Chevrolet and Ford were about to enter the U.S. subcompact car market in 1970. Not to get left behind – and owing to their limited resources – American Motors set their sights on what would be the Gremlin. They took their new Hornet compact, cut 12 inches out of the wheelbase, and gave it an abrupt fastback look. While not a subcompact in the strictest sense (it had an inline-6 engine rather than an I-4), AMC would sell more than 671,000 copies through 1978. This ’72 edition has the optional small-block V8, but the overall vehicle will need a lot of work. The car is available here on craigslist for $6,500 and may soon be in Portland, Oregon.
The Gremlin was a car with both a strange name and odd looks. But it got the job done, especially if you wanted a smaller car that wasn’t a tin 4-banger. While the auto didn’t deliver quite the same savings at the fuel pump as the others, you could stuff more things into a Gremlin and it was initially priced well under $2,000, right in the same territory as the Detroit newcomers, VW Beetle, and Japanese imports. The Gremlin also hit the market six months before the Ford Pinto and Chevy Vega, giving AMC a bit of a head start.
Quickly added to the options list was a 304 cubic inch V8, nothing that any of the competitors could boast. I suspect that addition made the Gremlin a bit front-end heavy, but I’ve never read any negative reports. As the story goes, this ’72 Gremlin has been in the same blended family since the 1980s. It was driven then by the lister’s brother-in-law’s mother. It has since been passed along to the brother-in-law who wants to sell it but is unsure whether Southern Oregon is the best place or to bring it to Portland where a bigger collector market may be.
We’re told that the V8 has been confirmed as original to the car (but no photo). The machine does not run, needing freeze plugs at a minimum before trying it out. Parts of the interior have been redone and the body has been partially prepared for new paint, with some of it down to bare sheet metal. A sunroof is present, but it was installed by the dealer, not the factory. This may be a solid Gremlin to bring back, though Hagerty suggests that $4,800 is the average price for one of these in “fair” condition.
Is this AMC 304 CID V8 Gremlin painted Big Bad Blue? Was that offered in this series? I see the ‘lower shelf’, so it has A/C – or had it. Those white seats and black carpet look sharp with the blue…imagine this car on the day it sold new.
The Gremlin was nose heavy, six or V8 in it.
The weight distribution was horrible – I think it was more than 70 percent on the front wheels. Popular Science tested a Gremlin X against a few premium-dress subcompacts (don’t remember if they were Japanese or domestic) and Norbye and Dunne reported that poor rear traction interfered with both acceleration and braking.
It WAS nose-heavy even with a 6! Any sharp turn of the steering wheel and the rear end would wig-wag so badly it would just about lose control. I had a 1970 3 speed and wrecked it twice with poor handling. It was the worst car I ever owned. Sold it in less than a year.
Got a chance to drive a gremlin with the 304 (it was the Levi’s jeans edition with seats that looked like jeans). It was scary fast after I gave it a tune-up. Never forgot it to this day.
Anything that handed like this seems fast. Always does when you’re outta control HhhhaaAa
lots of missing parts, lots of work. Rear hatch glass likely broken,common issue with the frame around the glass. Then there is the freeze plugs.hmmm. Did they rust from age or did a cold winter and poor antifreeze do them in and likely something else. bare metal here and there is nice for even more problems if not addressed right away. A shipping nightmare if your not in the general vicinity. Even Hagerty’s fair price is absurd to me for a mediocre car that needs everything plus more. I guess an AMC nut will see it differently. Not to be mean but these are like Chevettes, Pintos, and other lackluster vehicles from long ago. Not everything old is gold. Some are just old things.
I can see the glass , and they are more durable than you think. My74 got rear ended by a drunk driver so hard it curled the rear quarter up to the hatch glass , which just popped open- no breakage!
Yeah I just don’t get it… You can go to Maple Motors. From like 15k to 30k get a really nice car and that’s with a dealer adding on their cut. So these rusty bones people are throwing serious cash at …. Just WOW … I guess I should clean out my junkyard lol
I will confirm as an AMC Gremlin X owner that the “H” in the vin is for the 304. A picture of the engine would be nice.
This could be a factory sunroof. AMC offered the ‘Fun in the Sun’ promotion, a free sunroof, in the spring of 1971 and 1972. Don’t think they did these as dealer installs, but maybe someone who worked at a dealership back in that period could comment.
