When was the last time you read about an AMC product? If you’re not a hardcore AMC fan, we know it’s been a minute. Kyle Cimbron and his dad Paul (Kyle calls him “Pops”), have been working on this ’70 AMC Hornet ever since Kyle picked it up off Craigslist for $2,000. The car had a straight six-cylinder in it when he bought the car, but all Cimbron saw was a drag car ready to come out.

Cimbron actually hid the car until he found the right time to tell his wife he’d bought it. That didn’t go over well. However, what has gone over well is the gathering of parts – well, for the most part. AMC people are a little weird; even AMC people acknowledge this. Cimbron’s dad has a ’68 AMX so he knew he couldn’t commit automotive sacrilege by installing a brand-X engine. Therefore, he scrounged around and found a 401 that needed going-through as a basis for the build.

The 401 was a little crusty, but Carlquist Competition Engines brought it back to life as a 13.0:1 compression, 405ci combination with Molnar rods, Wiseco pistons, Edelbrock Performer RPM heads, Indy intake, and a Quick Fuel Technology 850 cfm carburetor. On the engine dyno, the 405 made 581 horsepower at 7,000 rpm and 517 ft-lbs of torque. “It makes 491 ft-lbs of torque by 4,500 rpm,” Cimbron says. Behind the 405 is a Tony Apuzzo-built 727 transmission; while out back there’s a Cal-Trac-equipped nine-inch with Strange Engineering 35-spline axles, Pro nodular center section and spool, and a 4.10 gear. TeixeiraFab out of Fall River, Massachusetts performed the rear leaf spring relocation and will also handle the cage work when the time comes.

Cimbron’s home track is New England Dragway, and his plan is to run the Hornet in a few index classes, and possibly in NEDX275, which is the track’s X275-type class. He needs to get the Hornet down to fighting weight since his combination (small block nitrous on a 4150 carb) is allowed to weigh in at 2,550. Kyle plans to use a Nitrous Outlet Stinger plate nitrous kit.

Cimbron also owns a ’92 Laser AWD that has run 10.19 at 139 mph, but driveline issues are ever-present on that car. And he owns a 12-second Fox Mustang that he’s had since he was 13. He simply wanted to build something different, and we think he’s accomplishing exactly that with this Hornet.