Like shaking hands with your clone - Chris Hawley's 1979 AMX

I couldn't believe my eyes. In the five years I've been at Hemmings, I've attended nearly every one of our bi-weekly cruise-ins, and not once have I ever seen another AMC Spirit, let alone another 1979-1980 Spirit AMX. And of all the AMC shows I've attended, I've never seen another Spirit AMX in Firecracker Red. But there, among the throngs of collector cars at our cruise-in tonight, sat a 1979 AMX in Firecracker Red with a black interior. And it turns out the owner - who happens to have bought the car new - lives not 15 minutes from Hemmings HQ.

The owner, by the way, is Chris Hawley of Arlington, Vermont, who has put only 50,000-some miles on the AMX and has only ever replaced the battery and the tires. That's it. The paint, interior and 304 V-8 remain totally original. I think he was also a little taken aback when I told him I'm building the exact same car, save for the engine. Looks like I'm going to have to make several visits now, for reference purposes, of course.

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