It’s Gremlin week here on Barn Finds, just what a lot of us in dreary winter country need to brighten up these overwhelming overcast skies that go on day after day after day after day after day. After day. The seller has this 1976 AMC Gremlin posted here on craigslist in Grass Valley, California and they’re asking $5,200 or best offer. Here is the original listing.
I don’t see a truncated Javelin here, but that’s the story of how these cars were created. And on a napkin sketch no less. Or actually, it was reportedly an air-sickness bag while on a flight that Dick Teague sketched out the concept, which fairly new AMC employee, Bob Nixon, tightened up by basing it on the Hornet instead and it became what we know and love today as the Gremlin.
Is that snow in the photo? From the Sacramento area? As I’ve mentioned before, it’s somewhat rare for a vehicle to have just one body style but that’s exactly how many there were for the Gremlin. There was no four-door, no station wagon, no convertible, and they were all rear-wheel-drive. Although, the similar Eagle Kammback was based on the Gremlin, it came with all four wheels powering this basic body shell. This car looks fantastic so far, no? $5,200!? I’m in like Flint!
Wait, what about that driver’s side quarter panel, though? That’s a big quarter panel dent, and the bumper looks a bit tweaked on that side, too. That will not be an easy or cheap fix, sadly. The seller says that this car is wearing its original paint, but it sure looks suss, as the kids say, in that rear panel area. I’m guessing the shine is from rain, not buffed paint? If not, that’s some shiny 48-year-old paint.
I didn’t expect the interior to look as rough as it does in this photo after seeing such a shiny and nice – other than the dent – exterior. Torn seats rarely bother me unless it’s a rare fabric that isn’t available anymore. Tan vinyl is an-brainer. I’m more worried about the floor. I hope that’s just ripped carpet and not rust on the floors. The brake pad appears to be on the floor next to the driver’s seat for some reason. The back seat area looks good, though, other than some seam separation on the seat bottom. Hagerty is at $5,900 for a #4 fair-condition car and $9,600 for a #3 good car, just for the record.
The dusty and surface-rusty engine is an AMC straight-six and one of you will know by looking at it if it’s the 232-cu.in. version or 258-cu.in. version. It sends power through a floor-mounted three-speed manual transmission to the rear wheels and is said to be in running condition. But, this car has been sitting for a long time so it needs a tune-up and brake work – not to mention some major bodywork on that quarter panel. How much would you pay for this three-speed Gremlin? Would you fix that dent or just get it working and drive it as is?
To add a little to the story, the Gremlin concept came from the Javelin AMX-GT, that had the front of a Javelin and the back of a Gremlin. AMC didn’t have the resources to create that, and went with the Hornet. That seat is disgusting, how could someone sit on that, proof, Gremlins were just a beater, run into things, unloved, and unmaintained. Amazing any survived at all. Again, while the notion of a wacky car like a Gremlin could be a hit again, nobody is going to want a stick. I’m not sure about the color, I doubt original, the blackwalls on one side, whites on the other a unique touch, I don’t see $5grand here. Historically speaking, a very important car for America, I wonder if future generations will know why.
Howard, I love your experience, wisdom, knowledge and comments. But I love Gremlins, and I would never want an automatic, in anything but a truck.
then we’re opposites, mah furend
That color is an original 76 Gremlin color.
Nobody is going to want a stivk???? Wanna bet?? I bought a 2005 GTO with a 6 speed stick!!! Automatics are for Grandmas and Gen Xers who don’t know how to drive real cars!!
Yessiree, that’s snow on the ground there. They’re at 2500’ in the Sierra Nevada Range (50miles from where the Donner Party made history) and it’s very wet in the Grass Valley area, so that could well be rust in the floor.
It needs way too much fumiga…it needs way too much work for $5k, more realistically $1500 if it isn’t as bad as it probably is. Too bad-these with a V8 shoehorned in were a crowd-pleaser at the drag strips around here.
This guy, Brian Ambrosini, wows the crowd at Byron Raceway. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SO6s7iJ1bCU
I would gut it. Save body panels and build a vintage dirt modified and go racing…..
Sorry to hear of the winter misery Scotty. I know all about that. We grew weary of it 8 years ago after the kids were gone, and re-located south. We do not miss the snow at all.
Just today we hit about 70 degrees, sunny, beautiful. My wife spent the day putzing in the garden and doing lawn work, and I was in my shop, doors open wide, wearing shorts, trying to figure out how I’ve accumulated so much stuff.
