What is wrong with me? (AMC Gremlin content)

I kinda want this.

Gremlin on eBay

I am not affiliated in any way... but if that were challenge budget money I would own it.

Not a damn thing

Hell's yeah! (Says the Hornet owner )

Here's a baby blue one for far less. I could "hold" it for you

Both of those cars look exactly like the first car ever drove with a stick on the floor (I had driven three-on-the-tree before).

I was a fifteen year old freshman and didn't have my license yet. One of the cheerleaders let us borrow the car to run to the store before a football game. I got to drive "because I knew how to drive a stick". I figured it out on the way home. There was no gear pattern on the knob and I was surprised at how slow the car was off the line. As it turns out, I had mistakenly though it was a four speed when it was only a three, so I was only using second and third.

That's really my only fond memory of Gremlins, though I still have fond memories of the cheerleader.

Nothing wrong with that, although I prefer the small bumper cars. I like early Pintos also.

Wickedawesome.

I call BS!...

There is no such thing as a Gremlin, they are like unicorn they don't really exist!

(Mofo proceeds to sell his kidney to come up with money for said unicorn)

I remember riding in a co-worker's Gremlin rental car. What really stuck out, literally, was the dashboard and all it's HUGE gaps and mis-matched panels. The rest of the car....? But that dash, it looked like it was put together by Helen Keller, AFTER she died.

Looking back now, it's hard to believe how radical the Gremlin was when it was launched.

racerdave600 wrote: Looking back now, it's hard to believe how radical the Gremlin was when it was launched.

All of AMC's cars were pretty radical. The Gremlin was the first US built sub-compact and the first car to have an extreme hatch like that. Now most cars do (VW, Mazda 3, etc). The 73 Hornet was the first fastback with a hatch (Camaro/Firebird, Mustang all followed). The Hornet was also the first compact wagon, the Sportabout. The Eagle, Concord, and SX/4 brought AWD and 4WD to normal cars (you're welcome Subaru). AMC was the first to offer seatbelts standard and the first injection-molded safety dash (68 Javelin). The Grand Wagoneer was the original luxury SUV. Heck, even their advertising was way ahead of it's time! AMC touted a 2-year comprehensive warranty when there was no such thing (you're welcome Hyundai). It really is too bad they didn't make it.

Right after getting married, I had to sell my 442(the new bride ruined the 4 speed trying to learn to drive stick) and we bought a new '71 Gremlin X off the showroom floor. It had a 232-6, automatic, and was a nice little car, decent seats and plush carpeting.IIRC, it stickered for something like $2300. It had ample room inside(although I was 'smaller' then)factory wheels and wide D-70-14. Remember, this was at the height of the muscle car craze. My buddies thought I was nuts, but even then, with gas under $0.50/gal., it was nice to fill the 20 gallon tank and drive for two weeks or better, instead of filling up every 3 days. Winter traction was almost nonexistent, even with good snows, and I still remember the feeling I got traveling on Interstate 90 @60mph or so, hitting some black ice on a bridge and doing a 360( in traffic). I never left my lane or lifted, and from the outside it probably looked awesome as the car swapped ends and kept on going-but it was a whole different story on the inside of the car! Two years later, during the "Gas Crisis", I sure looked smart. While I don't miss Mrs.Mini part 1, I sure miss that car

Although I haven't embraced the Gremlin, I certainly have had a sip or two of the AMC kool-aid. I'd love a resto-rod Sportabout wagon

This could be the starting point. . .

My dad did halfway decent in Krata Slalom in K-town Germany with a Gremlin back in the 70's. Actually beating Vettes.

My very first car as a '68 Ambassador, an ex-detective car I got from my grandfather. It was fairly quick up to about 70mph, then the front end went airborne from the lift! That and the 10mpg fuel consumption saw my dad sell it for a Mazda GLC. Of course by then I had started my long string of barely running MG's and Triumphs! Still, i remember the AMC with fondness. It had a HUGE backseat, always good in HS.!

P71 wrote:

racerdave600 wrote: Looking back now, it's hard to believe how radical the Gremlin was when it was launched.

All of AMC's cars were pretty radical. The Gremlin was the first US built sub-compact and the first car to have an extreme hatch like that. Now most cars do (VW, Mazda 3, etc). The 73 Hornet was the first fastback with a hatch (Camaro/Firebird, Mustang all followed). The Hornet was also the first compact wagon, the Sportabout. The Eagle, Concord, and SX/4 brought AWD and 4WD to normal cars (you're welcome Subaru). AMC was the first to offer seatbelts standard and the first injection-molded safety dash (68 Javelin). The Grand Wagoneer was the original luxury SUV. Heck, even their advertising was way ahead of it's time! AMC touted a 2-year comprehensive warranty when there was no such thing (you're welcome Hyundai). It really is too bad they didn't make it.

