Back in 1977 I purchased a used 1973 gremlin with 30,000 miles on it.. mine had the large straight 6 cylinder.. which was pretty peppy...had air condition... It was yellow with black racing stripes that came down the sides & bent up around the side rear window.. it had factory tinted glass which was actually pretty dark.. I had slightly larger wider rear tires on it and it handled fantastic for me... I had the opening rear window and rear fold down seat...loved my gremlin ❤️ My buddy purchased a 1977 gremlin x with the V8 engine.. he souped up the engine.. it had side pipes!! Jacked up in the back with big wide tires.. mag wheels..&TRACTION BARS . IN THE REAR.. he used to street race other cars and that gremlin was fast!
Had a friend with a Gremlins X, 304 V8 and a 4 speed, also a Levi interior. Say what you want but you couldn't get a more fun or cool car for your dollar. Great times!!!!!
The Gremlin's solid shell made it among the safest cars of the period. In the same crash testing that showed the Cavalier and Pinto to be explodmobiles with all occupants deceased, the Gremlin crash test dummies came out undamaged. With an already radical design for the time, If they had called it the "Kestrel" or anything that didn't immediately make a sizeable amount of people hate it on name alone, I think it would have been so least twice as successful.
These were way nicer than a Pinto or a Vega for not much more money. Decent room inside and more power with the 6 cylinder and good fuel mileage if you drove it easy.
I wonder how they handled compared to a Vega in particular. As horrible as the Vega's engine was (save for maybe the Cosworth), they were good handling cars, so I'm told.
Mine needed a distributor, starter, carb rebuild in one winter. Glove box door and back hatch both flopped around. I sold it to have $$$ to get married. $250... lol
Did anyone else notice that the rear driver side bumper was already bent down? they must've had a little fender bender. Love the light blue color/white stripe on this gremlin.
@@jamesveach6918 We had a purple one with white stripes growing up but the body was pretty rusty underneath and it had a leaky hatch back but it sure did run. We never had any mechanical issues with our Gremlin except the radiator had to get replaced. My father sold the Gremlin for $50 and bought a P.O.S. 72' Volkswagon station wagon. That thing was a lemon.
We had a 71 model, 6 cylinder and 3 speed manual. I got it as a hand me down, I was happy to have a set of wheels but didn’t care to much for it. But damn!! I wish I had that car now!!
My mom had a Gremlin and later a Hornet. Those 6 cylinders would run forever. To me the Gremlin gave up a lot of practicality, but wasn’t that much more fuel efficient than a sedan like the hornet that was more stable and had a more useable rear seat and trunk. Compared to a Pinto, Vega or Bug, though, the Gremlin seems like a decent car capable of accumulating high mileage.
They cut 12" out of the Hornet wheelbase. I wonder if it had been, say, only 8" shorter so that the back seat could have been marginally usable... would it have sold better & taken more sales from other makes?
Possibly. I’d guess they didn’t gain much gas mileage wise by going shorter, with the same frontal area and engines and similar rolling resistance as the Hornet. They must have really felt people wanted a short car. I had one of the original 2 seat AMX muscle cars, which was also odd. Quite a bit of open space behind the seats, but I guess it’s short wheelbase combined with torque and power is what made it appealing.
I drove a 77 Gremlin in my job delivering for a local chain called “RJ’s House of Pizza” in the summer of 79. Aside from its non-functional fuel gauge, it wasn’t a bad car. The location I worked at also used a 73 Comet with three-on-the-tree. That one was a very bad car.
I've had both and I would prefer a Gremlin over a Vomit/Maverick. Both had abominations for a rear seat- the Gremlins virtue was to fold it down and load through the hatch. A smaller more nimble vehicle. I hated that typical Ford "no road feel" in the steering.
@@merlemorrison1346They were made from leftover unfinished 1972 Gremlins and based on the "X" option package. The 401 V8 came off from the Ambassador. It came and went as a 1973 model and just 20 were finished. The 401 engine lasted to 1974. The Nash/Hudson V8 was at 360 cubes since 1970 and was built to 1978. The Chrysler 360 wedge-head V8 replaced it and the 232 straight-6 was replaced by an Audi 2.0-liter straight-4.
well mine got good gas mileage never failed to start and always got me where I needed to go and I kind of thought it was actually kind of sporty looking
My mom had a white one with red stripes in 79. I thought it was a cute little car back then. I don't remember the car having any problems. I wouldn't mind driving one today.
