For many, the AMC Gremlin will go down as one of the strangest-looking cars of all time. But looks aren’t everything, and maybe they even attracted people to the odd car as the company would build 671,000 of them in eight years. The car was beginning to wind down when this 1976 example was built. It belonged to the seller’s mother, and he’s held on to it far too long for sentimental reasons. In good condition for its age, this leftover from the declining years of the hippie era is in Manassas, Virginia, and is available here on craigslist for $9,500. We hand it to Rocco B. for finding more great tips for us to share with our readers!
I don’t know if AMC’s goal was to build a car that folks would make fun of, but the Gremlin is what you got when you took a Hornet (also new in 1970) and removed 12 inches from the wheelbase. The company was already experienced at doing that, creating the AMX out of the Javelin in 1968. Because AMC operated on much smaller budgets than the “Big 3”, this was a cheaper way for them to roll out a subcompact to do battle with the Germans and Japanese as well as the upcoming Pinto from Ford and Vega from Chevrolet.
Of all the cars designed to compete with the VW Beetle and the rest, the Gremlin was the only one to have a six-cylinder engine (and, later, a small-block V8). So, it wasn’t as fuel efficient as the other autos in its class, it was more substantial in weight and thus had a commanding presence on the road by comparison. The Gremlin ran from 1970 to 1978 and was replaced in 1979 by the Spirit, which was based on the Concord that had supplanted the Hornet. The Spirit ironed out all the quirks of the appearance of the Gremlin and yet was still similar under the skin.
The seller’s mom may have been only the second owner of this ’76 Gremlin. It’s not entirely original, although the 40,000 miles on the odometer may be. Mom treated the car to a repaint in the factory color a few years ago as well as redoing the front seats. The 258 cubic-inch inline-6 is said to run well as does the automatic transmission that it’s paired with it. The seller is concerned about the car finding a good home, which we can’t fault him/her for. Don’t fall in love with the AMC rally wheels, though, as they do not go with the car. The seller is keeping those and sending along regular rims with hubcaps.
“Declining years of the hippie era”? Hmm, have to look that up, I didn’t know that era went away. I will agree, by ’76, so many other better cars had come along, the Gremlin was horribly outdated. Fact is, it was outdated on April Fools day, 1970, when it was introduced. It was the classic, right product, right time, as America was caught with their pants down. VW was never a credible threat, the Gremlin undercut the VW by $100 bucks, Americas then cheapest car at $1995. The Asians however, oh, that was a much different story, but the Gremlin was the 1st so called American economy car, and they can’t take that away from us. Great find, a conversation starter where ever you go. The stories will be book worthy, as like the VW, just about everyone has a Gremlin story.
don’t forget the lark 10 years earlier
In 1979 I thought about buying one,as they were
really affordable,to go SCCA Showroom Stock racing
with.
Ended up with a new Ford Fiesta instead.
Oddball styling notwithstanding, dare to be different!
Which is one of the reasons I love AMC.
What world are we living in 9500 for a used Gremlin really? Nothing special, come on what gives?
Unfortunately, nobody is manufacturing 46 year old cars anymore. If you want to own one, you have to pay what the market will bare. The market will decide if this is a fair price. If it is too high, it will not sell.
Compared with the styling of todays cars nothing oddball about a Gremlin’s looks.
Great shape, low mileage, well kept, not that bad a price for something that may have ten more years to go just the way it is. ???
Was it too difficult for the seller to talk a picture of the entire car?
*take
(damn Spell-Check!)
I bought a ’74 several years ago, same color, same drive train, with a/c, in good #3 condition for book price of $1500. Still have it and still runs and drives well but book value hasn’t increased very much. Therefore it seems this one is overpriced. (Mine only had 50,000 miles on it)
Yeah really like the car but the price makes my eyes water like I just rubbed nicotine into them!
Had a 73 Gremlin X with 304 v8 . Fun and fast . In 74 they had one with a 401 V8 factory-installed. That would be a handful to handle.
Sorry, AMC never installed a V8 larger than the 304 in a Gremlin. Any larger displacement would have been done aftermarket.
There was a dealer (I think in AZ–Randall?) that did the 401 Gremlins, ala Yenko.
Bolt the 401 in place of the 304. Same weight.
AMC designer Dick Teague had several sketches of shortened Hornets. Most were more “normal” looking chops like the eventual AMC Spirit that replaced the Gremlin. There is the legendary 1st Gremlin sketch that Teague made on the back of an airplane barf bag. Appropriate? So, AMC went with the shocking Gremlin design that nobody confused with all the other similar looking small cars. Probably one of AMCs good decisions that will forever define AMC’s last 2 decades in the 1970-1980s along with the AMC Javelin.
I’ve had 2 73 gremlins 1st had 6 the 2 I got later came with 301 blown I put 1968 440 Mopar in it Levi x gremlin still got with 440 in automatic full race transmission. Took 5yrs to get a race in 1980 still my car
What a piece of crap car. The only thing worse was the Vega or hornet. I had a one armed driver training instructor who drove one. He had only his left arm and drove a stick shift and told me I was unsafe. The only thing more unsafe then either me or his driving was a Pinto. Lol
I could never understand why people say it is ODD looking, when, literally every other auto company on the planet copied it….till this very day. Smh