The engine air cleaner looks like it came from a Pacer. I know the ’75 Hornet I used to have never had an offset, low-profile air cleaner like that.
Center stack of the dash and door cards have been butchered to accept an aftermarket stereo. (Common modification on Gremlins and Hornets.) There’s an instrument panel sitting on that disgusting-looking front seat. Original? Spare?
These cars could actually be pleasant drivers properly optioned out but were real penalty boxes in base form. This looks like a base model, down to the rubber floor mats instead of carpeting and cheap-looking two spoke steering wheel with center horn button. Maybe at least there’s a power steering pump peeking out under the hood?
I’m thinking this is a beater with a heater, provided the heater works.
On a ’70s car I’d almost consider those speaker holes a period-correct accessory or close enough to it since it was the Golden Age of Aftermarket Stereo.
For north of 5 grand they should’ve given the interior a good clean. Is the seller a non-car person who’s overapplied the lessons of Antiques Roadshow?
Some things in life were not meant to be treasured. They were meant to be used for their useful life and discarded. No one tries to preserve fan belts or tires, they serve a useful purpose and are then pitched.
This car has be wrecked in the rear and the interior is showing a lot of wear. Time to let it go, or find some teenager with more time than money to nurse it through a last round of abuse at his/her hands. As a kid these were wanted as winter cars, with the clutch and second gear to help get out of snow. For $5k+ there are a lot of other transportation options.
Hi Roland, well, yes and no. Personally, I kept old fan belts AND tires just in case a spare was needed, like my dad and grandpa before me did. It is true, we can name many cars that were designed to be used up and discarded when they didn’t work anymore. The Gremlin was one of them. Nobody thought of saving a rusty Gremlin. This car, for all practical purposes, is probably the best ho-hum, non X Gremlin you will find, because like I say, nobody kept a car like this. I’m not sure where sellers come up with these prices for cars like this.
About the engine, some year Gremlins had a 3.8 badge on the rear if it was a 232, a 4.2 if it was a 258 and a 5.0 if it had the rare 304. I’m not sure the ’76 Gremlins had those badges.
When I was a kid, dad used to wipe down his cars with kerosene and water. Gave a nice shine to the paint, til it drove down a dusty road. With the rest of this car looking like it was ran hard, and put away wet? I’d be wary.
Gremlins, Gremlins, and more Gremlins…
I have a gremlin in my list, why I don’t know, maybe cause the guys on Road Kill have so much fun with theirs, but like so many have replied here, I see a big Turd here, however some one may see a bargain
Bob
That dent (more like a bend) in the quarter is indicative of frame damage. This car took a pretty significant hit to the left rear. Budget for some time on a frame straightener as well cash to replace that pestiferous front seat.
I’m not an AMC fan, but looking at the front end, I was intrigued. The car looked pretty cool…..until I saw the shots of the back end and the interior.
This car is not worth anywhere near $5200….more like $2500, if it runs.
5 grand !? Ha, ha… Nostalgia is a beautiful thing… In the early ’80s, with a shinny new engineering degree, I remember trading my college beater Gremlin for my first “real” car (couple year old VW Scirocco)… at first the VW dealer wanted nothing to do with it… then changed their mind and gave me a few hundred for it… Surprisingly, they kept it and put it on their lemon lot… advertised as a Gremlin “Sport” (it was black with bucket seats and 4-on-the-floor)… I was told they got $850 for it.. which is about $2500 in 2024 dollars.
One of my friends bought a new Gremlin with the V8 and floor shift three speed. That little sucker would haul a$$. For vehicles like this I personally prefer to row my own. I have zero interest in this money suck but the automatic is even more off putting IMO. Sorry, Howard. Different strokes for different folks. But I can see where you’re coming from. You probably genuflected the old clutch pedal a S ton more than me in your lifetime. And at my age I want an automatic in my DD too. That is why I’m not getting my 2024 Mustang Dark Horse. Lol!
Interesting. That’s exactly why I’m not getting my Dark Horse either! Sure…lol!
Stick an LS in it, Like everyone does to eveything. Even my slow blower has one. LOL
Obviously, the owner didn’t change his pants after leaving work.
they just looked horrible in the day.
I don’t know what’s wrong w/me.
They don’t look as bad now.
Has age done something to my aesthetic values?
Yeah, I guess so.
I liked 20 yr old women back then. Now I’m 70 y/o I like 20 and 30 and 40 and 50 and 60 y/o women.
This listing has been deleted, did one of you buy it?