the automaker's affairs. Unlike the then existing management at AMC, Evans freely criticized the leadership under George W. Romney "for failing to adjust to a changing market" and started to "shake things up in Kenosha" as solutions to the automaker's problems. Evans is credited with turning the company around from the strategy of matching the Big Three American automakers (General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler) nearly model for model that was promoted by Roy Abernethy. American Motors' struggled during 1966, a year that was considered to be "the biggest auto boom in history" and was counting on its redesigned 1967 models; however, Evans admitted one month before their introduction that "we are still very much in a questionable period." It was Evans who brought on the major changes by handpicking Roy D. Chapin Jr. as AMC's general manager. Evans was always encouraging the styling and engineering staff to do things differently - to try new ideas and find new ways to design and build cars. Evans even dropped hints that the automaker may try to compete with Volkswagen in the small-car field and stated that "We have to give the public cars that go beyond what the 'big three' gives them." In addition to stating that AMC's standard line of cars need to be as good or better than those offered by the bigger automakers, Evans emphasized developing "Personality cars" to attract and excite market segments, particularly the youth. Evans is credited as the champion for AMC to build a production versions of the concept cars that made up the "Project IV" showings designed to stimulate public interest in the automaker. Evans was particularly fond of the two-seat Vignale AMX show car that was smaller than the Ford Mustang and more like a Chevrolet Corvette rival, promoting for its production to all that he could. This was at a time when the automaker experienced falling earnings and had to skip the dividend payments to its shareholders for the fourth consecutive quarter. Evans saw opportunities for sporty AMC cars in the rapidly growing more youthful consumer market segments, as well as to shed its "economy-car image." The original idea of a two-passenger-only, high-performance sports car project came to life with Evans in the fall of 1966. He stated that AMC is proceeding "cautiously in a hurry." For example, the automaker was deliberating whether to build the AMX in fiberglass or steel; with