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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 29 ก.ย. 2024
- In this Rare Cars documentary, we go deep into one of the rarest and most overlook dealer built cars in American history, the AMC Gremlin 401-XR. This special V8 powered super hatchback while it was ugly was one of the fastest cars that you could purchase from 1972 to 1974, and almost nobody knows that these even existed.
Learn all there is to know about the AMC Gremlin 401-XR in episode 26 of our documentary series on the world's most fascinating cars.
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*Note, we are not historians. If you see an error in our research then please mention it in the comments!
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What does everyone think of the new intro?
Love it! Keep up the great content!
Great presentation!! Big fan of AMC , would love to see more.
My dad thought I was R'tarded growing (His words not mine), I liked gremlins and 58 Chevy's, he thought i was broken
@@crazylarryjrI still like them..plus other vehicles most people don't like. I had a 1974 AMC Matador with a 304 2 barrel and a 727 Torqflite it would leave a major second gear scratch, it was fun to drive and looked really good with the bumpers removed. The Studebaker Avanti is another favorite of mine.
Excellent video, crazy Gremlin history, it was ugly, but it was charming too, it's personality made the difference.
I had a 383 Barracuda in my senior year of high school and there was only one car at school that could outrun it. A purple Gremlin X that had a 401 from a Matador swapped into into it. When the guy could get it to hook up, it was wicked fast. My Cuda would hook up better, so it was a good race.
One of them races that changes depending on pavement quality! Love em
That's sick that one of those was running around back then, I love hearing the story of all the unique cars that used to run the streets. Around where I am it was apparently a REALLY nasty small block 62 vette
I ran against a 383 Cuda, and he blew his engine, trying to keep up with my sleeper Olds 442. I still feel bad about it.
I still hear the voice of my dad echoing in my ears as I was building a hot 454 for my Camaro. "That's a lot of time and money on an engine when all you're gonna do is spin wheels." And he was RIGHT. Learned on that project that the hook-up is probably your greatest consideration. Pretty much the difference between who loses and wins a top fuel race is down to who set the clutch up the best, to slip enough but not too much.
Obviously it didn't have the twin grip rear end.
Randall AMC in Mesa, AZ, did a few of these cars and was well known for high performance AMC engines and cars. If my memory is still any good, I seem to recall twenty something or so were built. Sadly, there's nothing left of the dealership these days, when I was there in Mesa years ago it was an empty lot.
imagine that. the further you get from stock- the more problems youre going to have....
literally what this was about
I had 2or3 of them and my friend had 1 v8 with the 4speed on Vancouver island
They should have used the 390 hp. ! That engine could SCREAM !
There was one in Calgary in the 80s with a 440 swapped in it...
Was really stupid quick 😊
Put a 366 400 sbc in it, twisting about 8,100 rpm a beefed up powerglide with a transbrake and a fairbanks 3,800 rpm stall converter. if you run a slightly narrowed Ford 9” rear end with a c-clip eliminator and a 3-link setup, you’re gonna need a wheelie bar driveshaft loop and a roll cage, may want a custom removable or retractable rear wing spoiler and diffuser, and front air dam/separator for anything above 120mph which it will exceed with the right build timing and fuel curves, traction and gearing.
8,100RPM gremlin would be terrifying
Dad had a Gremlin with a 360 , and a three speed on the floor
I'm sure that thing was a riot!
I was little , it was metallic dark green , and Dad could burn the tires in 1st & 2nd , felt like rocket ship ! But I was little , it’s no Tesla Plaid by todays standards , but it was quick
AMC was severely underrated in muscle car circles back then. Truth is they had some pretty good hot rods. AMX, Javelin, Rebel, The Machine, SC/360, SC/Rambler, all of them were the real deal.
I was 12yo back then, our coach ( hockey team) had a
"The Machine" 4 sp on the floor back in 68 and he knew my brother who had a 68 Dodge superbee 383 magnum aut. trans.,
I was only 12yo but I'm born within a mechanic and bodywork family, back in 65 my sister had a 65 parisienne convertible with a 409ci aut. trans and in 69 she had a 69 impala SS 427ci aut.trans.
my Dad had a 64 Studebaker
commander V8 aut. trans. and when it came to my time of purchassing my first ride,, it was in 74 I've set my eyes on a Ford Fairlane 65 with a 289ci "k" eng. 4brl carb auto.trans. posi trac. diff. it had a factory
ondash vaccume gauge, IT was only a 289ci but that thing could really move,,even my brother who by now was riding a 73 Pontiac Sprint 350ci aut. trans.
was impressed of this 8yo Fairlane,
yup, those wher the good days, to me, the era 55 to 79 wher the best!!!