Also, Randall AMC in Mesa, AZ did factory authorized transplants of the 401 V8, as a substitute for the 1969 Hurst SC/Rambler, as the only thing like that from Kenosha was the 1971 Hornet SC360. And the AMX had become somewhat of a heavy turd by then. That Gremlin 401 was a bit of an uncontrollable machine!!!
They where junk off the show room floor pop cans
Really? I learned from friends who owned Gremlins that they w-e-r-e pretty cool cars, right from the showroom.
Did you have one? I did, bought it new in ’74 and used it hard for a long time. Just like a Timex, took a lickin’ and kept on tickin’. I don’t think they were junk at all.
A friend of mine had 1 with a tired 304 which he pulled out & replaced it with a 401 V-8,& a 727 Trans,MN that car would fly !:
Hey Dogwater–they were way better than that Mustard colored VEGA you owned.
Wonder who scraped all the paint off? Ridiculous attempt at unnatural “patina.” Super cool Gremlin if the sunroof doesn’t leak. Wish the pictures were just straightforward 3/4 view. Need pics of the engine as others have said. Something tells me if this was stored in a relative’s garage, some other family member got ahold of it to do the dirty deed with a grinder with no thought to how this adds to the surface rust.
Very strange choice of lens( wide-angle) to take these pictures. The whole car looks cartoonish.
Junk? Yeah, but still better than Vega or Pinto. I had friends with all three.
Well … the claim to fame is that it beat the stellar Pinto and Vega to market. Battle of the finest in automotive engineering. Even the fact that some marketing exec decided “Gremlin” was the ideal name for a car model speaks volumes.
I had a 1971 Gremlin -x with the straight six, 3 on the floor and roof rack. Bought it slightly used in 1972 for $2000 and sold it in 1979 for $900. It never needed anything but routine maintenance. I believe weight distribution was around 60-40 (as opposed to 55-45 in many cars) so you could spin out even with the 6, I forget if it was the 199 or the 232 CID version. Years later they changed the AMC straight 6 to 258 (4.2) and the Jeep 4.0. I put a couple cinder blocks in the trunk in the winter for better traction on ice.
Gremlins were in a class all their own. They were WAY BETTER than Pintos and Vegas! Although I like them too, the Gremlin gave you WAY MORE for your money AND – from the factory, gave you a complete range of engines to choose from! For MY money, I’ll take a Gremlin any day! Great article.
Not only a choice of proven engines (some decades-old technology, natch), but also a huge capacity fuel tank to make the driver think they were getting better mileage than they actually were. Back in those days, passing the gas station was an important marketing tool and they played that up in the showroom and on the dealer’s lot.
Bought a raggedy one in ’81.Straigtened out the wiring Gremlins, added 275 lbs in the rear, (pig iron), and embarrassed more than a few Corvettes at the lights.
Sad days for Corvettes when they made 200 HP.
It would make an interesting Brat-type pick-up mini truck. I might put a Lexus V6 swap from early RWD 400C. To address the weight distribution issues. Going lighter especially in old cars is always a good option if the option exists. This is not going to be at Pebble Beach. Do what you want with it. 30mpg+ on the highway easily possible with modern technology engine swap. Or restore the body to perfectly original, get a wrecked EV and do an entire drivetrain swap, which would also address balance and gas gulping problems without giving up performance.
They did make a prototype Gremlin with a drawer that pulled out like a pick up bed. A really small pickup bed. But would have been unique nonetheless.
AMC ruled my neighborhood in the 70s and 80s. Gremlins, Hornets, Pacers and a
Pacer X! Lol! “Desert cool”
On the control panel.
AMC ruled my neighborhood in the 70s and 80s. Gremlins, Hornets, Pacers and a
Pacer X! Lol! “Desert only” knob
on the Weather Eye control panel.
The color is Seaside Turquoise! Just texted my sister, she had a new one with the inline 6 and 3 on the floor. Hilarious, her first stick. She did finally get the hang of it! JC
And that canvas/vinyl roof was an AMC option, you have a unusual optioned car. My mom worked for an AMC dealer and we were only able to get those cars so I have a lot of stuff still stuck in my head. JC
It’s a sunroof
Surfside Tourquise! My sister and my niece were right up in my face about the correction! Enjoy the restoration, not something I want to take on. JC
Had a 77, 6 with a 3 on the floor. Broke the shifter trying to power shift it. Had problems with the electric system and brakes