My parents bought a new Vega in the fall of 71. By 73 it was dead. They traded the two year old Chevy in , blowing blue smoke, on a new 73 Levi's Gremlin. They had it 6 years and no problems. Gremlins might not be pretty but they were good cars.
I like that they didn't dub lots of V8 engine and tire squealing noises in this film, unlike all the others. Was funny hearing hollywood sound effects on an XKe through Pinto and vega!
Aldo Overcomer Yes AMC was run by idiots. They had a 360, quick steering, HD suspension, four speeds, flip open quarter windows and a rear seat delete in their toy box. Instead they built the Matador Coupe
@@sammolloy1 the 304 powered gremlins , even in stock form would smoke the 6 cylinder powered models . I owned two 304 gremmies , and I blew away the sixes on a regular basis .
@@HowardJrFord My friend let me drive his 304 Gremlin and I was impressed with the performance. I had a 70 AMX 360 4-speed that was great fun. The Javelins, Hornets, Gremlins, all handled like a Jeep though. Too much ride height and under sprung. I swapped fr springs to lower the front, simple tricks to lower the rear, bigger sways bars, 15x8 wheels with BFG radial TAs and my AMX handled quite well and looked aggressive. All the AMCs need to be lowered.
The 401 AMC V8 was a bolt in with V8 mounts from a Hornet or Gremlin. So was a 4 speed. In the mid/late 1970's all you needed to do was fill up the gas tank and/or throw a concrete mix bag in the back, and you were chewing up the malaise with the amusement park bumpers without even trying. Only a Flying Chicken was a match for one.
My brother had an orange gremlin that I borrowed in highschool while I was rebuilding the engine in my Gran Torino . Slant six , 3 speed . If you tried to do a burnout , the rear end would just hop ! Seized the engine up one day , took a huge pipe wrench and unseized it . Drove off into the sunset ! Edit ; my mistake ! Straight 6 ! Those days were a blur !
Gremlin engineer: "We've got a great idea. Let's make a car that looks like a hatchback but has none of the convenience of one!" AMC exec: "Awesome, love it. When can we go into production?"
Actually the point of the Gremlin was to make a subcompact in the cheapest manner possible by heavily basing it off of the Hornet. Considering that more than 700,000 of the things were sold over eight years for only $6 million in development costs, that's not bad at all.
70 Series Tires the only thing that drove them out was GMC stopping work on a rotory engine or Wankel engine they also made the Jeeps for a time remember and they were profitable for AMC (also Audi May have stolen from AMC as some have said before)
A high school buddy of mine was given red '72 by his Mom. Not only was it fugly as hell, but it felt like it was put together with Scotch Tape and a stapler. In an era when it wasn't uncommon for high school kids to be seen driving everything from Corvettes to Pontiac GTOs, this dog felt like it had a ton of rocks in the trunk,and rattled like it too. I haven't seen one of these rust-buckets for years and I'm grateful for that.
Hilarious on a test track , not cool at all in the real world. It's fun to watch these and note the worst characteristics, I think of was the 67 Impala that almost ground off the chrome rocker trim because what a whallowey boat !
Drove a V8 Gremlin to the Dead at Alpine Valley a couple times in 1987 and 88. Remember missing my exit to South 55 like three times! Lol was a bit trippin and just kept on the Loop and a half hour or so later I'd get another chance! Lmao! Five long-haired dorks in bell bottoms jammed in that car like sardines, the night sky with clouds lit from underneath boiling like metal-flake paint in a can! 😄
It's fashionable among people who have never seen or been in an AMC car and know nothing about them to ridicule them. The Vega and the Pinto were pieces of junk that were put to shame by the Gremlim.
Did AMC realize that the definition of 'Gremlin' means this? "An imaginary mischievous sprite regarded as responsible for an unexplained problem or fault, especially a mechanical or electronic one?" Guess AMC didn't take the time to look up the word to get the proper meaning.
I had a friend with one and it was a manual trans but it had a kickdown passing gear if you floored it. I have no idea how it worked but it was quick for a straight 6.
