This post is part of a series on some of the most memorable companies that have disappeared.

America loves an underdog. And for all its 33 years, American Motors Corporation (AMC) was clearly an underdog.

The American automobile company was formed on January 14, 1954, by the merger of the Nash-Kelvinator Corporation and the Hudson Motor Car Company, in an effort to challenge the "Big Three" automakers -- General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM), Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F), and Chrysler. At the time, it was the largest corporate merger in U.S. history, and the new carmaker became the steward of the popular Hudson Hornet and Nash Rambler lines.

After chairman George Romney retired from AMC in 1962 to run for governor of Michigan, the company struggled to come up with a way to compete with such popular "pony cars" such as the Ford Mustang. Sticking with its strengths in fuel economy, AMC introduced the Gremlin in 1970, its most popular car since the Rambler. The AMC Pacer followed in 1975. The Pacer was wider than Gremlin and featured fishbowl windows designed to eliminate blind spots. Unfortunately, it also had a bigger engine, which ran counter to trends during energy crisis of the mid 1970s. Some blame the Pacer's failure to catch on as the reason for the ultimate demise of the company.

Ford Motor Co. (NYSE:F) investors know that next week's fourth quarter results will be dreadful. The only question left is how bad.

Analysts are expecting the maker of the Escape and Mustang to post a loss of 97 cents on revenue of $34.67 billion on January 25, according to Thomson Financial. The bleeding is expected to continue this year, resulting in a loss of $1.52 per share.

How much patience is Wall Street going to give Chief Executive Alan Mullaly to turn the company around? Mullaly won high marks when he ran Boeing Co.'s (NYSE:BA) commercial aviation division. That's why Ford hired him in September.

James Brock, a professor of economics at Miami University in Ohio, told Bloomberg News in October, that "what people will be looking for is a sense that somebody is in charge, that there's a sense of credibility in that person.''

That's quite a tall order.

Ford, which expects to burn through $17 billion over the next three years, expects to return to profitability in 2009, according to the Wall Street Journal (subscription required). The company is slashing costs, cutting its work force and consolidating its dealer network.

During the recent analysts meeting, Mullaly said the company was ahead of schedule on its restructuring plan. Nonetheless, he sounded a cautious note, saying "Our No. 1 priority is to restructure ourselves in the near term," the Journal said.

Also check out some other earnings reports that we're following, and let us know your thoughts on earnings expectations.