.

[old phone rings, music ends] NARRATOR: But at 5am on March 9th, Joe Cappy got a call from his old boss, Jose Dedeurwarder.

He said that, "Renault was selling its stake in American Motors Corporation to Chrysler, which would buy out the remaining shareholders."

Asked about the union contract, Cappy said, "It would finally be signed that morning."

Deduerwarder replied, "Under no circumstance should AMC sign anything."

[radio static, vintage 80s newscast music] DEAN GREB: I heard it on the radio on my way to work Monday morning, and it was the biggest shock of my life.

NARRATOR: The news spread like wildfire, as thousands of employees were now in limbo.

JAMES CERANO: My wife woke me up "Hey look at the news!"

I was a fan of Iacocca.

I thought it was a good move.

PAM HUEGLI: People were nervous, but I think there was a lot of "Well finally, we were going to have some Americans to work with."

NARRATOR: The union negotiations were immediately on hold, as the buyout would take months to complete.

JOHN: Everybody was like kind of excited saying, "Oh, this is great!

You know, we're part of Chrysler, this big, deep-pocket company."

And a couple of us kinda went over in the corner and we said, "You know, this could be the worst thing that ever happened."

[music fades out] [nervous music starts] NARRATOR: When his boss suddenly left, Vince Geraci was promoted as the last head of AMC Styling, and was given just four months to create four ZJ prototypes for Chrysler.

VINCE GERACI: This is a lot of work.

I give full credit to the crews, the people in the woodshop, the clay modelers, the styling guys.

We took over the entire department in order to achieve these four models within the time frame.

FRANK PASCOE: We pulled a lot of working till 9:30 nights and working on Sundays.

We did a lot of that.

Everybody buckled down and did what they had to do.

NARRATOR: The buyout was finalized in May, at just over 2 billion dollars.

Lee Iacocca Announcement Video: To you AMC people, welcome to the family.

To you Chrysler people, let's all move over and make a little room at the table.

JOSEPH: It was one of Lee Iaccoca's masterstrokes.

He had no SUVs.

And to pick up the crown jewel of the SUVs with Jeep was a no brainer.

NARRATOR: Analysts had estimated that Chrysler would need to spend a billion dollars to design just one SUV; now it had the best-known SUV lineup in the world, and more.

[Nervous music stops, hopeful string music starts] NARRATOR: That August, Iacocca and his team came to the old Kelvinator building on Plymouth Road to see the prototypes for what would become the new Jeep Grand Cherokee.

VINCE: They were so impressed, they said, "My goodness gracious.

We've got a diamond over here!"

FRANK: They were just flabbergasted at the stuff that our little crew could do in the time that we did.

That this little misfit company could pull off something like that, without going through the bureaucracy that it would've taken Chrysler to go through to do that same project.

NARRATOR: Chrysler soon discovered that years of being the underdog had turned AMC employees into what one executive called, "battle-hardened Marines."

JOSEPH: And we ended up with about 70 percent of AMC people picked up by Chrysler, which was really a very pleasant surprise.

JAMES: AMC is made up of survivors.

You know, they survived the industry.

[Hopeful string music ends] [Car drives past] NARRATOR: With Renault leaving the U.S., Alliance production was canceled.

But workers rejoiced when Iacocca said, "Kenosha would keep building cars for at least five years."

Aside from ending production of the archaic J-series trucks, Chrysler wisely left Jeep, alone.

[Truck drives past on dirt road, car drives past] NARRATOR: But suddenly the new 1988 Renault Premiere was a car without a brand.

So, inspired by AMC...Chrysler, created a new one.

Jeep Eagle Commercial with Lee Iacocca: So, we're introducing the first new American car brand in 30 years: Eagle.

NARRATOR: Critics praised the new Eagle Premier as far more advanced than any of Chrysler's home-grown cars.

[Car drives past, mournful electric piano music starts] NARRATOR: Alongside it, the last surviving AMC product, the original "Eagle"-returned for one more year, now simply called the Eagle Wagon.

The old Canadian factory managed to assemble 2,306 of them before production ended on December 11th, 1987.

[car drives past] NARRATOR: American Motors was no more.

[factory noise] NARRATOR: While the two Kenosha plants were now the oldest factories owned by Chrysler, they had remained productive, but facing a recession in January of '88, the company dropped a bomb.

[Car drives past, factory noise] NARRATOR: After promising to keep them open, it would close both plants by year's end.

[Sad string music starts] DAVE FURLIN: I thought it was gonna be a good thing, you know?

We're building their cars now, and they're going to keep production rolling and everything was going to be cool.

And before you know it...done.

PATRICK: I think Lee Iacocca panicked when sales started to slow down and his costs started to rise and his profits started to shrink.

He wanted to close a plant, so Kenosha was an easy one to do, and you cut your costs dramatically.

NARRATOR: Dreams of building the new Grand Cherokee were shattered, as only a small engine factory would remain, employing a fraction of the workers.

BETTY BROWN: When I first started, it was about 15,000 employees.

When they closed the plant, I think they was down to 700 people.

DANIEL WOJEIECHOWICZ: People were very upset.

"What's going to happen to us?

Where are we going to get jobs?"

But there's nothing they can do about it.

[Angry crowd chanting] NARRATOR: Workers accused Chrysler of betrayal.

Management blamed the union, citing decades of unreasonable demands.