It's a overdrive transmission. My Studebaker has the same setup. It's manual transmission with an "automatic" overdrive. You run it up though the gears like any manual transmission, then when you are in top gear and want to shift you let your foot off the gas and the car will shift into overdrive. If you stomp on the gas it will downshift, just like an automatic.
"on the good side of the ledger, it's heavier than it's competition" This thinking that heavier small cars are better is what doomed Detroit against imports. 4:47
I grew up around car clubs. My friend had a blue or purple and white striped Gremlin with the slant six and a column shifter. He was deaf..Often he would leave the game rooms we hung out at burning rubber. Sometimes the police would pull him over and let him go or he would get the ticket dropped in court.Good times.
I saw a movie about Gremlins one time...you better read the owners manual and not wash or feed it after the specified hours...they might turn into a real car and/or a Pacer!
FYI During the slalom test @ 1:45-1:50 the combination of squeezing tires and a lugging engine, you can hear a symphonic groaning. If you listen with earbuds.
10 seconds to 60 doesn't sound impressive, but a Vega or Pinto took about 16. Against the self-destructing Vega and Flammable Pinto, the Gremlin was actually the safest choice, although you'd still have been better off with a Datsun or Toyota.
10 sec to 60 it's pretty respectable for a six-cylinder automatic. So is 150 horsepower...
4 года назад
Only time i was in a gremlin was as a 7 yr old kid - was going downhill (on ice) and started doing 360's ALL THE WAY DOWN - we 2 kids were enjoying it Mother of other kid ..not so much....
I JUST BOUGHT A GREMLIN X SCALE MODEL KIT FROM AMT . IT IS NOT A BAD LOOKING HOTROD. MAYBE AMC SHOULD HAD A BETTER HIGH PERFORMANCE VERSION LIKE CHEVYS SS,AND RS. IT WOULD BE THAT MORE COLLECTIBLE
Even rarer was for Lindemann to use manual cars for tests...especially in low powered cars that were better suited versus an auto slush box. People who were looking for economy also were aware of better mpg with a manual gearbox so may of these were bought with them. But he mentions the A/C instead... You could knock of at least a second for 0-60, maybe more depending on the transmission.
These brake tests are hilarious! Locking them up from 70mph and let it slide! You’re supposed to modulate non-ABS, pump them to maintain your line and reapply without skidding. What were they doing lol.
Back in 1977 I purchased a used 1973 gremlin with 30,000 miles on it.. mine had the large straight 6 cylinder.. which was pretty peppy...had air condition... It was yellow with black racing stripes that came down the sides & bent up around the side rear window.. it had factory tinted glass which was actually pretty dark.. I had slightly larger wider rear tires on it and it handled fantastic for me... I had the opening rear window and rear fold down seat...loved my gremlin ❤️
My buddy purchased a 1977 gremlin x with the V8 engine.. he souped up the engine.. it had side pipes!! Jacked up in the back with big wide tires.. mag wheels..&TRACTION BARS . IN THE REAR.. he used to street race other cars and that gremlin was fast!
Dad had 1 with the 258,would lay tire as long as you wanted!
Mother had a Levi's edition. Thing was a tank. Would not die. I know.. I tried. All I have to say is the Levi RIVETS would light you up in the summer.
I remember one summer we rode in one of my mom's friend's car and it had denim seats with rivets and they burned you.
Hah! This is funny right here! Lol
I'm guessing it was the 6 cylinder?
Had a friend with a Gremlins X, 304 V8 and a 4 speed, also a Levi interior. Say what you want but you couldn't get a more fun or cool car for your dollar. Great times!!!!!
These cars were well built and carried the best factory warranty in the business. At a base price of $1800 it was cheaper than a Volkswagen Beetle.
The Gremlin's solid shell made it among the safest cars of the period.
In the same crash testing that showed the Cavalier and Pinto to be explodmobiles with all occupants deceased, the Gremlin crash test dummies came out undamaged.
With an already radical design for the time, If they had called it the "Kestrel" or anything that didn't immediately make a sizeable amount of people hate it on name alone, I think it would have been so least twice as successful.
