They can be easily upgraded to four wheel disc brakes, quick ratio power steering and front coil-overs. At about 2850lbs and 300+ horsepower you have a inexpensive little beast-gremmie capable of decent handling and 12 second range 1/4 mile times to have fun with.

I like ‘em now =)

allegro con moto-car: “What purpose does it serve to have a car with two doors of different sizes? The Gremlin is a finalist at Forbes’ annual ten worst turkeys survey, for this and other reasons.”

That would be the Pacer, not the Gremlin, and the purpose was to aid access to the rear seat. The idea would be resurrected (successfully) many years later in a different form on the Saturn coupe when a single, small, reverse-opening door was added behind the driver’s door, similiar to the by-then common doors on extended cab pick-ups except, in the case of the Saturn (like the Pacer’s longer passenger door), it was only on one side.

As to the six turns lock-to-lock steering, this was a product of the era of ‘base means base’, as in most cars had none of the things we take for granted now (like power steering). It was still possible (even common) to have truly huge full-size cars without power steering. In those cases, you really needed six turns of the wheel to drive at low speed, like when trying to muscle one of those behemoths into a parallel parking space.

Since Detroit viewed small cars as nothing more than downsized large cars (a major ideological error which took decades to correct), the steering of any domestic car, large or small, was of the same, traditional, recirculating ball type, as opposed to rack-and-pinion used on the foreign marques.

Also, the 6 turns lock to lock is not all that unusual for this vintage vehicle. The movies of that era showed drivers turning the wheel round n round n round to make a turn, and then they would lift their hand of the wheel to allow the positive caster angle to turn the steering wheel round n round n round back to center. (I always look for this when I watch movies of the late 60’s early 70’s.)

I actually got in my car (2001 Honda) just now to drive around the block to measure the wheel lock to lock. I would estimate it at 1.6 to 1.6, and with one full turn you get a fairly tight turning radius.

The 70’s. What a weird decade for cars (and everything else).

Allegro

After 1966, AMC couldn’t afford to spend much on new drivetrains. But the ones it had were quite good. They got even better when AMC began using Chrysler’s excellent Torqueflite automatic transmission in 1972.

Contrast this to GM, which brought Ed Cole’s all-new four cylinder to production for the Vega. The engine turned out to be a disaster, gave the Vega a permanent black mark, and seriously hurt Chevrolet’s reputation.

The problem with the Gremlin was build quality, the quality of interior components (particularly on the base model) and cost-cutting on non-drivetrain parts. But then, the Vega was hardly a shining example of quality control, either, and its interior was equally spartan. If anything, it was probably worse than the Gremlin in this regard. At least the Gremlin had decent bucket seats available as an option, and the Levi’s option DID go a long way toward making the interior a much more attractive place.

argentla – I liked your write-up of the Gremlin on your site.

I’ve had two vehicles with that engine, a 2000 XJ and a 2006 TJ Unlimited. With the Aisin Trans, it’s a bulletproof Drivetrain.

You still see tons of Gremlins (and other AMCs) running in Mexico City. Here, they were badged as ‘Americans’.

Almost the same as a Pinto or a Vega and not much worse than a 25mpg Beetle?

IE, pretty good for 1971.

The Gremlin, the Pintos, and so forth were the reasons the kids I grew up with in the 80s swore off Detroit products. None wanted to be seen in them. By the time I was driving those early 70s cars were about 10-12 years old and we were “lusting” after Celicas, Volvo, Accords, GTIs, Nissans/Datsuns and so on. Our parents were driving the Citations, Tempos, K-cars, Buick Slylark FWD cars, and the Chevettes. Those weren’t very appealing either.

Detroit’s older small cars couldn’t really compete on style and features with the imports. Oh – and horsepower per liter. The mid-80s Rabbit had 90 horses in it’s 1.8L 4 banger. My ‘81 Mustang had 90 horses from it’s 3.3L six cylinder and no where nearly as fun to rev. The Rabbit ‘vert was faster AND got better fuel mileage than my six cylinder Mustang. I went on to chance buy a mid-80s Rabbit ‘vert later. Alot more fun to drive than the Mustang.

