amc three wheeler

AMC Three-Wheeler – Wildfire Three-Wheeler

The first thing you might ask about the AMC three-wheeler is why it has two names? The reason is it is sold in Pakistan as a AMC and in the United States as a Wildfire.

AMC stands for Ammar Motor Company which is based in Karachi, Pakistan. AMC Started to build 3 Wheelers in 1990 and are still building them today.

Ammar Motor Company was sponsored by the Pakistani Government to make Three-Wheelers to eliminate noise and air pollution. Up until this time, Auto Rickshaws in Pakistan were nearly all two-stroke and they had a reputation for being noisy and polluting.

AMC come up with a Four-Stroke, Single cylinder, water-cooled 193cc engine, it has CDI ignition and a five-speed gearbox plus reverse. However, its top speed is only 60kph.

The AMC three-wheeler comes in 6 different models.

  • K-SL1: A fully enclosed 5 door vehicle.
  • K-SL2: A fully enclosed 4 door vehicle.
  • K-SL3: A 4-5 seater with open doors like Tuk Tuks but with a fold-down roof.
  • K-SL4: The same as the K-SL3 but with better interior.
  • K-SL5: A fully enclosed cab with a pickup truck type rear.
  • K-SL6: An open cab (no doors) with a pickup truck type rear.

The AMC is produced in Pakistan and China.

Why it had two Brand names?

A company in Steubenville, Ohio, United States started to import AMC three-wheelers from China and branded them under the company name which was Wildfire Motors. So in the USA they were called Wildfire.

In the US they sold two models the WF650-T and WF650-C the WF650-T was a pickup truck hence the T for truck and the C on the end of WF650-C as you might expect stands for car.

The U.S Department of Transportation registered both as a motorcycle. LTO take note there was no mention of a sidecar. Also, they were never regarded as tricycles and were allowed on national highways.

The AMC was sold as a Wildfire up until 2013 when the United States Environmental Protection Agency announced it was withdrawing approval for the Wildfire. The EPA say they believe the documents they received were ever incomplete or falsified. While this could be the case the fact that at the same time they withdrew approval for 74,000 petrol-powered on and off-road motorcycles plus all-terrain vehicles at the same time and every one of them was from China, one has to wonder if it was more to do with a fall out between the USA and China.

4 thoughts on “AMC Three-Wheeler – Wildfire Three-Wheeler”

    1. avatar of ed dougherty jr
      Ed Dougherty Jr

      Any luck I’m looking for anything websites groups parts etc what’ trans it has ( I have a bad trans). If you know anything scoop531 at aol.com

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