@rogerpr364 I know what you mean, I have an uncle who was a car guy. 1964 he had a dark green galaxy 500 xl, 390 4 barrel. He traded it in 67 for a Fairlane GTA with a 390. Rode in the Fairlane a few times it flat got down the road. Those were some of the best times ever.
@rogerpr364 The Machine didn't arrive until the '70 MY. I assume it was a Rebel - Good car even before AMC dropped all the performance goodies in it
AMC I read made a Matador Machine in 1971 too (Or at a package at least with all of the Go Pack equipment)
@@gray_space_alien My then brother in law had a '67 Mustang with a balanced and blueprinted 390 V8
+ 4-spd. tranny and limited slip rear end that everyone swore was a 428 powered car. It was wicked fast.
But I agree with the comments here about "those were THE days!". lol
The Gremlin I had when I was 17 was the most fun car I ever owned.
A friend in high school had a 304 4-speed Gremlin X. He was revving that motor too much though, and he blew it. We found a guy who was parting out a Javelin, and so we put that 390 in, with a new clutch. It took us a while to get it running well, but that car was a beast once we did.
Yep, was great in the 70s and 80s, no ECUs, sensors, electronics to worry about, hoist that old drivetrain out, bolt the new one in, maybe gotta jury rig the exhaust a bit, me and a bud did it with his ‘74 Malibu, in 1983-84, 2 17 year olds in a span of 5-6 hours, it ran, but a bit noisy.
I bought my 73 V-8 new and still have it....great car.
wow
I still got mine 73 Levi Denim X. Had 304 4 SPD I put 68 440 automatic in it in 1980 fast
Same here, ordered my 73 Javelin AMX new in March of that year, 401 go Pac and 4-speed. 95,000 miles on it now, always garaged and up on jack stands during the winter. No, it won't beat a new Camaro or Charger, but they will give the AMX a second or third look like, what is that car?
I really miss the AMC cars!
I never knew about the 401-XR. Cool car.
Not many did. Most people don't realize how much AMC was involved with Racing up until the early '70's. They forgot about The Trans Am championship with the AMX/Javelin and the first use of a Resticter Plate used on the Gremlin. The NASCAR Matadors.
dealerships put those together- not AMC @@SGTJDerek
@@tommurphy4307 ah, but they had the FULL support of AMC. My Cousin was the Service Manager at the AMC/Jeep/Eagle Dealership in G-Boro, NC until they closed.
The 401 Gremlin was converted by an AMC dealer and sold in very small numbers. But the 304 V-8 was a regular production option and there were thousands of them sold. So 401 Gremlins were rare but V-8 Gremlins were common.
Yes the regular 304 gremlins aren't that common now but they weren't super rare
The 401 was a great little smallblock, the 304 it was based on was a good engine too. My '77 CJ5 came with a 304 and when that engine was no more, I found a 401 out of an AMX 🙂
If I had only known that comment was going to be here, I could have skipped watching the video. Thanks, Mr. Obvious.
@@joetuktyyuktuk8635
To be fair it wasn't a Small Block or Big Block. Just like Pontiac V8'S weren't Small Block or Big Block back in the Muscle Car Era either.
Pontiacs were more mid sized blocks.
I am relying on my teenage memory here but I thought that by 1974 AMC would let you order a Gremlin from the factory with a 401? That was certainly my impression as a 16-year-old and I fantasied about ordering one so equipped. By the time I bought my first new car in 1979 AMC just had the Spirit and the hot engine options had been dropped or neutered so while I did consider it I went for a 1979 Mustang turbo instead. That turned out to be a turkey that I sold a year and a half later but that's a story for a different time.
The 401-XR may have been unobtanium, but used ones with the 304 and the 3-speed floor shift were definitely on my short list as a light, fast modding platform. I nearly bought one, until it turned out that the power to weight ratio put it on my insurance company's muscle car list. At age 17, my annual insurance would have been double what I was about to pay for the car!