As for the warranty, they cut the deck off the hornet, so they had 25% less car to warranty. Lol
These were way nicer than a Pinto or a Vega for not much more money. Decent room inside and more power with the 6 cylinder and good fuel mileage if you drove it easy.
I wonder how they handled compared to a Vega in particular. As horrible as the Vega's engine was (save for maybe the Cosworth), they were good handling cars, so I'm told.
Yes they got very good gas mileage I drove with mine across the country and back
Mine needed a distributor, starter, carb rebuild in one winter. Glove box door and back hatch both flopped around. I sold it to have $$$ to get married. $250... lol
You actually got a real car out of it too. A 1950's Nash.
Did anyone else notice that the rear driver side bumper was already bent down? they must've had a little fender bender. Love the light blue color/white stripe on this gremlin.
Yeah I saw that too
That panic stop at 70MPH made the car look awesome,like it was is some action movie.
I had a new '71. It was a very good little car. Wouldn't mind finding one and restoring it.
I agree. My mom had a white one with red stripes. I thought it was a cute little compact car back then.
I agree with you I wish I still had mine one of the best running little cars I ever had
@@jamesveach6918 We had a purple one with white stripes growing up but the body was pretty rusty underneath and it had a leaky hatch back but it sure did run. We never had any mechanical issues with our Gremlin except the radiator had to get replaced. My father sold the Gremlin for $50 and bought a P.O.S. 72' Volkswagon station wagon. That thing was a lemon.
We had a 71 model, 6 cylinder and 3 speed manual. I got it as a hand me down, I was happy to have a set of wheels but didn’t care to much for it. But damn!! I wish I had that car now!!
I had 3 different Gremlins over the years. Loved 'em. The big AMC sixes could really haul those light cars around.
My mom had a Gremlin and later a Hornet. Those 6 cylinders would run forever. To me the Gremlin gave up a lot of practicality, but wasn’t that much more fuel efficient than a sedan like the hornet that was more stable and had a more useable rear seat and trunk.
Compared to a Pinto, Vega or Bug, though, the Gremlin seems like a decent car capable of accumulating high mileage.
They cut 12" out of the Hornet wheelbase. I wonder if it had been, say, only 8" shorter so that the back seat could have been marginally usable... would it have sold better & taken more sales from other makes?
Possibly. I’d guess they didn’t gain much gas mileage wise by going shorter, with the same frontal area and engines and similar rolling resistance as the Hornet. They must have really felt people wanted a short car.
I had one of the original 2 seat AMX muscle cars, which was also odd. Quite a bit of open space behind the seats, but I guess it’s short wheelbase combined with torque and power is what made it appealing.
I drove a 77 Gremlin in my job delivering for a local chain called “RJ’s House of Pizza” in the summer of 79. Aside from its non-functional fuel gauge, it wasn’t a bad car.
The location I worked at also used a 73 Comet with three-on-the-tree. That one was a very bad car.
I've had both and I would prefer a Gremlin over a Vomit/Maverick. Both had abominations for a rear seat- the Gremlins virtue was to fold it down and load through the hatch. A smaller more nimble vehicle. I hated that typical Ford "no road feel" in the steering.
10.4 second 0-60 back then wasn't bad at all. Pinto and Vega were 16+ seconds.
saw one with a 401 and dual quads - built by the dealer in AZ (?) - nobody could accuse it of being slow
Duh, those both had 4 bangers and half the HP. Funny absolutely no mention of mpg in any of these videos, those 2 must have been about 50% more.
@@merlemorrison1346They were made from leftover unfinished 1972 Gremlins and based on the "X" option package. The 401 V8 came off from the Ambassador. It came and went as a 1973 model and just 20 were finished. The 401 engine lasted to 1974. The Nash/Hudson V8 was at 360 cubes since 1970 and was built to 1978. The Chrysler 360 wedge-head V8 replaced it and the 232 straight-6 was replaced by an Audi 2.0-liter straight-4.
@@angelperez7891 The V8 family was new for 1967, not related to the Nash V8, not related to the Chrysler V8.
Introduced on April Fools Day, 1970.
the 258 with a 3 speed was a good performer, my dad had one I drove some when in high school
The manual steering in these would build your arm strength.
Bash away, but I loved my gremlin. 👍
i loved my 72 gremlin was a great car
well mine got good gas mileage never failed to start and always got me where I needed to go and I kind of thought it was actually kind of sporty looking
Growing up we had a 72' also. That car was very reliable.
