MY '67 street-legal (and I mean legit, California street-legal) Rambler American wagon 401/ torqcommand ran high 11's at Fremont , capped up on DOT rubber.
Those were made at Randal AMC in Mesa AZ. Cool cars! I wish I had been able to afford one at the Tim, but I ended up with a 1977 258 3 speed instead. I paid $600 for it and it had 56k on it when I bought it. A long story, it was sitting in the back lot at a Dodge dealership and I had looked at all the cars for sale up front, and couldn’t afford the payment as I was still in Tech School. I was going to UTI, in there auto mechanics class. So when I went to look at it and fired it up it had a nasty sounding knock. I shut it off, looked around under the hood and saw the the fan belt had a strange wear pattern on it. When the salesman looked the other way I grabbed the cooling fan and rocked it back and forth. It had a bad bearing in it, an easy fix, so I offered them $400. After some dickering they sold it to me for $600., with a years financing at $50 a month. I took it home, changed the water pump and belt and drove it for five years. Fun little car. I wish I had kept it and put a 360 or 401 in it,
Good for you man. In a way the 258 was a better balanced car. With the V8 up front it was good in a straight line and for cranking the wheel and doing 360° smoke circles but that was about it. They plowed if you turned hard. I'm a twin. I kinda went of to VW's after my Javelin but my brother had 4 Gremlins. 2 V8's 2 I6's. I was between cars and drove his magenta and gold? Purple and gold? (You may remember the color) '73 258 Gremin X for a while. So many good AMC memories.
@@daryllect6659 That is a killer mo-beel! Had a guy in the 70 80s st racer had a big ford ltd? wagon would lift tire ea time he ran. BB on spray. No indication it was fast..wheels, quiet etc
Living in the miwest everything rusts. But a '70 Javelin was my first car. After that we were hooked. They really were great cars. My brother had several Gremlins incuding black '72 Gremlin X that was originaly ordered as a 1/8th mile factory stock drag car. It had all the options deleted but came with the twin lok diff, dog bone stabilizers, 3 speed manual, and lower rear gear. He ended up installing a 360 out of a '70 matador. In a straight line it was a blast. Surprised a lot big 3 owners. When they caught up we'd tell them it was a 258 six. Of course it said "5 litre" on the tail panel, but back then no on knew a liter from a load of bricks unless the were British car owners.
I had one of these in about 1980 and swapped out the 304 V8 for a 360 engine from a Matador with a 727 trans. I then installed a Mopar Drop out rear end assembly from a 1968 Road Runner with a 3:55 drop-out posi. Fit perfectly for width and spot-on with the pads matching the spring width, with the only change being the fact that I had to use two Mopar RH shock pads, as the AMC mounted one shock behind the axle tube and the other in front. I had it ready for the strip with a pair of Indy Low Profile 50 series tires. Never got a chance to take it to the strip, as my wife needed a car and someone traded me a 1965 Cutlass 2/HT with Buckets and a V6 that was in mint condition.
One of the only American made cars with a factory metal widebody that sat low enough to tuck the wheels. Most were (and still are) using fiberglass flairs.
My first car (1983) was a primer gray 1973 Gremlin X with a 360 from an AMX in it, 4 speed and 12 bolt twin grip. I sold it to a guy who wanted it strictly for street racing. Within two weeks he had wrapped it around a telephone pole.
In 79' I bought a 74' from a friend for$1,400. It had the 304, a trailer tow option (?) with a rear end that limited top end to about 96 mph. It also had a huge gas tank, 20+ gallons. Gas mileage about 12 on the flat, hills, didn't matter. The zero- sixty was quick, if you could hook up the posi-rear end. Nightmare in the rain! Sold it after 2 years to another friend for $1,400 again. First car my unlicensed gf, now wife, ever drove.
@@RACEYOURRIDE @ 0:13 The cover is plainly visible, and obviously not a Model 20. The one-piece axles @ 0:29 is another obvious indicator that it's not an AMC axle. When you've built and raced as many AMCs as I have, you notice things like that, because the AMC Model 20 was the rear end AMC used in any of the V8s they built, and their lame, 2-piece axles aren't even legal in NHRA gas classes..