That's a really funny story with the insurance, imagine explaining that one to your rep 😂
I can't remember which engine I figured it with, but the power to weight ratio put it in the same category with the supercars and Ferraris of the day.
Man that’s definitely a sleeper! I learned how to drive on my mothers gremlin. It had the 232 straight six , but it was relatively quick off the line and I was able to beat many a slowmaro or Monte Carlo super slow off the line and up to about 50 mph! Those Chevy boys couldn’t get over almost losing to a six banger!
The base gemlins were very light which was definitely an asset!
In 1974 I bought a used 1972 Gremlin X 5.0L. Silver with black stripes. 3-speed manual, a/c ..ps/pb.
Car came standard with Goodyear poly glass tires that were waaay too easy to spin in this car. I added
electronic ignition, traction bars and radial tires. You could take 1st to 55, 2nd to 90 and it went
past 120 on the dial. Fastest and quickest car I ever owned until I bought my Tesla.
throw a couple of sandbags in the luggage room. we were next to a guy at a stoplight in pacific beach who had a V8 gremlin and he said he had 150 pounds of sand in the back to hook up. we politely told him we don't race gremlins with our datsun. we had a '73 510 sedan with a 3-liter motor in it. a fun car but we had a 300hp V6 and a big, viscous LSD to help with that. we watched the guy raced other cars and it looked pretty fast, but made too much noise and tire smoke.
Had a 76 Gremlin X with the 258 straight six withe electronic overdrive, Drove it to Daytona Beach from Cincinnati, Ohio towing a motorcycle on a trailer. My friend and I were both big men weighing 220 pounds apiece plus luggage. The car had a three speed standard and we averaged 25 miles per gallon, Great memories of that car!! Had plenty of power!!
not electronic- those were mechanical units made to fit the t-150 trans. if you didn't pump up the engines power- they were too tall for hilly driving.
A friend of mine had a Gremlin Levi edition back in the late 70s. All Levi jeans material interior. Ah the memories.
Those are a wicked neat car, such a random yet cool crossover
I was 3 years old in '72
My Mom loved her 304 V8 Gremlin.
I cherish those memories
Street raced a 401XR with my 64 Falcon convertible.
The 401 wouldn't hook up, smoked the tires all the way through 3 gear.
My family had a 1970 Gremlin well into the 80s. Only the 232 straight six, though, but it was basically foolproof.
My mom bought a purple one when I was a kid. I liked that car but it did have it's share of problems. Seems she always had it in the shop. That said, I would like to have a V8 powered model. RIP AMC, wish you could have made it.
well if all the AMC moms didn't have to put their beloved cars in the shop so often- they might still be around- but i doubt it with their 'engineers'.
I believe AMC would've still been around to this day as the big 4th had both Studebaker and Packard merged together with Hudson and Nash along with Kaiser and Jeep to create AMC in 1954.
I loved the Gremlin and still do LOVE them!!!
Such a cult classic car!
255 hp was net hp, so this was a good chunk of power for the time. The 1972 304 powered Gremlin X's were capable of in-the-8 second 0-60 mph times and in-the-16 second quarter mile times with 150 rated hp (again, net, not gross), so you know an extra 100 hp in the lightweight Gremlin was going to kick some asphalt.
My friend had a Gremlin in high school. He carried his scuba gear in plain sight behind the glass rear hatch so everyone could see how cool he was. I was embarrassed for him 😂.
Cool, these cars were so odd looking, you either liked or hated them. When I was in highschool my friend's dad got him one as a first car, base model with a straight six and a three speed on the floor. Over the summer of our junior year, we swapped in a 340 and a 4 speed, was a completely different car. He was actually outrunning Zs and TAs, so much fun 👍🇺🇸🤘🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
That had to be a real hoot with the V8
@@rarecars3336
Yes indeed, with the short wheelbase, he could almost lift the front tires when launching. Also, the new intro is nice and, love the channel 😎👍🇺🇸🤘🔥
and thats what made them so dangerous to drag race with- the short wheelbase quickly turns the car into a handful when you aren't hooking up @@kerrypierre9494
A friend of mine did something similar in high school, mid 80s, but he wound up totaling the car.
There was a really attractive girl that ran around with one of these in my town. And this was in the 2000’s! I figured she must have been some kind of enthusiast to maintain a Gremlin. The car was in great shape. And the fact that this smokin’ hot girl drove one made me like it a bit more. 😂
70 AMX 390 is one of my bucket list cars
Super cool car!