My mom had a white one with red stripes in 79. I thought it was a cute little car back then. I don't remember the car having any problems. I wouldn't mind driving one today.
I met Mr Chapin at the Hudson Essex Terraplane National meet in Dearborn Mi on 1979. Nice man , unfortunately wasn’t able to keep AMC going.
My parents bought a new Vega in the fall of 71. By 73 it was dead. They traded the two year old Chevy in , blowing blue smoke, on a new 73 Levi's Gremlin. They had it 6 years and no problems. Gremlins might not be pretty but they were good cars.
I like that they didn't dub lots of V8 engine and tire squealing noises in this film, unlike all the others. Was funny hearing hollywood sound effects on an XKe through Pinto and vega!
It’s hard to explain but I just love the terrible cars of my youth .
Did you love AMC cars also?
Norm
Yes in an ugly duckling kind of way although the AMX was actually a very cool car.
those cars were very robust
with a 304 3spd standard they could be fairly quick.
Not a whole lot quicker than the six. But the weight was farther back and they came with a sway bar so they actually cornered pretty well.
Aldo Overcomer Yes AMC was run by idiots. They had a 360, quick steering, HD suspension, four speeds, flip open quarter windows and a rear seat delete in their toy box. Instead they built the Matador Coupe
@@sammolloy1 the 304 powered gremlins , even in stock form would smoke the 6 cylinder powered models . I owned two 304 gremmies , and I blew away the sixes on a regular basis .
@@HowardJrFord My friend let me drive his 304 Gremlin and I was impressed with the performance. I had a 70 AMX 360 4-speed that was great fun. The Javelins, Hornets, Gremlins, all handled like a Jeep though. Too much ride height and under sprung. I swapped fr springs to lower the front, simple tricks to lower the rear, bigger sways bars, 15x8 wheels with BFG radial TAs and my AMX handled quite well and looked aggressive. All the AMCs need to be lowered.
The 401 AMC V8 was a bolt in with V8 mounts from a Hornet or Gremlin. So was a 4 speed. In the mid/late 1970's all you needed to do was fill up the gas tank and/or throw a concrete mix bag in the back, and you were chewing up the malaise with the amusement park bumpers without even trying. Only a Flying Chicken was a match for one.
Good reliable solid car, If I remember it had a huge fuel tank.
A great wheelie car also.
21 gallon tank , great during the gas crisis .
idk why but this car oozes 70s like no other for me
hal merch Yea but America was a nicer place back then.
My brother had an orange gremlin that I borrowed in highschool while I was rebuilding the engine in my Gran Torino . Slant six , 3 speed . If you tried to do a burnout , the rear end would just hop ! Seized the engine up one day , took a huge pipe wrench and unseized it . Drove off into the sunset ! Edit ; my mistake ! Straight 6 ! Those days were a blur !
Don't mix up a Chrysler 225 Slant six with an AMC 258 straight-6.
I think this is a great looking car for the 1970s, something a bit different from the road yachts. The Hornet looks nice too.
So we gave it the name of issues with something mechanical. Brilliant
I love these old films
It always reminded me of a low wheeled rollerskate.
Buddy of mine had one...coldest ac id ever experienced...lol..wish i had one
These are awesome...I want one.
1:53 - love that smoke blowing underneath- It's a feature!
Made famous by Damone in “Fast Times at Ridgemont High”
Gremlin engineer: "We've got a great idea. Let's make a car that looks like a hatchback but has none of the convenience of one!"
AMC exec: "Awesome, love it. When can we go into production?"
Actually the point of the Gremlin was to make a subcompact in the cheapest manner possible by heavily basing it off of the Hornet. Considering that more than 700,000 of the things were sold over eight years for only $6 million in development costs, that's not bad at all.
Although you have a point, remember, this design was without peer at the time. This was 50 years ago. 50 years ago... Innovators not imitators.
70 Series Tires the only thing that drove them out was GMC stopping work on a rotory engine or Wankel engine they also made the Jeeps for a time remember and they were profitable for AMC (also Audi May have stolen from AMC as some have said before)
@@sockshandle ...and not to mention the highest UAW wages (by far) in the industry at the time plus a strike that just did them in.