Did spend a summer driving an AMC Concorde wagon – the federal fleet surplus version. Had a/c, power steering and a slushbox. No backseat. No radio. No ashtray. Did it’s job very well and was reliable but the mileage was poor, style was nil, and fun to drive was no where in sight. I was glad to go back to my Mustang.

It was terrifying.

I also can’t be the only one that sees the same dash layout in a 71 Gremlin copied over to a late-80’s, early 90’s Dodge Daytona and Chysler Le Baron. If the driver was under 5′5″, how many phonebooks did it take to see over the dash???

AMC Gremlin: “The best design that heavy duty LSD users could dream up!”

…and we must be able to read the Gremlin to prison story and soon!!!

geeber: “AMC eliminated the base version of the Gremlin for 1972.”

Introduced the same year as the base, no backseat or opening hatch Gremlin, the AMC Hornet had an MSRP of $1994.

IOW, for a measly extra $115 over the price of that über-stripped Gremlin, you could get a real car (with a real trunk and rear seat).

I won’t step on Paul’s toes, but the second-place car in the C/D comparo wasn’t a two-stroke.

Those old Saabs were weird though, weren’t they? In an endearing sort of way…

I also recall that one of these Hornet-type cars was proposed to use the same fenders on the front and back, to save costs. Seems to me that didn’t get to production.

I’ll second Ronnie Shreiber’s post that the Pacer was themed around a rotary engine from GM, who stiffed them after AMC was locked into producing the Pacer, forcing AMC to cram a larger conventional engine into it. The very low hood was to complement the small rotary, and the rounded body was to evoke the “rotary” idea. It was supposed to be somewhat revolutionary. So much for that. Later Pacers added a hood bulge to accommodate a larger engine. The Pacer’s two doors were different sizes.

AMC’s Eagle was the original sport/utility wagon, and it cheeses me off whenever I recall Subaru making that claim for the Outback. The Eagle was a raised Hornet sedan or wagon, and used three limited-slip differentials. Which made it extremely capable. There seem to still be a few of the wagons around.

http://wps.com/AMC/Gremlin/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMC_Gremlin

“Gremlins also received the option of a Levi’s interior trim package, which included spun nylon upholstery made to look like denim (fire safety regulations prohibited the use of real cotton denim). Details included removable map pockets, burnished copper denim rivets, and red Levi’s logo tabs.”

I’m not sure that Bianchi has used a consistent color on their “Celeste” green bikes. The high end Reparto Corse, race shop, bikes have pearl finishes. In any case, Celeste is a very cool color and I’m surprised that it’s not used on any cars. I think it’d look good on roadsters.

I’m surprised that the paint supply couldn’t match the Bianchi color. With modern color matching gizmos, they should be able to mix something to match a color chip.

you see that lip/change/small shit holder running across the bottom of the dash on the interior shot? Optional.

You see the thinness of the seatback? Excrutiating. And non-adjustable.

This was before my time but I think I recall reading some seriously old magazines over 20 years ago…a manufacturer that once used 2 strokes?

You should try it in the snow.
They will spin the other way with no effort.

I had one when I was in university, paid 200 bucks and the thing was very reliable. The only one I ever saw that didn’t have a lifter tick from the cylinder at the firewall. Sold the motor for $250 bucks and junked the body for twenty five.

Dick Teague’s styling on the Pacer was dictated by the fact that the car was intended to use a Wankel engine that GM was going to produce. After investing over $100 million, GM killed the project, and AMC had to shoehorn the 6 into an engine compartment designed for the compact rotary engine. That explains the short nose. The wide body was an attempt to give a smaller car more interior space. I’d say the least successful aspect of the Pacer’s design is the large amount of glass, which makes the car a greenhouse in sunlight.

AMC was a cool company. They predated both the SUV craze with the Cherokee and the widespread use of 4WD/AWD in passenger vehicles with the 4X4 Eagles.