They are bad, have factory overrider traction bars
I owned a '74 Wagoneer with a 401 in it, and it had a huge amount of torque. I can only imagine what it could do in a gremlin chassis.
My boss had one of those and I agree, the engine had serious power. I also remember that on the dashboard there was a mechanical lever for locking the front diff… pretty cool. That thing went anywhere.
I had a 401 in a CJ5 that did Weelies .
I had one with the V8 3 speed!!. It was a blast. Stop light to stop light you couldn't catch it!!!
In '74 I bought a new Gremlin X. Maxi Blue with Levi package. 258 C.I and a 3 speed. Loved that car.
Everyone I’ve ever talked to that owned a gremlin has very fond memories of them!
GMs, Mopar, Ford all great muscle cars, but because, you usually didn't expect it, gettin your ass kicked by a AMC cut deep, lol. This Gremlin, the Scrambler, the Machine and a few other AMCs earned respect.
LOL getting walked by a gremlin had to hurt. Still hurt less than a modified pacer would though lol
The AMC 390/401's were no joke. If I recall correctly both came with forged cranks from the factory. My father had a CJ 304 v8 2brl and it was fine for a little CJ. Family friend had one rebuilt with new manifold and headers and it woke the little 304 up. Later, I had purchased a complete death trap a CJ 5 with a 360. The guy I bought it off of was a mechanic who rebuilt engine with slightly higher compression pistons, stock heads but had head work done, the Edelbrock performer package (Cam, manifold and 4brl carb) electronic ignition and added headers. It flew for a Jeep and you actually had to "drive it" no looking over at passenger. CJ 5's were pretty short wheelbase that one was lifted with 33's which didn't help in handling department. That 360 had like double + the horsepower of a stock 304. I can only imagine a tuned up 390 or 401.
BTW the Gremlin and Pacer were about the ugliest cars ever. But today I'd love that Gremlin XR in the garage :)
We made one of these cars at the salvage. We put a V8 out of a matador in a gremlin... couldn't keep rubber on the back of it.
i can imagine that was probably a HOOT to drive lol
@@rarecars3336 closest I ever drove to it was '66 Corvette convertible that you could do a U turn with the gas ⛽ pedal. Didn't believe it until I tried it.
You can make whoopie in the back of one easier then most cars , which makes them cool
I had a ‘73 X with 304 V8 with 4.10 gears. That thing was lightning quick. A real sleeper.
I never heard of these factory units, even though I owned a Gremlin back in the mid-seventies. A friend speculated that a 401 out of a Matador would be a fun project for my car, but I never seriously considered it. It was a nice little car though the front end would leave alignment and start eating tires if I so much as kissed a sidewalk with it. Mine was one of the base models with no opening hatchback and no back seat. Thanks for the info.
You're not supposed to drive on the sidewalks.
Thanks for sharing that. I can imagine if these were super mainstream with a 401 for such a low price people would get into a LOT of trouble lol
They weren't "factory", just 20 dealer specials with likely no warranty...
I would of done my best to get one. What an awesome sleeper. Absolutely Love It.
There was nothing wrong with Gremlin's, some rare performance option like this aside that I don't have any experience with the standard Gremlin's were good car's, all that nonsense people have talked about for years claiming they were "junk" and everything else was just smack talking based on people just not liking their style, but they were decent car's.
I worked as a mechanic all through the 80's so I worked on my share of them and it wasn't new one's, they were car's with miles on them and I never saw any kind of inherent flaws, they were pretty solid decent car's, people just didn't like their looks when they came out and that's what doomed them.
I never met one person who actually owned a Gremlin that did not love it. My first 1972 Grem had the bullet proof AMC 258 six, the great Chrysler 904 automatic, A/C and P/S. Got it off the showroom for around 1800.00. The absolute best buy for a young guy with a family at the time.
Now the odd part, me growing up in Tempe Arizona, I just thought that the 401 Gremlin was a normal option for the Gremlin, not a specialty car. Much like the Macho T/A from Meacham Motors. Local cars that most people outside of Arizona had no Idea that existed. Those cars are much like our beloved cheese crisps try ordering one any other place than Arizona and they give you this stupid folded over floppy tortilla melt thing they call a quesadilla, that nasty thing is not a cheese crisp
My Dad loved Gremlins and owned 3. The last one was an X model with a 304 3speed manual and posi rear end. It was quick off the line but had no top end. Fun car.