PATRICK: Labor's attitude in Kenosha absolutely played a role, because they were militant.

And they didn't become militant yesterday.

[Crowd booing, cheering] NARRATOR: Local 72 president, Rudy Kuzel, vowed to make Kenosha "the most expensive plant closing in history," and negotiated a record 250 million dollar payout for laid off workers...plus, preferential hiring at other Chrysler plants.

BILLY AIELLO: I was one of the lucky ones.

I got to go to Indiana and work in a transmission plant there.

DANNY LAMANTIA: And I got to retire and Iacocca gave me 5000 bucks!

[Laughs] [Guitar music ends.

Sad piano music starts] NARRATOR: Just before Christmas, the home of America's first union-built automobile shut down for good.

DAVE FURLIN: That last day of work, we were building Omnis and Horizons and Fifth Avenues.

And I stuck around 'til about 7:30 that night, waiting for parts to finish these last four or five Omnis that were sitting on the line.

So, when we were waiting for those parts to show up, we took a walk upstairs and there was nothing around.

All the hooks were empty.

[scoffs] Gets to you, you know.

Finally, they showed up, and we took our jackets off and set them down and walked out the door.

And that was the last time we were in that building.

NARRATOR: A year later, Chrysler tore down Kenosha, and built a brand new plant for the Jeep Grand Cherokee in Detroit.

[Music ends] NARRATOR: In the three decades since he'd left American Motors, George Romney had been a governor, a presidential candidate, a cabinet secretary, and a non-profit leader.

[sentimental piano music starts] NARRATOR: But in 1994, the American Motors Owners Association brought the old "Dinosaur Hunter" out of retirement.

GEORGE ROMNEY: How many of you are Rambler owners?

Hands up.

Alright how many of you... [Crowd cheers and laughs] NARRATOR: Roy Abernethy and Bill Luneburg had been gone for more than a decade.

Richard Teague passed in 1991.

Romney would follow in '95.

NARRATOR: Roy Chapin Jr. stayed busy until his death in 2001, but never forgot, that as a board member, Renault had sold AMC behind his back.

NARRATOR: Gerald Meyers became a professor, and wrote a book on crisis management.

Paul Tippett became president of a textile company.

Jose Dedeurwaerder left Renault after clashing with its new chairman.

Joe Cappy stayed at Chrysler until 1997, along with hundreds of former AMC employees who had long, successful careers there.

[piano music ends, sad string music begins] NARRATOR: Unfortunately, the Eagle brand floundered from lack of investment.

But Jeep continued its upward climb.

[vehicle smashes through glass, audience cheers] NARRATOR: The iconic Grand Wagoneer would last until 1991 and the AMC-designed Cherokee, Grand Cherokee, and Wrangler would sell millions of copies.

[vehicles drive by on dirt] NARRATOR: As it had with Willys, Kaiser, and American Motors, Jeep would outlast Chrysler Corporation, too.

Many auto workers retired, went back to school, or found new work.

Tod Ohnstad became a state congressman, John Drew was elected president of the union, and Jon Melrod became a lawyer.

Thousands were even rehired at the engine plant, until Chrysler went bankrupt and closed it in 2010, ending 108 years of automaking in Kenosha.

[music ends] NARRATOR: Yet, the cars remain.

[Hopeful piano music, happy crowd noise] CHRIS ALLEN: You'll see it every night in the summer here.

There's going to be AMCs on the road.

People come in and they say, "You know, I worked on this car," or "My grandfather worked on this car, my father worked on this car."

It's generations.

This was a motor town, and they keep it alive here.

ANTHONY DAVIS: They built some cars that will always be connected to this community.

Ambassadors, Matadors, Javelins, AMXs, the Gremlins, the Hornets, the Ramblers.

That'll be part of that legacy.

NARRATOR: Born through merger, American Motors Corporation was never truly "independent."

But at its core, it was an automaker unlike any other.

[Factory noise, crowd applauding] PATRICK: It was different from the Big 3.

It was almost like, a mom and pop car company.

A lot of people of the American Motors were like, family to me.

MICHAEL PORTER: We were fighting long odds.

But we were working hard, working together, trying to beat the big guys.

LISA NEWMAN HALES: It just wasn't a carmaker.

It was a lifemaker.

For so many of us.

DANIEL WOJEIECHOWICZ: I am very lucky.

Not only lucky that I came to this country, greatest country in the world, but to get hired and kept on going through Nash, American Motors, Chrysler.

I'm very lucky.

[Cars drive past] NARRATOR: During its 33 years, American Motors Corporation forever changed the world's automotive landscape.

And when it disappeared, we lost part of America.

VINCE GERACI: American Motors is unique.

Unique!

Never to be replicated again.

That's, that's a one-timer.

[Piano music ends on a high note] ANNOUNCER: The Complete Book of AMC Cars features a fully-illustrated history of American Motors vehicles, and is available online at MPT.org/Shop.

Or call the phone number on the screen.

To learn more about the cars and the people of American Motors, connect with The Last Independent Automaker online.

ANNOUNCER: Funding for The Last Independent Automaker was provided in part by... [Driving rhythmic music] WOMAN: We are Detroit.

And when we move, you move.

ANNOUNCER: Funding was also provided by...

The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation... MotorCities National Heritage Area... And also... For a complete list of funders, visit APTonline.org ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