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Best of the Worst Cars to Collect |
Sold for $18,000 in December, 2012 Fresh rotisserie restoration One owner car from Oklahoma Original 232/135 HP straight six engine 3-speed transmission with floor shift Snow White with Red vinyl interior Rear window lift gate Roof luggage rack Full hubcaps Red Rally side striping Less than 50,000 orginal miles |
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1971 AMC Gremlin |
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The idea for the Gremlin began in 1966 when
design chief at American Motors, Richard A. Teague, and stylist Bob
Nixon discussed the possibility of a shortened version of AMC's compact
car. 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 Capitalizing on AMC's advantage as a small car producer, the Gremlin was introduced on 1 April 1970, and was rated a good buy at an economical price. The 6 April 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-seater with fixed back window, at a suggested retail price of $1,879, and as a four-seater hatchback with opening rear window, at $1,959. 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 that “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 leg room. 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 18 cubic feet. For the 1971 model year the "X" appearance/equipment trim package was introduced as a $300 option on the 4-passenger model and "proved extremely popular." It included body side tape stripes, body color front fascia, slotted road wheels with Goodyear Polyglas D70x14 tires, blackout grille insert, bucket seats, and "X" decals. The 2-passenger Gremlin version entered into its second and final season. The 232 cu in (3.8 L) I6 engine that was optional for 1970 became standard, while a longer-stroke 258 cu in (4.2 L) version became the option. Compression ratios dropped from 8.5:1 to 8:1 for 1971, resulting in 135 hp (101 kW; 137 PS) (gross) from the 232 cu in (3.8 L) and 150 hp (112 kW; 152 PS) (gross) from the 258 cu in (4.2 L). 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. This is no doubt one of the ugliest car designs to ever come out of Detroit. It has been a joke since the mid 1970's. It's one of those cars that is so uncool that it is cool. It simply makes a statement that no other American car can make. So is it a collectible classic worthy of a serious investment? Hardly ... the fool that paid $18,000 for this one (although it may be the best restored Gremlin I've ever seen ... and who would spend the money to restore one of these?) probably bought for reasons that logic can't fathom. Like the title says this is the Best of the Worst. |