In Australia we had the Hornet under the Rambler badge (6 cyl) but not the Gremlin. I remember my dad talking about Studebaker Larks and Rambler Rebels being cop cars here in late 1960s, early 1970s. Great video mate 👍
Believe it or not, there was ONE single Gremlin that was prepared for the Australian market and it was even badged as a Rambler Gremlin. It appeared at one or two shows back in the 70's, and then shipped back to the states as it was decided there wasn't enough market space in Oz for the Gremlin. Today, it is the ONLY RHD Gremlin known to exist. It has been restored and is in private hands.
@@That_AMC_Guy I didn’t know that mate, thanks for reply 👍 I do remember in the 80s Jeep wranglers running around with the 401 motor, I’m guessing that was the AMC engine?
Being a lifelong AMC fan, and owning four some decades back, I like the Gremlin. They were on the road many years after the Pintos and Vegas were consigned to the junkyards. This 401 stuffed in a Gremlin.... Basically they "AMXed" the Gremlin. 😎👍
AMC themselves did this later in 1980 when they created the Spirit AMX. The Spirit bring the follow-on to the Gremlin but better looking. Limited to the 304 V8 though.
I would absolutely take a gremlin over a pinto, the Vegas I like but a the gremlins are so unique in their own special way
It was just as easy to put a SBC 400" into an H-body after 1975 such as Vega, Astre, Firenza, Special, Monza, Sunbird, etc... I still have my ultra rare '77 Pontiac Astre Formula Safari (kammback) Station Wagon...
@@rarecars3336well if you look at the pinto so basically you can tell that all ford did was stretch the grimlin design.
For had a bad habit of copying other automakers.
79 Spirit AMX was only one with 304 ... in 80 you could only get 258 6 like jeeps had
@@FrankStein1 nope
I bought one of these crazy cars in the Dallas area in 1972 It was 5 liter s of orange & black madness. Nothing could beat me off the line as long as the line was very straight. Breaking the back end loose was easy & never ending What a fun way to go!
rolling a car over in a drag-race is no fun- take it from me
My auto shop teacher in high school had one of those Gremlins. I had no idea how rare they were. I wish I would have rode in it at least once in retrospect...
If he had one of the real 20 then wow that is crazy rare
well, if dealers were doing the modding- there's no way of knowing how many made it onto the streets- you had no idea because you had no choice.....
The Gremlin's most famous moment was as a co-star in the movie "Brewster McCloud".
That little rollerskate doing donuts in the old Astrodome parking lot was unforgettable.
I've never heard of this TV show? or Movie? The Gremlin is famous for many other reasons. AMC's own TV commercials alone were very funny and memorable.
Wheelie comps come to mind first!
@@OsbornTramain Brewster McCloud was a quirky movie starring Bud Cort and Sally Kellerman. I used to work as a projectionist and showed this movie many times. In 1975 I needed to buy my first car so, being a quirky person myself, I looked at the Gremlin. About then AMC introduced the Pacer and it seemed a better set of compromises (and even more quirky...) so I bought one of those and drove it for over 20 years until the rust got it.
Back in the day, my older step brother worked at AMC in Wisconsin. He would talk about how the guys working at the factory had one heck of a side business modding Gremlins, and other AMC cars. While not production of factory approved, a lot of bad azz AMC's were running around at the time.
and that makes me wonder why they went under- could it be the guys doing modding at the factory is what got them into trouble? who would manage a motor manufacturing facility where workers had a side business selling non-factory-backed cars?
@@tommurphy4307 No, AMC's line up of viable cars started to go down. In the end the only one was the eagle. To many bad business decisions added up and killed the company.
First I heard of this car but I think it's so cool that there was an AMC equal to the likes of Yenko, Baldwin Motion and Royal Pontiac.
There was a home built 401 Gremlin around my town years ago and it would dance, let me tell ya, so I don't doubt that these Randall built examples were pretty impressive.
These had to upset A LOT of people back in the day lol
The seats were hideous in these things! I had a Honda and ripped the seats out of that and installed them. You could stick just about any V8 you wanted in these cars. I had these crazy biker friends who helped me build it! People hated being smoked by these things you're right about that!