Hatchbacks did not exist in 1970. Innovative and ahead of its time.
A high school buddy of mine was given red '72 by his Mom. Not only was it fugly as hell, but it felt like it was put together with Scotch Tape and a stapler. In an era when it wasn't uncommon for high school kids to be seen driving everything from Corvettes to Pontiac GTOs, this dog felt like it had a ton of rocks in the trunk,and rattled like it too. I haven't seen one of these rust-buckets for years and I'm grateful for that.
Motorweek before Motorweek.
I loved my 1973 Gremlin in yellow with black stripes & interior
This was the first car I ever drove even without power steering it was an easy car to drive
I owned two of them very reliable cars . Had a javelin witch I wish I still had.
Not as slow as I'd have thought.
Those panic stops are terrifying.
Hilarious on a test track , not cool at all in the real world.
It's fun to watch these and note the worst characteristics, I think of was the 67 Impala that almost ground off the chrome rocker trim because what a whallowey boat !
Our 304 4spd ran 14s in qtr. We won class at Norwalk Raceway in the Class A Mini. Still have trophy.
Drove a V8 Gremlin to the Dead at Alpine Valley a couple times in 1987 and 88. Remember missing my exit to South 55 like three times! Lol was a bit trippin and just kept on the Loop and a half hour or so later I'd get another chance! Lmao! Five long-haired dorks in bell bottoms jammed in that car like sardines, the night sky with clouds lit from underneath boiling like metal-flake paint in a can! 😄
Gotta love an AMC Gremlin
like the sun roof
Most people who criticized the Gremmie never owned one.
Always loved the gremlin.
Love the hooning in these vids. You don't see that any more with new cars, professional or experience race drivers giving the beans
10 sec 0-60 is what a decent 4 cyl SUV does today.
It's what my Ford Fiesta does, it's 10.6 for those.
Remember The engines were choked by emissions regulations
@@roadtripboy what year is yours? my 2013 fiesta does 9 secs
@@fettywap_vevo It's a 2018. I haven't checked that time myself it's what cars.com says it does. I have the 1.6 and a powerflight transmission.
@@roadtripboy ohhh you're in europe i assume? im in the US where ours are four cylinder
They should have reviewed the Gremlin 401 XR...
They didn't want the Vega and Pinto too look bad.
I had one and I want one again
the classic Hot Hatch
ORIGINAL hot hatch!
Except it didn't actually have a hatch!
Love the music!
It's fashionable among people who have never seen or been in an AMC car and know nothing about them to ridicule them. The Vega and the Pinto were pieces of junk that were put to shame by the Gremlim.
The pinto was a solid car.
@@mrHoppedupford Until it blew up.
The gas cap was a big theft item
Only the optional one with the gremlin on it , no one took the cheap painted one . Liked the locking one.
Did AMC realize that the definition of 'Gremlin' means this? "An imaginary mischievous sprite regarded as responsible for an unexplained problem or fault, especially a mechanical or electronic one?" Guess AMC didn't take the time to look up the word to get the proper meaning.
You either love or hate this design, but at least you knew what it was from a distance.
Wouldn’t mind having one
Holy understeer, Batman!
The car that coined the phrase "Shit Box On Wheels"! Then the pinto and chevet came to challenge that claim!
I had a friend with one and it was a manual trans but it had a kickdown passing gear if you floored it. I have no idea how it worked but it was quick for a straight 6.
It's a overdrive transmission. My Studebaker has the same setup. It's manual transmission with an "automatic" overdrive. You run it up though the gears like any manual transmission, then when you are in top gear and want to shift you let your foot off the gas and the car will shift into overdrive. If you stomp on the gas it will downshift, just like an automatic.
The o official car for drunk Batman and Robin guys on Halloween night.
My dad had a dark blue w/ white " hockey" stripe 4 awhile when I was a kid...was good car at th time👍✌
Incredibly popular when the first came out. I’ve never seen a sun roof top
dflf The roof was made in England and “free” with an option package. The one I know of the car was made in Canada
Ours was a 72' and it had a sunroof.
70 - 0 in 218 feet? That car should have been banned as unsafe until they installed brakes on it.
2:10 is the bumper supposed to angle down like that?
