The Gremlin was the 1970s subcompact that American Motors created by lopping off some of the length of the compact Hornet. It was a bit quirky, but that didn’t seem to matter as more than 670,000 of them were built and sold between 1970 and 1978. The seller’s Gremlin is special in that it has had a 401 cubic inch V8, and a 4-speed manual dropped in for performance.
AMC never had the financial resources of the other U.S. automakers, so they made do as best they could. To compete against the imports and the new Ford Pinto and Chevy Vegas, they took an existing platform and created a smaller car. The Gremlin was the only auto in its class to have an inline-6 engine – and later a V8 was on the options list. The seller’s VIN decodes as having been built with a 304 V8 and a 3-speed manual transmission, so perhaps the infrastructure was there for the drivetrain swap.
We don’t know when this little car turned into a muscle machine but given its smaller size and light weight the 401 and 4-speed should get the job done nicely. The seller says it performs well and looks great except for some scratches and dings that you would expect for a 52-year-old paint job (original!). There is only a hint of rust on the car and the decals AMC applied back in the day are starting to fade. The hood was replaced with a raised version, but the seller has a spare original to go with the car.
The odometer reads under 35,000 miles, but is it that legit? We don’t know when the engine swap took place, so there’s no indication as to how well-used the little Gremlin is. But if the idea of a souped-up subcompact strikes your fancy, it’s in Knoxville, Tennessee, and only one bid of $20,000 has been placed (reserve unmet) here on eBay.
Saw a few of these “boulevard dragster” conversions “back in the day” that surprised us
A Detroit version of Colin Chapman’s idea of power – pounds = go fast!
Cool car, nice collection of paperwork, hard to guess value. Someone should swap out the the hood for stock and modern speed equipment for vintage components.
Steve R
You have to set up the car to please yourself, not the peanut gallery. What I have under the hood is only my business. If you really want it to look period correct, jack the back up and run some N50 bias ply tires, F70’s on the front and some yellow traction bars.
This is the only way that I would ever own a Gremlin, 401 and 4 speed. I can’t really see any modern day speed equipment under that giant air cleaner Steve. But I’m old school and have no problem with a nice 4 barrel carburetor and solid lifter camshaft.
The HEI distributor is modern, the valve covers probably are too and it looks like the intake manifold might be an Edelbrock Air Gap.
Steve R
The HEI distributor is 50 years old now. It came out on selected 1974 Cadillacs. Seems pretty vintage to me.
Jack M, AMC is not a GM product. Aftermarket HEI distributors became popular in the mid-2000’s, not the 1970’s.
Steve R
Thanks Steve R, I am well aware that General Motors had no input in the Gremlin. The HEI distributor came out in 1974. Hot rodders have been mixing and matching components from various manufacturers since returning home from World War II. You build your cars the way that you like and I will build mine the way I like.
But is the HEI here a cheap overseas one? I would carry the original distrib & wires in the “trunk”.
Geez, I dunno – a Gremlin with a 390 and a 5-speed stick would suit me pretty OK too.
I bought a Gremlin for my son and daughter when they were in high school. They were devastated, it was the exact of this one. As it turned all the kids loved their Gremlin, They were surprised and enjoyed their new level of cool. They had to guard the gas cap with their lives. If you have seen one, you know why.
The only time I would say take it back to factory or period correct is if the seller butchered the upgrade. This one looks really nice and seriously, would it be worth any more returned to original? Not a big fan of the Gremmie anyway. That drivetrain combination would be a lot cooler in a Javelin, IMHOP.
This looks like the perfect balance of too much and just enough. Nice body and stance. Looks right under hood. Racing from light is fine but the open road is where it’s at.
Big engine in small car = BIG FUN!!!
I sure am having trouble with the site, anyone else? I lose the internet on a regular basis, and powerful frustrating. See how spoiled we are?
Anyway, to try and remember what I said,,,oh yeah, MAMA MIA, this is one bad aXX Gremlin. Watch out 396 Chevelles, a Rambler just blew your doors off. If stock, I read the 401 put out 335hp gross in ’71, and 255 hp net ’72-’75. In a car that weighed 2600 pounds, you can do the math. Like most ratings of the day, I feel was grossly under estimated, more like 400hp, and 500 was not out of the question, like all AMC, they were stout motors.
Now, get this, this is cool, whilst researching, I read an AMC dealer in Mesa, AZ. got permission from the factory to produce a 401 Gremlin in ’72-’73. They made 21, 20 for the street, and 1 for the strip. The price? Are you sitting down? $2995!! This could very well be one of those cars, perhaps the seller has no idea, or that surely would have been mentioned. This car stock could do mid 13s and a top speed of 110. My only concern is going over 100 mph in a Gremlin.
And yes Joe, I was a gas pump jockey in ’72, and more than one Gremlin came in with a rag for a gas cap.
And submit,,,,,,,
Hello Howard, I hope you are having a great Summer! You are not alone, I am having problems with this site also. Take care, Mike.
Hi Mike, hope your back is better. I’ve gotten to the point where the seasons don’t make much difference, and there’s a positive swing to that. I thought of returning to the Badger to “run the clock out”, but with over 300 sunny days a year here in Colorado, it’s a pleasant change from the cloudy midwest. Why, I bet it’s cloudy there right now. I have a good setup where I am, and would be a fool to leave it. Besides, in the words of the great Joe Walsh, “and the Rocky Mountain way, is better than the way we had”,,, later man
Great to hear Howard! Sunny and 74 here now. Gotta spin some Joe Walsh now!