I miss AMC and their interesting and standout styling, and when I think of the Gremlin, I remember my mom's friend and her kids I spent a lot of time with. Hers was purple, and being a waitress with a couple kids, it was a cheap car she could afford. She was pretty nice, and her son and I got to be pretty good friends though we didn't hang out too often. Also My uncle had a sportabout wagon for a couple years, i really thought it was a good looking and nice car. I saw a lightly used one at a car lot that specialized in classic cars, same light metallic blue, and had to stop to look at it. For everything people say was bad about the 70's, even though the performance of cars was pretty pathetic, overall we had a lot of wild looking cars at least. Just look at the early Javelins and Matadors, to me some of the better looking cars of the period.
Your post reads like a letter to Penthouse. I was sure you were going to have sex with somebody. Sorry it didn't work out for you.
The Gremlin was a simple yet really cool looking car. AMC was kind of ahead of their time when it came to the styling of this and the Javlin/AMC .
and look where it got them....
I was a Canadian who grew up in NH …. I “borrowed” my Brother’s 68 Mini Cooper S and his Renault R17 Gordini which were both fully tuned and I would beat my friend in his v8 Gremlin every time. To be fair, my friend was 300+ lbs so not quite a fair match! BTW, my current 79 1275 mini….highly tuned is a strong match to my A4!. The Gremlin was fast but only in a straight line 😅
My brothers son passed his car test so he bought him a car , my brother being into American cars bought him a US Datsun Cherry the Datsun F-10 he bought it from a guy in Darlington about 40 miles away who bought from the US bases he had a massive yard full of cars and scrap all bought from the bases you could buy a 1980's Chrysler police car to a 40 foot school bus , I was down there once he showed us a mobile radar station he was scrapping for the gold in the circuit boards .
I used to work at a Vauxhall dealers (GM at the time) our head off was Datsun so I had a lot of knowledge of Cherries , it still make me laugh to think the Gremlin was built to compete with small imported cars chalk and cheese spring to mind LOL . PS my brothers mate had a AMC Javelin I really liked that car .
Randall AMC on Main St in Mesa was heavy into racing. Drag racing, Off-Road Racing with cars and trucks. My friend's father worked there as a mechanic and gave him and me a ride in the Performance 401 Gremlin. I had a 66 350 hp L79 Nova with headers, a 4sp, and 4.56 gear. It was a quick little car that would run 13.70 on street tires and with the mufflers. The Gremlin would run 12.30s. Just riding in the Gremlin I knew it was a lot faster than my Nova. All my smack talk about AMC stopped after that ride.
We had a 74 6cyl and the only thing I remember bad about it was the hinges. They would cause the doors to sag
Ahh! Otto! There's a Gremlin on the side of the bus!
LMAO
I drove a 304 powered Gremlin X as a demo
Fun car to drive but loose in the rear.
A sheriff in central NJ had one that surprised a few who thought they could outrun it. It was pretty dent so I'm guessing he played rough.
my dad had a V8 Gremlin . pretty sure it was not one of these . i believe it had a SB Chevy . 4 speed , posi rear . . . that thing would move !
not certain but i think a 1970-71 .
i had 2 of the 6cylinder versions , 73-74 . both fine little work cars .
I had a friend that owned one. We were amateur Drag racers I had a 67 GTX 440. That light Gremlin was fast and it was I think if my 440 was stock would have been a close race.😊
I may be wrong, BUT was the Gremlin released on April Fools Day?
YES it was, talk about timing
The car scenes from 50's to 80's was the best ever manufacturers actually styled cars instead of how nowadays everything looks the same
I had a buddy that had an old gremlin from the 70s he bought it in the 80s for like $300. Nothing could even touch it that was built in the 80s. What a great little car not very pretty though.
They shoulda just called it The Dorkmobile. I had a purple Gremlin X back in the mid-80's. It had a 304 in it with a 4-speed.
I had a 73 Gremlin X with a factory 304, which I pulled out, and installed a 360. That machine was a tire eater, I can only imagine what a 401 would be like. The bad part, of course, is that these cars handled like a brick, and had brakes that were poor at best.
Rarer than hens teeth and 10x harder to document. Although there were maybe 20 or 21 XR 401 Gremlins, I'd be perfectly happy to own one of the nearly 11,000 V8 Gremlins produced from 1972 through 1976. I happen to have a 232-powered Gremlin and it's more than adequate.