I inherited a 77 Amc Gremlin X levis edition. Unfortunately its a 4.2 straight 6 and not the v8 version. Mine is in nearly as good as condition as the one in the video but is still pretty good. I want to swap in a sbc but Ive been told by a few Amc guys that my car has some pretty rare options. I used to think they were super ugly and terrible cars. Ever since me a my dad brought it home a few years ago i have fallen in love with them. It get a ton of attention ever time i drive it. Ive got a really clean and loud GTO that dosent get half the attention that little Gremlin gets lol.
Don`t you just love the "car nuts" that honor certain Marques that are off the wall?For a short wheel base car these things "track" straight in a straight line.I think they look pretty cool ,although I think Pintos look cool too.
There are many more uglier cars..60's,70's,80's Japanese and European cars...Smart cars Kia Soul,Honda Element,Toyota Yaris lots of new cars too...Not saying these look good but far from the ugliest cars around!
Sure they’re not the most handsome looking car out there, but to call them garbage as well? when they were built just to be commuter cars to drive every day and all kinds of elements
A buddy of mine had a 401 AMX motor with a cam and headers in a Gremlin that did wheelies with 12's at the strip.
MY '67 street-legal (and I mean legit, California street-legal) Rambler American wagon 401/ torqcommand ran high 11's at Fremont , capped up on DOT rubber.
Those were made at Randal AMC in Mesa AZ. Cool cars! I wish I had been able to afford one at the Tim, but I ended up with a 1977 258 3 speed instead. I paid $600 for it and it had 56k on it when I bought it. A long story, it was sitting in the back lot at a Dodge dealership and I had looked at all the cars for sale up front, and couldn’t afford the payment as I was still in Tech School. I was going to UTI, in there auto mechanics class. So when I went to look at it and fired it up it had a nasty sounding knock. I shut it off, looked around under the hood and saw the the fan belt had a strange wear pattern on it. When the salesman looked the other way I grabbed the cooling fan and rocked it back and forth. It had a bad bearing in it, an easy fix, so I offered them $400. After some dickering they sold it to me for $600., with a years financing at $50 a month. I took it home, changed the water pump and belt and drove it for five years. Fun little car. I wish I had kept it and put a 360 or 401 in it,
Good for you man. In a way the 258 was a better balanced car. With the V8 up front it was good in a straight line and for cranking the wheel and doing 360° smoke circles but that was about it. They plowed if you turned hard. I'm a twin. I kinda went of to VW's after my Javelin but my brother had 4 Gremlins. 2 V8's 2 I6's. I was between cars and drove his magenta and gold? Purple and gold? (You may remember the color) '73 258 Gremin X for a while. So many good AMC memories.
@@daryllect6659 That is a killer mo-beel! Had a guy in the 70 80s st racer had a big ford ltd? wagon would lift tire ea time he ran. BB on spray. No indication it was fast..wheels, quiet etc
@@gordocarbo Sleepers rule.
Living in the miwest everything rusts. But a '70 Javelin was my first car. After that we were hooked. They really were great cars. My brother had several Gremlins incuding black '72 Gremlin X that was originaly ordered as a 1/8th mile factory stock drag car. It had all the options deleted but came with the twin lok diff, dog bone stabilizers, 3 speed manual, and lower rear gear. He ended up installing a 360 out of a '70 matador. In a straight line it was a blast. Surprised a lot big 3 owners. When they caught up we'd tell them it was a 258 six. Of course it said "5 litre" on the tail panel, but back then no on knew a liter from a load of bricks unless the were British car owners.
Nice always like them. Neighbor had a '69 Amx .
Plenty quick for a street car . AMC s have kind of always been under appreciated. They built some cool cars ! Great Video as always 👍
Thanks!👊
I had one of these in about 1980 and swapped out the 304 V8 for a 360 engine from a Matador with a 727 trans. I then installed a Mopar Drop out rear end assembly from a 1968 Road Runner with a 3:55 drop-out posi. Fit perfectly for width and spot-on with the pads matching the spring width, with the only change being the fact that I had to use two Mopar RH shock pads, as the AMC mounted one shock behind the axle tube and the other in front. I had it ready for the strip with a pair of Indy Low Profile 50 series tires. Never got a chance to take it to the strip, as my wife needed a car and someone traded me a 1965 Cutlass 2/HT with Buckets and a V6 that was in mint condition.
