Car club president keeps AMCs revving

By Bill McCleery | bill.mccleery@indystar.com

Joe Fougerousse became interested in cars at an early age.

"I was mechanically inclined when I was young," said the 47-year-old Geist-area resident. "I used to take things apart all the time."

Fougerousse is president of the Hoosier AMC Club, a statewide club of car hobbyists. Members are loyal to cars made by American Motors Corp.

Fougerousse, a 1977 Mount Vernon High School graduate, started out driving Chevrolets but said he gradually converted to AMC products.

American Motors Corp. formed in 1954 as a merger between Nash-Kelvinator and Hudson car companies. During the 1960s, many of the company's cars were produced under the Rambler nameplate. In the 1970s and '80s, the company dropped the Rambler name as it produced such models as Gremlins, Hornets and Eagles.

The company went out of business in 1987. One of its brands, Jeep, survives as part of DaimlerChrysler Corp.

"I like AMCs because they're different," Fougerousse said. "Not everybody owns one. If I go to a car show, I'm usually the only one in an AMC."

Fougerousse is a muscle-car guy. His most prized cars are a green 1968 Rebel convertible, a yellow 1968 AMX and a red 1971 Javelin -- all with V8 power.

His wife, Debi, claims the Javelin as hers. "She comes out here and polishes on it all the time," Fougerousse said.

Debi Fougerousse serves on the board of directors of the AMC Club.

The Fougerousses have two daughters -- Dana McConnell, 23, and Deann Simmons, 21. Every year, they accompany their dad to a Father's Day car show in Noblesville.

A fellow club member said Fougerousse's role is important.

"He dedicates a lot of time to it," said Pete Vaughn, 41, rural Boone County. "(We all want) to see the cars get preserved. Plus it's like having another family. . . . It's a good hobby, and it's a good bunch of people."

For more information about the Hoosier AMC Club, visit the national AMC Web sites: the American Motors Owners Association at www.amonational.com or the National AMC Rambler Car Club at www.amcrc.com