I should have kept my ‘70 2-door Hornet. I’m such an idiot! Doh!
The 258 inline six was so torque-y
My brother bought a Gremlin in the 80's it was on New York plates he had it UK registered it was the first Q plate in north east UK , certain letters in the alphabet were not used as they look similar I, O, U, Q or Z prefix letters , in the 80's they introduced a Q plate for imported cars or kitcars and cars built from parts or right offs so something like ABC 123Q , he told me he was filling up at a petrol station and a copper on the beat (foot patrol) walking past stopped him and asked was he taking the mick (joking) with the reg plate as there are no Q's in the registration , he told the copper to radio the station because he needed to learn the law , he had the car for a while and decided to fit a Rover V8 he never got it running I think he scrapped it in the end , ugly looking cars but it grew on me . He also had a couple of other AMC Hornets before and after the Gremlin .
I couldn't find a cheap gremlin, so I ended up getting the smaller and lighter Geo Tracker 2dr 4x4 convertible. I'd love to squeeze a small walk in there though lol
Have a look at the Aussie 1978 Holden Torana A9X Hatchback.
5 litre, 308 cubic inch V8 Holden Engine.
Cheers
Louis Kats 👍
Dated a girl with a completely stock 304 Gremlin. A total dog. The Gremlin, not the girl. But so much potential. Both 😅
It wasn't a great car, but better than a Ford Pinto or Chevy Vega
so rare that i never heard of it growing up & have'nt seen one at a car show - 20 or 21 super-lucky
owners, though.......
I liked the gremlin. Me & a friend of mine modified a ford 289 HIPO & put it in a gremlin X. Talk about a beast. We called it the GREMSTANG.
always loved the gremlins... my first car was a 1975 gremlin, slant 6, 4 wheel drums... scary
Think what AMC could have done with Stable financing . With their Ingenuity they would still be a major Player in the US
The Gremlin actually BEAT the Pinto, Vega, Maverick, etc to the market. All the other came AFTER the Gremlin.
Only AMC would build a compact 8-cylinder hatchback!
I absolutely love the Gremlin, as well as the Pinto. The Gremlin immediately caught my attention as soon as I first saw one. The owner of a local mechanic shop sold his Mercury Cougar Eliminator to buy one. He put Mickey Thompson L60-14 tires on the back of it, that stuck out about 2" past the fenders. Many years later I drag raced a 1972 Gremlin for 7 years. Yes, it had a small block Chevy engine in it. By then the small block Chevy had become my favorite engine. The Gremlin body and chassis was built like a tank. Solid as a rock. I wish I still owned a Gremlin. I have owned three Pintos, and currently own and drive a 1972 Pinto woodgrain wagon. It came with a 2.0L SOHC inline 4 with a 4 speed transmission. It now has a 289 V8 and C4 automatic transmission from a '67 Falcon.
I knew nothing of this 401-XR version.
Thank you for this...VERY interesting.
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I had a Gremlin , it was a fun car . I was a lot less worried about getting burned to death as I was with my Pinto !
This was a very interesting model, and I certainly appreciate you covering this unique car with your excellent, thorough post.
Thank you for your excellent, fact-filled and interesting post!
I always like the looks of the Gremlin. There was one in my area that was the glossiest black with Cragar mags that looked awesome.
when i vacationed in orange county, ca. in the 70's- i used my bros girlfriends gremlin while she was visiting in ohio. that ugly thing got me all over the southland without any problems.
Went for a ride in a yellow 304 manual trans car it was scary as hell hitting 100mph in that tin can🤯 Couldn't imagine a 401
Exactly my thoughts. I had a 6cly auto. Scary at 80mph.
I will always love how the front ends look on AMC of that era!
What a great video! I’ve always wanted a Gremlin- I’m old enough to remember when they came out- and this makes me want one, even more. New subscriber!
Thanks for watching and subscribing! The gremlins are just so unique you can't help but love them!
I remember Kenny's White with orange striped Gremlin X from back in 1979 on Forest lane in Dallas. Man that thing was sharp!
I did work for a AMC dealer in western New York, we ordered the vehicle as we saw it! Sales were great, I owned a hornet with a 4 speed transmission, one of the best car I did own at that time
This is the power I wish my car had and that color is beautiful.
I didn't know that AMC had these and now I want it.
