The Last Independent Automaker (2025)
Season 1
The Last Independent Automaker covers the rise and fall of American Motors Corporation, a car company that employed hundreds of thousands of people and built millions of vehicles from 1954 to 1987.
Released May 1, 2025
Episode 28 min
None+
Genres: Documentary
Keywords: mdblist.has-trailer
Network: PBS
Country: United States
Languages:
English
S1E1 - The Missionary
The U.S. car market booms in the wake of World War II, until a price war between Ford and Chevrolet decimates competitors. American Motors Corporation is created through the merger of two smaller companies. To survive in an age of conspicuous consumption, president George Romney boldly bets the company’s future on a new niche: economy cars.
May 1, 2025, midnight
S1E2 - The NOW Cars
After saving American Motors, president George Romney launches a career in politics. His successor takes AMC upmarket, but struggles to capture young baby boomers who want faster, sportier “muscle cars.” In response, the company makes big changes to its products and public image.
May 8, 2025, midnight
S1E3 - The Odd Couple
American Motors’ unlikely management team launches a quirky new car to fight the growing wave of foreign imports in the U.S. Despite his colleague’s protests, CEO Roy Chapin Jr. buys the lackluster Jeep Corporation, leading AMC into the burgeoning four-wheel-drive market. A sudden oil shortage rocks the industry but boosts small car sales.
May 15, 2025, midnight
S1E4 - The Pacer
American Motors Corporation spends a fortune developing a futuristic new car called the Pacer. But things fall apart when its radical engine design can’t pass government pollution regulations, and customers are disappointed with its mediocre gas mileage. Meanwhile, internal politics tear the company apart as two men jockey for the CEO suite.
May 22, 2025, midnight
S1E5 - The Alliance
As the auto industry becomes increasingly diverse, Gerry Meyers becomes the youngest CEO of any American car company. To build a new fuel-efficient car, he partners AMC with French automaker Renault. But a disastrous national recession and second oil crisis threaten to destroy the partnership before the new car is ready.
May 28, 2025, midnight
S1E6 - The Betrayal
Despite award-winning new products, American Motors Corporation struggles to make a profit, frustrating its partnership with French automaker Renault. Rumors swirl as the French secretly negotiate to sell AMC to Chrysler Corporation. A terrorist assassination in France sparks a chain of events that leaves thousands of American workers betrayed. Yet, AMC lives on.
June 5, 2025, midnight
Watch Trailer
PBS
28 min/ep
168 min
May 1, 2025
June 5, 2025, midnight
Returning Series
NR
Action
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