The Rebel featured a smooth, rounded appearance with sweeping rooflines, a "Coke-bottle" body with a shorter rear deck, and a greater glass area for increased visibility.

"[11] A new safety-oriented instrument panel featured a steering column designed to collapse under impact, while the gauges and controls were grouped in a hooded binnacle in front of the driver with the dashboard pushed forward and away from the passengers.

The Rebel 770 wagon was available after midyear production with 3M's DI-NOC simulated wood-grain body side panels trimmed in a slim, stainless steel frame.

[16] A road test by Car Life magazine of a Rebel SST hardtop equipped with the 343 V8 and automatic transmission turned in a 0-60 mph (0 to 97 km/h) time of nine seconds and reached a top speed of 110 miles per hour (177 km/h).

"[19] Journalist and automobile critic, Tom McCahill, summarized his Mechanix Illustrated road test article, "there isn't a better intermediate size car sold in the United States than the 1967 Rebel".

Other requirements caused increases in the price of all cars manufactured after 1 January 1968, including exhaust control systems to help reduce unburned hydrocarbon and carbon monoxide emissions.

American Motors repositioned the Rebel line to a more "family-oriented" direction and only the two-door SST model received a new simulated "louver" trim ahead of the rear wheel openings.

[40] The rear end of Rebel station wagons was mostly unchanged with the same C- and D-pillars as well as doors and side windows, but a new roof panel accommodated a longer 6-foot (1,829 mm) luggage rack and new wraparound vertical taillamps with backup lamps in the lowest segment.

AMC's "Shift-Command" three-speed automatic transmissions were optional, with the shifter on the steering column or mounted on a center console on SST models with bucket seats and any V8 engine.

[48] A Popular Science road test comparing six-cylinder intermediate-sized four-door sedans (Chevrolet Malibu, Ford Torino, and Plymouth Satellite) reported that the AMC Rebel was the quietest, offered the most interior space and trunk room, "yet burns less gas than the others.

The AMC Rebels also excelled "in freedom from mechanical troubles and workmanship complaints", with the magazine noting owners took "delivery of perfectly-put-together cars – quite a remarkable feat.

[52] The overall 1970 design continued into the 1971 model year with changes to taillights, hood, grille, front fenders, bumper, and valance panel along with the Rebel line being repositioned and renamed the AMC Matador.

During the 1967 model year, AMC issued a series of three versions of regionally marketed Rebel station wagons each with a unique appearance trim, and all included a package of power and convenience equipment.

[56] Each featured a distinctive interior and exterior trim: Each version included the color-coordinated upholstery and door panels, individually adjustable reclining seats, a sports steering wheel, as well as the 91 cubic feet (2.6 m3) of carpeted cargo room, a locking hidden compartment, and a roof rack.

[59] The objective of this exclusive offering at a tempting price was to get potential customers curious enough to visit dealer showrooms to possibly buy it or provide the salesperson with the opportunity to sell them a different one.

[68] For the 1968 season, a new car was built and renamed the Grant Rebel SST and painted in the new hash red, white, and blue AMC corporate racing colors.

[67] In 1968, Ron Rosenberry drove the King Rebel of Ted McOsker using a blown fuel Chrysler Hemi engine and had a known best of 9.58 seconds at 148.02 mph (238.2 km/h) in the quarter-mile dragstrip.

[73] American Motors' high-performance "halo" vehicle made its official debut on 25 October 1969, in Dallas, Texas; the site of the National Hot Rod Association's World Championship Drag Race Finals.

[74] The introductory marketing campaign consisted of ten vehicles (five with automatics and five with four-speed manuals) that were driven from the factory in Kenosha, Wisconsin to Dallas, Texas and raced in the condition they arrived in.

[76] The automaker's marketing objective was for each AMC dealer to have one colorful Rebel Machine on display in their showrooms to lure non-AMC potential customers so they could be introduced to the other models.

[78] This was the most powerful in any AMC vehicle while retaining features required for normal street operations, as well as components to assure outstanding performance characteristics without incurring high-unit cost penalties.

Standard was a Borg-Warner T-10 four-speed manual transmission with a Hurst floor shifter backed by either 3.54:1 or 3.91:1 rear axle gear ratios in the "Twin-Grip" differential, as well as power disc brakes, wide E60x15 Goodyear Polyglas white letter tires mounted on "Machine" mag-styled steel 15-inch (381 mm) x 7-inch (178 mm) wheels, and a black interior with bucket seats and a center armrest upholstered in red, white, and blue vinyl.

[83] Advertisements in magazines such as Hot Rod teased that The Machine is not as fast as a 427 cu in (7.0 L) Chevrolet Corvette or a Chrysler Hemi engine, but it will beat a "Volkswagen, a slow freight train, or your old man's Cadillac.

"[86] An optional "service kit" for $500.00 increased horsepower to well over 400 hp (298 kW; 406 PS) and lowered its quarter-mile drag strip times from 14.4 with the factory Autolite carburetor (and standard rear-wheel hop behavior at maximum acceleration from standing) to 12.72 seconds.

The Rebel Machine's distinctive paint job, rakish nose-down attitude and obvious performance characteristics lets the supercar buyer express his identity, or, in the words of today, 'Do your own thing'.

The cars had right-hand drive (RHD) and were partially built with the engine, transmission, front suspension, rear axle, and doors installed in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

Right-hand drive four-door Rebel sedans were assembled by Campbell Motor Industries (CMI) in Thames, New Zealand, from semi-knock-down kits sourced from Kenosha.

As with Australia, the sedans were built at the AMC plant with right-hand drive controls, engine, transmission, front suspension, rear axle, and doors already installed.

Some UK models were additionally fitted with a locally-built plywood instrument cluster fascia with a walnut veneer which included a hinged door for the cavity where otherwise the "Rambler" plate was affixed.

After evaluating the situation of social unrest within the U.S. and the model name's associated connotations of rebellion, "American Motors officials decided that it was no time to be selling a car called Rebel.