The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 letter word CADILLAC
I've seen this crossword clue in The Daily Telegraph
C
A
D
I
L
L
A
C
More clues leading to the result CADILLAC
- Car maker designing software I call revolutionary
- Black bags and empty cases, originally, in car
- Scoundrel given bad account of car
- Scoundrel I summon up in US car
- Scoundrel sick to get bill for car
- Caught by commercial, I phone up for a car
- I will set down after nasty chap with current American car
- Rogue adversely starts to alter crops — part of GM industry?
- Scoundrel poorly air-conditioning luxury car
- Rogue I phone back to get car
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "American car" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case american car = cadillac.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.