"on the good side of the ledger, it's heavier than it's competition" This thinking that heavier small cars are better is what doomed Detroit against imports. 4:47
I grew up around car clubs. My friend had a blue or purple and white striped Gremlin with the slant six and a column shifter. He was deaf..Often he would leave the game rooms we hung out at burning rubber. Sometimes the police would pull him over and let him go or he would get the ticket dropped in court.Good times.
Does the Hornet/Gremlin share any platform structure with Javelin/AMX or Rambler American for that matter???
My father and I drove through 3 feet of Water in a 69 Gremlin...
'70. Introduced on April Fools Day, 1970.
I saw a movie about Gremlins one time...you better read the owners manual and not wash or feed it after the specified hours...they might turn into a real car and/or a Pacer!
Is it me or is that valve cover already dirty?
Bud probably let his sons use it for a few weeks
1:52 Why is it blowing smoke out the bottom? Did somebody disconnect the exhaust?
Cool-ass little car. Put a 401 In It and I'll take one!!
Randall AMC in mesa Arizona used to sell a brand new 1972 gremlin with a 401. right from there dealership.
Like these too.
does it come with rack of onion steering?
perryandy2 Rack and peanut steering.
2:50 "without any wheel spin or excessive tire wear...."
lol, who is writing this stuff?
Dude - this is 50 years old.
I had a yellow one. Three speed. I remember changing a starter in liquor store parking lot..two bolts.
FYI During the slalom test @ 1:45-1:50 the combination of squeezing tires and a lugging engine, you can hear a symphonic groaning. If you listen with earbuds.
10 seconds to 60 doesn't sound impressive, but a Vega or Pinto took about 16. Against the self-destructing Vega and Flammable Pinto, the Gremlin was actually the safest choice, although you'd still have been better off with a Datsun or Toyota.
AMC must have saw this as they reduced bore size on rear wheel cylinders by 1/16" for 1972 to reduce wheel lockup as they said...
These were imported to China and called the “ma gwai”
A guy I went to school wit n Ames Landis Robson or Rob for short parents had one and he used to drive it!! True story
My sister had a '74 hornet. It would smoke the tires! AC would freeze you out!
These were used quite a bit in dirt track racing. Bodies only, the rest was totally redone. We kept the body and trashed the rest,everything.
a 5 year old could have design this shape of car, wow..what was america thinking? that 70 mph panic stop was super scary stuff..
I remember the brake fade....
Man were can I junk one!!
10 sec to 60 it's pretty respectable for a six-cylinder automatic. So is 150 horsepower...
Only time i was in a gremlin was as a 7 yr old kid - was going downhill (on ice) and started doing 360's ALL THE WAY DOWN - we 2 kids were enjoying it Mother of other kid ..not so much....
saaawwwweet
I remember weird people bought those, I had a friend he had one ......strange person.
I JUST BOUGHT A GREMLIN X SCALE MODEL KIT FROM AMT . IT IS NOT A BAD LOOKING HOTROD. MAYBE AMC SHOULD HAD A BETTER HIGH PERFORMANCE VERSION LIKE CHEVYS SS,AND RS. IT WOULD BE THAT MORE COLLECTIBLE
Even rarer was for Lindemann to use manual cars for tests...especially in low powered cars that were better suited versus an auto slush box. People who were looking for economy also were aware of better mpg with a manual gearbox so may of these were bought with them. But he mentions the A/C instead... You could knock of at least a second for 0-60, maybe more depending on the transmission.
WTF with that rear bumper? lol
Did he say stopping from 70 mph took 248 feet, almost the length of a football field,
These brake tests are hilarious! Locking them up from 70mph and let it slide! You’re supposed to modulate non-ABS, pump them to maintain your line and reapply without skidding. What were they doing lol.
Amazing how far we have come since then.
@about 1:52 it looks like the transmission was smoking.
Perhaps replicating what many motorists would actually do in an emergency stop situation?
I recall a rumor of them being aerodynamic. I don't know.
Do you think they could've mounted the rear bumper straight? lol
Not bad considering the line worker was just back from a 6 Pack lunch.Lucky they didn't put the engine in the trunk
Gremlin X 304 3 spd. standard...was actually pretty decent for power.