The AMC Gremlin, also called American Motors Gremlin, is a subcompact car introduced in 1970, manufactured and marketed in a single, two-door body style (1970–1978) by American Motors Corporation (AMC), as well as in Mexico (1974–1983) by AMC's Vehículos Automotores Mexicanos (VAM) subsidiary.
Using a shortened Hornet platform and bodywork with a pronounced kammback-like tail, the Gremlin was classified as an economy car and competed with the Chevrolet Vega and Ford Pinto, introduced that same year, as well as imported vehicles including the Volkswagen Beetle and Toyota Corolla. The small domestic automaker marketed the Gremlin as "the first American-built import."
The Gremlin reached a total production of 671,475 over a single generation. It was superseded for the 1979 model year by a restyled and revised variant, the AMC Spirit, which continued to be produced through 1983. This was long after the retirement of the Ford Pinto, which suffered from stories about exploding gas tanks, as well as the Chevrolet Vega with its rusting bodies, durability problems, and aluminum engine.
History Origin and design
The idea for a sub-compact sized model in AMC's product line began in 1966 when design chief at American Motors, Dick Teague, and stylist Bob Nixon discussed the possibility of a shortened version of AMC's compact car. While on an airline flight, Teague's solution, which he said he sketched on an air sickness bag, was to truncate the tail of a Javelin. Bob Nixon joined AMC as a 23-year-old and did the first formal design sketches in 1967 for the car that was to be the Gremlin.
Ford and General Motors were reported to launch entirely new subcompact cars for the 1971 model year. On the other hand, AMC did not have the financial resources to compete with a wholly new design. Teague's idea of using the shortened pony car Javelin platform resulted in the AMX-GT concept, first shown at the New York International Auto Show in April 1968. This version did not go into production. Instead, the AMX name was utilized from 1968 through 1970 on a shortened, two-seat sports car built from the Javelin.
Instead, Bob Nixon, AMC's future Chief of Design, designed the new subcompact based on the automaker's Hornet model, a compact car. The design reduced the wheelbase from and the overall length from , making the Gremlin two inches (50 mm) longer than the Volkswagen Beetle and shorter than the Ford Pinto and Chevrolet Vega.
Capitalizing on AMC's advantage as a small car producer, the Gremlin was introduced on April 1, 1970. The April 6, 1970, cover of Newsweek magazine featured a red Gremlin for its article, "Detroit Fights Back: The Gremlin". The car was available as a "base" two-passenger version with no rear seat and a fixed rear window, at a suggested retail price of $1,879, and as a four-seat hatchback with an opening rear window, at $1,959 (US$ in dollars).
From the front of the car to the B-pillars, the Gremlin was essentially the same as the AMC Hornet. Although it was only fractionally longer than the contemporary Volkswagen Beetle, Time said the length of its hood over the front-mounted engine made "the difference seem considerably more", adding that the car "resembles a sawed-off station wagon, with a long, low hood and swept-up rear, and is faintly reminiscent of the original Studebaker Avanti." As with the Volkswagen, the Gremlin's styling set it apart from other cars. Time said, "like some other cars of less than standard size, the back seat is designed for small children only." The Gremlin's wider stance gave it "a stable, quiet and relatively comfortable ride—for the two front passengers", for whom, by small-car standards, there was more than average interior width, seat room, and legroom. The six cubic feet of luggage space behind the back seat was less than in the rear-engined Volkswagen Beetle, but with the seat folded the cargo area tripled to .
The upright design of the tail, which helped enhance interior space, was aerodynamically efficient. Later, some European and Japanese manufacturers similarly created different body styles on a single compact car platform by extending or shortening the trunk (e.g., Volkswagen's Jetta and Golf models).
Marketing
Designed and named by Teague to look either "cute or controversial - depending on one's viewpoint ... for many, it seemed perfect for the free-thinking early 1970s." American Motors executives apparently felt confident enough not to worry that the Gremlin name might have negative connotations. Time magazine noted two definitions for gremlin: "Defined by Webster's as 'a small gnome held to be responsible for malfunction of equipment.' American Motors' definition: 'a pal to its friends and an ogre to its enemies.'" The car's cartoon-inspired mascot was marketed for product differentiation and was intended to be memorable to consumers. The Gremlin's hatchback design was also needed to make the car stand out in the competitive marketplace, and according to Teague: "Nobody would have paid it any attention if it had looked like one of the Big Three" automobiles.