If I'm not mistaken, I believe that Nash (Rambler) were the first mass-produced American unibody cars...that was cutting edge stuff in the early 1940s.

During my youth my parents had 3 or 4 Ramblers. 2 Classic wagons, a Classic 4dr, & a 2dr American. All the classics had 6 cyl. engines & it seems the Amrican had a flathead 4 or 6. The best think about these cars for me at that time was that they all had reclining front seats. With the wagons you could fold the rear seats,recline the fronts & have a playpen that was essenitally flat from dashboard to tailgate.

My mom also had a few Ramblers, and when I was a teen, a few buddies had Gremlins. All 6 cyl/3 spd standards. I liked them a lot, especially the first few years.

The Hornet, and early Javelins, are pretty cool, and I would probably buy a Spirit AMX if i found the right deal.

I had a 71 Ambassador with a 360. It was pretty fast for a huge boat. In the 90's, my best friend had a Concord wagon, with rims, exhaust, limo tint, furry dash, etc. We called it the Conquistacord.

One of my high school buddies had a '58 Rambler American. Blew up the puny six, and we all got together and dropped a 289 SBF in it. 4 speed. The original rear end lasted 2 weeks, replaced with a 9". Loud pipes, was probably not as fast as it sounded, but was a royal blast. Lightness + power= goodness. My first swap.

I have had alot of history with AMC cars. My father bought a 1960 Rambler Station wagon with I-6. My sister's first car was the 1970 Gremlin also with the "big six" 232 cid. My father later bought a 1976 Hornet again with the I-6. My sister's future husband bought a used 1963 Rambler with the 327 V-8, 3 spd manual W/overdrive. That was a neat car. We took it on a fishing trip one time, had a 14 ft boat upside down on the roof of the car and got 27 mpg with it! Had friends with a 1968 AMX w/390 V-8, another with a 1972 Javelin with a 360 V-8. The problem with all these cars here in the midwest is RUST! They are no more, or at least very few left.

STS_ZX2 wrote: If I'm not mistaken, I believe that Nash (Rambler) were the first mass-produced American unibody cars...that was cutting edge stuff in the early 1940s.

Yup, and it looks exactly like you would expect a car designed by a refrigerator manufacturer (nash-kelvinator) to look.

They're like an upside-down bathtub with wheels attached.

Shawn

STS_ZX2 wrote:

P71 wrote:

racerdave600 wrote: Looking back now, it's hard to believe how radical the Gremlin was when it was launched.

All of AMC's cars were pretty radical. The Gremlin was the first US built sub-compact and the first car to have an extreme hatch like that. Now most cars do (VW, Mazda 3, etc). The 73 Hornet was the first fastback with a hatch (Camaro/Firebird, Mustang all followed). The Hornet was also the first compact wagon, the Sportabout. The Eagle, Concord, and SX/4 brought AWD and 4WD to normal cars (you're welcome Subaru). AMC was the first to offer seatbelts standard and the first injection-molded safety dash (68 Javelin). The Grand Wagoneer was the original luxury SUV. Heck, even their advertising was way ahead of it's time! AMC touted a 2-year comprehensive warranty when there was no such thing (you're welcome Hyundai). It really is too bad they didn't make it.

If I'm not mistaken, I believe that Nash (Rambler) were the first mass-produced American unibody cars...that was cutting edge stuff in the early 1940s.

Chrysler Airflow?

I bough an Ambassador with a stripped timing gear real cheap. Only 8 bent valves. Should have done the rings at the same time. Nice car, my wife loved it. I also had a '73 Gremlin X, fun car except for the leaky valve seals.

390 bolts right in.

What is wrong with you?

racerdave600 wrote: My very first car as a '68 Ambassador, an ex-detective car I got from my grandfather. It was fairly quick up to about 70mph, then the front end went airborne from the lift! That and the 10mpg fuel consumption saw my dad sell it for a Mazda GLC. Of course by then I had started my long string of barely running MG's and Triumphs! Still, i remember the AMC with fondness. It had a HUGE backseat, always good in HS.!

Huge back seats aren't always needed. You and the girl just have to be limber.

i have a 66 rambler 4 door with a 3 on the tree.... my parnets had 78 concord brand new, my dad 3 gremlins, one his sisters totoled, one fell apart and traded for conoard, the trird gremlin he totaled. had a 81 spirt that hew blew the motor in...i really loved that cars though and wish he still had it....also he has a 68 amx for years that i really want to drive....sigh the kid up the street has sevral gremlins, a few concords, his old man had a pair of ramblers sitting in the yard for years, a couple of matadors, him and my dad demoed a fast back matador once also. i have onwed a eagle, a jeep pickup, and my rambler...