In addition, interior space, while ample for the driver and passenger, was compromised. Nose-heavy, with a choppy ride and notoriously slow steering, Gremlins had driving characteristics that would doom most other cars. Unfortunately, sturdiness did not bestow roadworthiness, and the Gremlin wasn’t exactly delightful to drive. The Gremlin was a subcompact that felt bigger and sturdier than it was, and that paradox became a selling point. In other words, it was marketed as a more substantial car. Initially aimed squarely at the Volkswagen Beetle, early marketing materials pointed out that the Gremlin was lower, wider and heavier than the Beetle, and came standard with a 6-cylinder engine. That was very much in line with AMC’s new product approach, since in the 20-year period between 19, the firm spent a paltry 1.8% of its revenue on research and development. AMC gambled that a new type of buyer was purchasing subcompact cars, and such a buyer wanted something unconventional – something that didn’t resemble mom and dad’s car (for a modern analogy, think of present-day companies trying to anticipate millennials’ consumer preferences).ĭue to its roots in an existing product, the Gremlin was almost comically cheap to bring to market (total tooling costs came in at $5 million). Its angular rear was unusual, but that was the point. The size difference all came from the passenger/cargo area, and the above ad is revealing: the rear seat was only suitable for small children, and a pet could occupy the cargo area - as long as it didn’t move. The design featured the Hornet’s long hood and mid-section mated to a wedge-shaped rear that AMC termed a “chopback.” Wheelbase and length were over a foot shorter than the Hornet. The concept was essentially a truncated Hornet, and AMC’s VP of Design, Richard Teague, evidently first sketched the Gremlin’s design on an airplane air-sickness bag. Sensing a need for a still-smaller car to battle the increasingly popular imports, a plan was devised to create a subcompact version of the Hornet. American Motors Corporation had long been associated with smaller cars, and was set to introduce its new compact, the Hornet, in 1970. To start, let’s briefly look over the Gremlin’s origins. Its story is more interesting than one might imagine. Far from being a failure, the Gremlin was a remarkable and underappreciated success for a company that was perpetually on the verge of collapse. To name two such lists, Time magazine called the Gremlin one of the worst cars of all time, and Hagerty Insurance named it the 6th “most questionable car design of all time.” Yet, despite this ignominy, the Gremlin sold well over its 9-year lifespan: about 650,000 were produced. Modern references to Gremlins usually take the form of being on someone’s Top 10 list of ugliest/worst/most shameful/etc. This particular car is from the Gremlin’s penultimate year of 1977, and – as if being a Gremlin wasn’t startling enough – is painted in firecracker red. (first posted ) It’s always noteworthy when one sees an AMC Gremlin in the wild, and even though Gremlins have been examined previously on this site, there can always be more said about what is one of the most distinctive and polarizing cars in recent memory.
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