There’s patina and then there’s Texas patina. This 1974 AMC Gremlin is said to be a two-owner car and is located in Texas. It’s a mystery as to how long it’s been sitting, but the seller thinks possibly since 1998 due to some windshield stickers. They have it listed here on eBay in Kingwood, Texas, there is no longer a reserve (it was $1,500), and the current bid price is $2,026.
Looking mostly solid with a few small areas of rust-through near the rear wheels, this Gremlin must be very interesting to a few bidders to have driven the price past $2,000 with a full six days left on the auction. It needs a lot of work inside and out, but if we’ve learned anything from (fake) tv reality shows, a car can be restored in a week, but only if there’s a fake deadline!! (!!) (lots of added fake drama!!) Hagerty is at $5,300 for a #4 fair-condition example, and this one isn’t at that level yet.
I noticed it, too. The front license plate is covered but the rear one isn’t. I bet it’s because the other photo is the leading image in the eBay auction and that’s the one that’ll be bounced around the internet. This is another case of the photos not being the best, most of them are too close to the camera/cameraphone and there aren’t enough overall body photos showing the entire car. But, the seller makes up for it in sheer volume and for providing a nice range, so there’s that.
The Gremlin was made from 1970 through 1978 in the U.S. and longer in Mexico. This one has an “E” in the third position in the VIN and that means a three-speed manual on the floor, very cool. You can see that the interior looks rough, but the door panels appear to be in the mix of photos and the seller says the floors have surface rust but don’t appear to be rusted out. The windshield is broken so it’ll need one, and I’d take the seats out and get started from the bottom up ASAP if this were mine. The back seat looks almost like new and the seller provided photos of the (full) rear cargo area and even a few underside photos!
The engine is AMC’s 258-cu.in. OHV inline-six with 110 horsepower and 195 lb-ft of torque when new and the three-speed manual sends power to the rear wheels. This one turns over but the seller hasn’t started it because they didn’t trust the old gas tank and what may be lurking in there. This is an AC car as you can see so that’s pretty cool, literally. How would you bring this Gremlin back to life?
These were great little cars for the time. The straight 6 was bulletproof. With nearly 200ft pounds of torque and manual trans, much peppier than the Vega and Pinto competitors. $2k is a decent buy. Hope someone fixes it up and drives it
They were basically shortened AMC Hornets, which made them more substantial and far better cars than either Pinto or Vega.
I have to think every decade has its share of disposable cars, where the model line was meant to be driven and junked with no further fanfare (no special editions, etc. that might be interesting to a collector). The fact that someone forgot to junk one makes it interesting, but not necessarily worth a lot. I am waiting to see a Chevy Cavalier or Toyota Corolla on these pages – yes they may be barn finds in the truest sense of the term, but are they really worth the effort to restore? Gone are the days when you could take something like this to Earl Schibe and get it sprayed for under $100, including washing it first.
My late brother had 72′ X 258 six auto with air.
Have you guys actually driven one of these?? Absolutely a terrible car!!! It makes a Yugo look good. Terrifying to drive on the highway!! Saying the engine is bullet proof implies that someone tried to shoot it and it still ran. Yet another example of AMC garbage, but if you really want one, go for the Levi’s edition. Classic!
Is that a roll of toilet paper on the front bumper?