American Motors Corporation (AMC)
Nowadays, the Detroit automakers are referred to as the Big Three. But there was once a fourth entry. AMC was the smallest Detroit automaker. It was founded on May 1, 1954, by George W. Mason. The idea behind AMC was to do what the other companies did but at a more affordable price. The AMC Eagle provided a crossover design with off-road functionality, something that’s quite common nowadays (via Fandom).

There were periods of prosperity and declining sales for AMC. The company just didn’t get on its feet long enough to be profitable. The leading shareholder Renault put the company up for sale. Lee Iacocca then saw the potential in the Jeep brand. The AMC brand lived on for a few years as the Jeep/Eagle Corporation until 1997. Chrysler made the purchase of a lifetime with the assets from the AMC brand. This was especially true with the blueprint for the Jeep Grand Cherokee.