AMC promoted the Gremlin as "America's first subcompact". This description overlooks the Nash Metropolitan and the earlier Crosley. The Metropolitan—a subcompact-sized The term "subcompact" was not in use to describe the Metropolitan's size: "During World War II and immediately afterwards, Mason began to explore the idea of developing a truly small car, the size of what today we'd call a subcompact." captive import, American-conceived and American-designed for the American market, and built in the UK with a British engine—has a claim to be "America's first subcompact."Note: the North American categories of "compact", "subcompact", "midsize" etc. had not come into use when the Metropolitan was made. It was called an economy car, not a subcompact, at the time. (Contemporary articles also called the Metropolitan "a small automobile"; in sales brochures, the Met was described as "America's entirely new kind of car" (1955), "Luxury in Miniature" (1959), and "crafted for personal transportation" (1960). Sales brochures. Retrieved 27 June 2014. One writer described it as "little larger than a toy car.") The Metropolitan fits the "subcompact" classification, as stated in the following: "[T]he...president of Nash-Kelvinator Corporation decided to market what would ultimately be called a "subcompact"..."Auto Editors of Consumer Guide, "1954–1962 Metropolitan", 23 October 2007. Retrieved 3 February 2022. Numerous small American-made cars, e.g. American Austin, American Bantam, Crosley and World War I-era "cyclecars" such as the American, existed long before the Gremlin. (Except for the cyclecars, those cited are classified as microcars.) "List of microcars", Vintage Microcar Club. Retrieved 3 February 2022.
AMC marketed the Gremlin as "cute and different," a strategy successful in attracting more than 60 percent of purchasers under the age of 35.
Annual changes (1970–1978) 1970 The Gremlin debuted in April 1970 with AMC's I6, a seven main bearing design which produced as standard equipment, with AMC's I6 - producing - as an option. American Motors claimed the Gremlin offered "the best gas mileage of any production car made in America". According to the auto editors of Consumer Guide, it had "an unusually long option list for the era" so owners could have luxury and conveniences typically found in more expensive cars, and these options "came with a much higher profit margin" for the automaker.
As the first of the new domestic subcompact cars, "the Gremlin has been the most talked-about car since its introduction." Sales for the abbreviated model year were 25,300.
Popular Science assigned its editor to the equivalent of one year of driving by conducting a cross-country road test of a brand new Gremlin, and reported after driving it "without a single problem is an enviable record" and that "we were all impressed with the quality of this vehicle." A nationwide survey based on owners driving their 1970 AMC Gremlins over conducted by Popular Mechanics concluded that the unique styling attracted many buyers, but economy topped their likes.
1971 For the 1971 model year, the "X" appearance/equipment trim package was introduced as a $300 option on the four-passenger model and "proved extremely popular." It included body side tape stripes, body color front fascia, slotted road wheels with D70x14 Goodyear Polyglas tires, blackout grille insert, bucket seats, and "X" decals.
The two-passenger Gremlin version entered into its second and final season. The I6 engine, which was optional for 1970, became standard, while a longer-stroke version became the option. Compression ratios dropped from 8.5:1 to 8:1 for 1971, resulting in (gross) from the and (gross) from the Flory, p. 787.
1971 Gremlin prices increased slightly (up by $20 to $1,899 for the base model), and sales for this first full model year rose to 53,480.Flory, p. 789.
1972 Among many other changes was the availability of a V8 engine. It was "the muscle car formula of stuffing a big motor in a small car." Engine ratings were downgraded to more accurate Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) net hp figures, bringing the engine to , the to Flory, p. 866. and the 304 V8 to . Even with the lower engine output ratings across the industry, "the V8 Gremlin was a poor-man's Corvette, able to spin its rear tires at will and outrun some larger, more expensive pony cars" and it was "the only real performance car available under $2,200."
The base two-seater model was discontinued, having sold 3,017 units in 18 months.Flory, p. 868. Gremlins also switched from non-synchronized 1st gear manual transmissions to full synchromesh, and the Chrysler-designed TorqueFlite replaced the Borg-Warner-sourced automatic transmission. Other minor technical upgrades improved the car's reliability and durability.
The Gremlin X package continued to be popular, while optional features now included an AM/FM radio, fabric sunroof, tilt steering wheel, inside hood release, trailer towing package for up to with a Class 1 hitch, as well as manual or power-assisted front disk brakes.
American Motors introduced the automobile industry's first 12-month or bumper-to-bumper warranty, called the "Buyer Protection Plan". Its foundation was an emphasis on quality and durability, improved production by reducing the number of models and increasing the level of standard equipment. The new warranty included an innovative promise to customers that AMC would repair anything wrong with the car (except for tires). Owners were provided with a toll-free number to the company, as well as a free loaner car if a warranty repair took overnight. Numerous production and product improvements would result in fewer warranty claims, better public relations, and greater customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Model year 1972 sales totaled 61,717, a 15% gain over the previous year.
1973 For the 1973 model year, AMC strengthened bumpers able to withstand a impact in the front and a impact in the rear, without any damage to the engine, lights, and safety equipment, according to new mandates by the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). A Levi's interior trim package was available that 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. Rear-seat legroom was increased. The X package received a new tape-striping pattern that kicked up over the Gremlin's rear-wheel flares.
Sales improved to 122,844 units, nearly 30% more than in 1972. A 1973 Gremlin purchased by Consumer Reports was top-rated among the six subcompact models tested for the June issue. The car had relatively few sample defects and proved reliable over the magazine's long-term test.
1974