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HomeGremlin

Gremlin

1970.5 AMC Gremlin partial ad
Drive-By Musings

How much did postwar automakers decontent cars to keep the price down?

February 10, 2025 Steve 6

Indie Auto commentator Peter Wilding (2025) raised a good point when noting that he “never understood the idea of deliberately decontenting a car to be able to advertise a lower price, when hardly anyone actually […]

1972 AMC Gremlin X
Media Analysis

Pat Foster barks up wrong tree by lauding an AMC Gremlin GT with a 360 V8

March 13, 2024 Steve 13

Since last summer’s departure of Daniel Strohl from Hemmings, I have mainly been drawn to its website because of a Pat Foster column. He has become one of the most prominent U.S. auto history book […]

1975 AMC Pacer
History

Six mistakes that killed the AMC Pacer — and American Motors

September 8, 2023 Steve 44

(EXPANDED FROM 9/9/2022) The 1975-80 AMC Pacer may have been a memorable car, but it was also a key factor in American Motors’ demise as an independent automaker. What’s particularly tragic is that the Pacer’s […]

1977 AMC Gremlin Custom
History

An AMC four-cylinder engine was Roy D. Chapin Jr.’s last big mistake

July 31, 2023 Steve 13

Curbside Classic recently posted a 1977 Road & Track test of an AMC Gremlin with a new four-cylinder engine. This got me thinking about how American Motors’ purchase of a power plant from Volkswagen was […]

1976 AMC Pacer and Chevy Nova
Media Analysis

Automotive News treats Gerald C. Meyers’ tenure at AMC with kid gloves

June 28, 2023 Steve 10

Automotive News’ obituary of Gerald C. Meyer treated his tenure at American Motors with kid gloves. Meyers died on June 19 at the age of 94. Presenting a largely upbeat narrative would make sense if […]

1977 AMC Gremlin X
Media Analysis

Was AMC seriously considering a late-70s Gremlin wagon?

July 29, 2022 Steve 1

Dan Strohl (2022) has posted a photograph of what could have been a Gremlin wagon prototype. His story and comment thread offer a number of plausible ideas about what AMC had in mind, but I […]

History

Four reasons why the AMC Gremlin was a bad idea

April 20, 2022 Steve 10

(UPDATED FROM 4/20/2022) The AMC Gremlin may be one of the most memorable cars of the 1970s, but it was a bad idea for four often-forgotten reasons. I grant you that what I am about […]

Readings

Revealing photos of AMC Javelins that didn’t make it

August 14, 2020 Steve 0

The most poignant part of Javelin Photo Archive is a set of proposals for a lovely Gremlin-based hatchback intended for introduction in 1973 or 1974. The designs look like they could have sold quite well. […]

1967 Rambler Rebel 550 2-door coupe
History

How American Motors abandoned its uniqueness in the second half of the 1960s

January 1, 2020 Steve 0

The most strikingly quality of American Motors’ car designs developed in the mid-60s was how quickly the automaker ditched the Rambler look in favor of styling mostly indistinguishable from the Big Three. This was a […]

1976 AMC Gremlin
Media Analysis

‘How Stuff Works’ quiz says this is a 1971 Gremlin. Nope.

October 10, 2018 Steve 0

How Stuff Works recently advertised a quiz about vehicles from the 1970s (Tyler, 2018). The promo stated that “no one is getting a perfect score . . . and it’s driving the Internet crazy!” I […]

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