I’m pretty sure the 401 Gremmies (called “401 XR”) that came from Arizona had some detail modifications that don’t appear on this car, like a big tach on the steering column and a different air cleaner. This car is up to $23K now, which apparently beats the reserve and still seems fail.
The only things I’d do is swap hoods with the stock piece and make sure it has disc brakes in front, at least. The rest is just racking up mileage.
I dig it!!
Jeepers. I’d have never guessed that the Gremlin came in so light.
This Gremlin just screams “Fun”.
I am sure it would have been a screamer with a souped up version of its original 304, but his is kind of like a homebuilt version of the 401X/KR that came from Ranall Rambler/AMC in the day.
Think “Yenko” for AMC’s
I am really liking this Gremlin.
OOps, typo.
Randall Rambler/AMC.
Eddie Stakes, of planethoustonamx is well aware of the “Randall 401 XR”. You can look it up, THE foremost authority on AMC. While he claims there are no distinguishing features, of the 21 made, he has only heard of one. Randall was considered the “Yenko” or “Nickey” of AMC performance, and also rumored to have made a couple “Randall” Pacers and Hornets, never found. So I don’t think this was a Randall Gremlin, but should provide all the thrills the Randall one did, too bad it will cost you 10 times the amount. That still slays me.
Dont see any seat belts
They sure had them in 1972.
I purchased my first house for $27k.
For a while, AMC Gremlin was offered with a four cylinder, two litre Audi engine.
If you work, you can still find one of these engines, that took away around 120 kg respect to standard AMC six cylinders in line.
Gesund +
1977 & 1978 (also the 1979 Spirit). If I recall correctly, a Gremlin with the Audi 2.0 actually cost more than the standard AMC 6.
What’s not to like here? There are no underside shots, so no mention any unibody reinforcement/frame connectors etc. I think it would be easy to go too powerful and twist something like this up.
I’d keep it as is and drive it!
Pretty interesting garage in the background. Looks like a modern Camaro, early 70’s Barracuda (maybe a Challenger?), and something with what looks like a 6 point cage in it. My kind of guy!
cheers,
bt
Not to mention a Javelin & AMX on the outside. Could be a super stock Dodge or Plymouth inside… My old eyes… ugh
Russ, you featured this car here on BF back on 8/9/23 – perhaps you forgot or just didn’t mention it. I recall being impressed with it back then.
It must have sold because it moved from Milwaukee to Knoxville. Actually, someone commented that it sold for $35,300. It is only at 23K with 3 hours left. Seller must be holding their breath…
I bought a couple of Gremlines brand new for a couple of job inspectors following up installers and service techs. A few strange quirks..the vacuum advance canisters got pinhole leaks.. the gas fumes when parked would sometimes explode on restarting.. blow the distributor cap off. Easy fix though. Also both had rust issue around the driver door mirror and the top of the right front mirrors. No real biggie.. just some repair time. Both Bright orange with A/C automatics..over 200K miles before dumping them.. my kid used one on the farm to go bumper cars with
Lots of comments means this car gets aot of looks. I’m having trouble with the asking price. Would a black car have a blue interior? The hood and the wheels look good but for a price north of $20, it needs to be closer to original.
It’s cool
Oh my, I’d get in so much trouble with this. Exhibition of speed to begin with. When quirky comes to town!
HoA, I have a totally off topic comment, you mentioned you live in Colorado and you talked about 300 days of sunshine. I can tell you are a newbie and listening to the Colorado Tourist Commission (if there is such a thing). I could be the poster child for them, if there was one. I was the pure definition of a Colorado Native until about 7 or 8 years ago. I was born and raised in Colorado and specifically Denver. I graduated from Denver Public Schools, Denver University, and even my military service as a combat veteran in Vietnam, had specific ties to Colorado. I also retired from the Denver Fire Department after 31 years. You get the point I have only been disconnected from Colorado for a very short time. As for the car culture in Denver and around Colorado to say I was entrenched in it would really be a big understatement. For 20 years my Company “Greybeard Promotions” which produced The Rocky Mountain Auto Show at The Colorado Convention Center in downtown Denver, 1997 to 2018. I am sorry this was a long way around to comment on 300 days of sunshine. It is basically true. it just doesn’t mean ALL DAY. We also have most of the summer days that we get the afternoon car wash ,which can last 5 min or until morning. The saying wait 5 min and the weather will change was started in Colorado. I had an outdoor show where it was sunshine , rain and then snow and back to sunshine. We can also end up shoveling 12 inches of sunshine, Please don’t get me wrong ,I loved Colorado I was just ready for a change and the dessert in Arizona is a BIG change
Had a Gremlin with a 304 / 3speed. It would scoot preety good with the 304. Best time I ever got at the 1/4 mile drag way was just over 16 sec and 90 mph, using slicks and skinny fronts, but otherwise stock. Fun car to drive!
Had a Gremlin with a 304 / 3speed. It would scoot pretty good with the 304. Best time I ever got at the 1/4 mile drag way was just over 16 sec and 90 mph, using slicks and skinny fronts, but otherwise stock. Fun car to drive!
A friend of mine had a inline 6 paired with a automatic. Even the inline 6 wasn’t a slouch. So, I can imagine how well this setup will run. Also, loved the big 21 gallon fuel tank they have.
Sold. US $23,000.00
6 bids Ended.
Have you ever seen a HOT GREMLIN well you’re looking at one.