If you swapped out a factory V8, it was a 304 car not a 290.
@@SladeM. Correct...memory was foggy
I had the Matador 360 and screwed in a Comp Cam 268, factory intake with a Holley 4150. It ran pretty good for the weight.
Hecks yeah man love the gremlins man remember em fo sure 😀
One of the only American made cars with a factory metal widebody that sat low enough to tuck the wheels. Most were (and still are) using fiberglass flairs.
Centerlines look great on this one
My first car (1983) was a primer gray 1973 Gremlin X with a 360 from an AMX in it, 4 speed and 12 bolt twin grip. I sold it to a guy who wanted it strictly for street racing. Within two weeks he had wrapped it around a telephone pole.
That sucks right.
In 79' I bought a 74' from a friend for$1,400. It had the 304, a trailer tow option (?) with a rear end that limited top end to about 96 mph. It also had a huge gas tank, 20+ gallons. Gas mileage about 12 on the flat, hills, didn't matter. The zero- sixty was quick, if you could hook up the posi-rear end. Nightmare in the rain! Sold it after 2 years to another friend for $1,400 again. First car my unlicensed gf, now wife, ever drove.
Sounds like it was cool. 👍
That's funny. I don't seem to remember any AMCs that had a Dana rear end and one-piece axles.
That’s funny, I’m pretty sure the guy put it in from another car. My 74 Gremlin has a 9 inch Ford rear with one piece axles.
@@SladeM. "I’m pretty sure the guy put it in from another car."
Gee. Ya think?
Not sure where you read what rearend is in it. Must have have a keen eye.
@@RACEYOURRIDE @ 0:13 The cover is plainly visible, and obviously not a Model 20. The one-piece axles @ 0:29 is another obvious indicator that it's not an AMC axle. When you've built and raced as many AMCs as I have, you notice things like that, because the AMC Model 20 was the rear end AMC used in any of the V8s they built, and their lame, 2-piece axles aren't even legal in NHRA gas classes..
@@daryllect6659 New issue of HOT ROD magazine has a cool article on a rare AMC barn find collection you'd prolly like.
I inherited a 77 Amc Gremlin X levis edition. Unfortunately its a 4.2 straight 6 and not the v8 version. Mine is in nearly as good as condition as the one in the video but is still pretty good. I want to swap in a sbc but Ive been told by a few Amc guys that my car has some pretty rare options. I used to think they were super ugly and terrible cars. Ever since me a my dad brought it home a few years ago i have fallen in love with them. It get a ton of attention ever time i drive it. Ive got a really clean and loud GTO that dosent get half the attention that little Gremlin gets lol.
Always thought they were cool! 👊
You know where I can find a gas tank for this model or what you have?
Don`t you just love the "car nuts" that honor certain Marques that are off the wall?For a short wheel base car these things "track" straight in a straight line.I think they look pretty cool ,although I think Pintos look cool too.
😂😂 look bro you want to see a gremlin Buck Potter TH-cam racing baby😊😊😊
I'll check it out!
Why is he letting off early every run? Trying to keep it above 12.99 for some reason?
It seems to me maybe he wasn't aware where the finish line was? The second pass he was still on it when he passed it. Weird right
COuld be avoiding a certain time where hed have to put a rollbar in
cameraman didn't seem too interested in his stories, no wonder he walked away
🤔 Too many other cars to get to, plus don't wanna bother a racer who is getting ready.
ugliest car ever, that & the ford pinto, or the pacer, it;s rare to see one but man, garabage!!!
There are many more uglier cars..60's,70's,80's Japanese and European cars...Smart cars Kia Soul,Honda Element,Toyota Yaris lots of new cars too...Not saying these look good but far from the ugliest cars around!
Why better car than the Vega or Pinto or most other cars of that size and time!
Sure they’re not the most handsome looking car out there, but to call them garbage as well? when they were built just to be commuter cars to drive every day and all kinds of elements
Really? How bout the AMC matador or the Edsel.
Hecks yeah man love the gremlins man remember em fo sure 😀