I either owned or rented at one time or another several AMC cars from a 1965 Rambler to a 1982 Eagle. I liked them all, though none where performance models, all were six's. A neighbor business had a 401 Javelin that sat outside for many years, wouldn't sell it, next thing I knew building was empty, the car and everything else was gone, no idea what happened to it.
Darn thats a shame, I love the javelins.
I had one of these
4spd manual, sh*t brown ext and sh*t brown int.
and yes, it was insanely fast.
I could be doing 60mph in 4th, floor it and tires would just spin. you could light the tires up in every gear and it was really hard not to do so, but if you did... *WOW*
my dad stopped at a light next to a 911turbo (king of the hill at the time) the guy literally smiled at us like he was going to smoke us... then the light turned green, my dad hit it perfect, little tire spin and the car just shot off like a bullet, leaving the porsche driver sitting there with drool running down his chin LOL
I was gifted the car upon my 16th (yea... things arent like they are now, us kids got some insanely scary vehicles gifted us... and we're still alive !)
the real downside to this car (aside from it being just plain butt ugly, only the pacer was uglier) anyways, as I was saying, the major downside is the car was in the shop literally every other week, it was just too much for a jobless 16 yr old to try and upkeep... I think I gave it away haha
Wow thanks for sharing that that is a great story! That had to have been a fun time walking that 911 Turbo
My dad had a gremlin with a v8, ugly car sure but it was a fun car
just one point which is always claimed but not true......AMC didn't jump into the subcompact market due to the foreign compitition of other makes from Japan. AMC was in the subcompact market from 1954 thru 1962 with the sub compact car Metropolitian. The Met was a good seller. AMC saw the gigantic gains VW was making and by the mid 60s, decided they needed to have a car to compete. Under the direction of Roy Abernathy, a program was developed in 1965 to address the replacement of the Rambler American. It was decided then, that one platform could spawn a number of cars. The Gremlin was one of the cars and the second model launched off that platform. It was designed in every way to be better or more American to compete with the VW Bug (which wasn't a hatchback). The Gremlin was first offered in a sedan form and hatchback form. It wasn't created to compete against a Datsun or Toyota or European car, it was designed to fight the VW Bug. Period...end of story The program spawned, the Hornet 2 dr and 4 door sedan, then the Gremlin, then the Hornet Sportabout and finally by 1973, the Hornet Hatchback.......the javelin and AMX are also derivatives of this same platform. Abernathy would retire by September 1966 and be on the Board of Directors, but his program is what fueled AMC big gains in market share in the early 1970s
I'd be happy with a stock 6 cylinder Gremlin. Or pretty much any car from the 60's to 80's
Never knew this story. Sure back in the day saw plenty of these running around I'm sure most six cylinders. No, I didn't think they looked good nor did I think its competition did either. Pintos were hideous and Vegas were maybe the cheesiest looking American cars ever that were well on their way to rusting away within the first year of their lives. If I were in the market at the time absolutely I would have taken a V8 version of the Gremlin hands down.
The V8 Gremlin would have been a toss up for me with the Vega because I like the way the vegas looked
You would have to be stupid not to love this car . I had the X model with the 304 , I added two carbs , headers , cam , the usual stuff , super T_10 . That thing would trash most GM products , mopars with ease ! Fords ? well kept up most of the time . Best handling car I ever owned .
Thanks for sharing that story! I feel like a hopped up lower cubic inch V8 gremlin would be the perfect mix of grunt and speed without being ridiculous
Being old I remember the Gremlin, and it was never offered to the customer with a 401 from the factory. This was like a Yenko Chevy where the dealership did hop-ups ostensibly for racing only which ended up on the streets. The Gremlin was essentially a chopped-off AMC Hornet, and the Hornet wasn't considered a bad-looking car. AMC sold plenty of the Gremlins in the initial years, mostly to younger buyers who liked the avant-garde 'funky' look and the numerous special trim/paint schemes. It was mostly old fogeys who disliked them.
I didnt like the gremlin when i was a kid. I would 100% would own one roday. I love small car since i live in a city. A Gremlin with todays suspension and an old school V8 would be the ultimate for me.
That would be a wicked ride
With no weight in the back end, the V8 Gremlin had problems getting horsepower to the road with the 304; I can't imagine what it was like with a 401.
It had to be a little scary!
Ion the gremlin x. Way too much car for me at 18.