Concept Car of the Week: AMC AMX/2 (1969)

Like Detroit's Big Three, AMC rapidly understood the importance of the youth market after the success of the Ford Mustang. In the late 60s, the design team produced a series of "Think Young" concept cars to reach the younger audience as well as exciting new showroom offerings like the Mustang-inspired Javelin, the two-seater AMX and the Rambler. Presented at the 1969 Chicago auto show, the second opus of the American Motors Experimental series, the AMX/2 was not just AMC's most daring concept car ever, but one of Detroit's first acknowledgments that the future of high-performance sports cars would be mid-engined.

When Toly takes a trip, it's a trip

Editor's note: This story was published in the March 27, 2000, issue of AutoWeek. Anyone looking to spend a car sort of summer in Europe should let Toly Arutunoff plan it for them. Though you'd need to spend more time than the typical vacation allows and a few more euros than the youth hostel requires, it would be one unforgettable time.

BMW 2 Series Active Tourer gets (slightly inappropriate) M Sport Package

The BMW 2 Series active Tourer moves to the butch side with an M Sport Package Purists moan, but the BMW 2 Series Active Tourer MPV is a sensible move by BMW and aimed at BMW lovers who need a BMW equivalent to the Mercedes B Class; a premium family car for shifting kids and stuff around. Using the same platform as the all new MINI, the 2 Series Active Tourer is BMW’s first front wheel drive car, although a 225i Active Tourer will go on sale in November complete with BMW’s 4WD xDrive. But the 2 Series Active Tourer wouldn’t be a BMW offering unless it also came with the option of an M Sport Pack, which is exactly what will be on offer – however unsuited the Active Tourer may seem for such sporty embellishments – when the xDrive Active Tourer arrives in November (although the M Sport Pack will be offered across the whole Active Tourer range).