American · 1970–1983

AMC Gremlin

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 It was superseded for the 1979 model year by a restyled and revised variant, the AMC Spirit, which continued to be produced through 1983.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.

Text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Successor: AMC Spirit

All American AMC Gremlin data: UK builds, safety, recalls, model years → + Compare

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 108 to 96 inches (2,743 to 2,438 mm) and the overall length from 179 to 161 in (4,547 to 4,089 mm), 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-

Competition

The AMC Gremlin saw action at numerous auto racing venues, including endurance, as well as oval and road racing. Due to their inherent inexpensiveness, strength, and simplicity to modify them for higher performance, many AMC Gremlins were used in drag racing. In the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) RS series for compact sedans, Raleigh, North Carolina's "Team Highball", run by Amos Johnson and Bunny Johnson, was the AMC factory-backed team, with Amos Johnson, Whit Diggett, and later, Dennis Shaw driving. The torque of their 232 cu in (3.8 L) I6 Gremlins gave a big advantage on the faster tracks like the Daytona International Speedway, where they were often more than a match for the BMW 2002, Alfa Romeo GTV, Datsun 510, Ford Pinto, Mercury Capri, and Opel Manta. Johnson was the series 1973 co-champion, while independent driver George Alderman took the 1974 title. Starting in 1970, Wally Booth headed AMC's Pro Stock drag racing efforts. He and other drivers campaigned Gremlins painted in the hash red, white, and blue pattern that AMC had adopted as its corporate race livery. Dick Arons built the engines. The team "transformed the brand's staid grocery-getter reputation from the ground up into that of a genuine performance powerhouse". Wally Booth "was one of the Edelbrock crew's favorite racers". The rule changes for the 1972 Pro Stock season opened drag racing for smaller cars fitted with small-block engines and AMC was committed to fielding the Gremlin. The first car Booth built was a Gremlin body-in-white, but it was wrecked in a towing accident. In preparation for the 1973 racing season, Booth built a tube chassis Gremlin with the former Penske Racing fabricator, Ron Fournier, but switched to a Hornet body Pro Stock body after realizing that the Gremlin's

Other markets

=== Canada === American Motors built an assembly plant in Brampton, Ontario, in 1961 for production of motor vehicles for the Canadian market as well as for the United States. The plant built and offered almost all AMC vehicles through the 1960s, allowing AMC to take advantage of the Canada–United States Automotive Products Agreement established between the two countries in 1965. By 1969, production at the Brampton Assembly had grown to such a size that AMC had the plant producing vehicles for the eastern half of the American continent while Kenosha produced vehicles for the western half of the continent. The plant ceased building the Ambassador after 1968 and imported the Javelin and later Matador from the United States but continued to build the Gremlin and Hornet throughout the 1970s. With Canada moving to the metric system during the 1970s, late model Gremlins were built with their speedometers reading in kilometers per hour. Mexico. Vehiculos Automotores Mexicanos (VAM) manufactured Gremlins in Mexico under license and partial ownership (38% equity share) by AMC. Although the Gremlin was introduced to the U.S. and Canadian markets in 1970, VAM continued assembling its version of the Hornet still bearing the name Rambler American as its smallest, least expensive car until 1974. The fact that VAM already had three lines of products (the top limit permitted by legislation) from 1968 through 1973 made it impossible for the Gremlin to be offered. It was not until the discontinuation of the Javelin line in 1973 that free space was available for Gremlin production, making 1974 its year of debut. The 1974 Gremlin was the third VAM car not to bear the Rambler name since the 1968 Javelin and the 1972 Classic (Matador in the U.S.) models. Moreover, the Mexican market continu

Hurst Rescue System 1

Between 1972 and 1974, Hurst Performance marketed "a highway safety vehicle" for emergency services, as well as a compact alternative to trucks for motorsport race tracks. The "Hurst Rescue System 1" was based on the AMC Gremlin and designed to quickly assist vehicle extrication of crash victims. The vehicle came with the "Hurst Rescue Tool", commonly known as "The Jaws of Life", winch, stretcher, and firefighting and first aid supplies. The vehicle also included push bumpers and a 25-gallon water tank. The price for this fully equipped rescue vehicle was between $11,000 to $13,000. Police. A 1975 Gremlin was used as an experimental police vehicle by the Houston Police Department's Traffic Bureau, but this did not result in fleet orders.

Experimental cars

The Gremlin proved a popular testbed for experiments with alternative fuels. Many universities converted them to run on natural gas, hydrogen, and electric power. Hydrogen. In 1972 University of California, Los Angeles researchers won a nationwide Urban Vehicle Design Competition when they modified a 1972 AMC Gremlin to run on hydrogen. The lessons learned are still useful today. The engine was a converted Ford 351 cu in (5.8 L) V8 noted for its volumetric efficiency. Lacking sophisticated electronics and injection systems, the carburetor was a modified propane unit and the 100-litre (26.4 US gal) "thermos"-type hydrogen tank gave the Gremlin a range of 160 miles (257 km). Tests indicated that the car would not only meet the scheduled 1976 vehicle United States emission standards, but also actually emit slightly cleaner air than it took in. As part of the 1972 Urban Vehicle Design Competition, UCLA engineering students also enlarged the side glass area above the rear wheels for improved visibility, designed a roll cage which projected through the Gremlin's roof to double as a roof rack, and designed 5 MPH bumpers with an environmentally-friendly energy-absorbing popcorn core, covered with a recycled-tire tread surface. In 1984, UCLA's first hydrogen-powered car was sold for one dollar to the William F. Harrah Automobile Museum in Reno, Nevada. In 2010, the car was available on an auction site. Alternative fuels. Other experiments used AMC Gremlins. To evaluate non-petroleum fuel and measure mechanical wear under mostly short city driving, a 1970 Gremlin with AMC's 232 cu in (3.8 L) engine operated successfully on methanol for ten years and 46,250 miles (74,432 km). The broadest range of fuel tests were conducted by the United States Department of Energy (DOE) labs in Ba

Exhibition

Engineers at Coleman Products Corporation in Coleman, Wisconsin, created a non-drivable plexiglas Gremlin as a demonstrator of the placement and function of electrical wiring harnesses.

Sections adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0); text is shortened. Read the full article for the complete history and citations.

Specifications

name

AMC Gremlin

aka

American Motors Gremlin, VAM Gremlin (Mexico)

Manufacturer

American Motors Corporation

Production

1970–1978 (US), 1974–1983 (Mexico), 671,475 produced

Assembly

United States: Kenosha, Wisconsin (Kenosha Assembly), Canada: Brampton, Ontario (Brampton Assembly), Mexico: Mexico City (VAM)

Class

Subcompact

Body style

2-door sedan, 2-door hatchback

Layout

FR layout

Successor

AMC Spirit

Engine

1984 cc VW EA831 I4, 199 CID AMC I6, 232 CID AMC I6, 258 CID AMC I6, 304 CID AMC V8

Transmission

3- or 4-speed Borg-Warner manual, 3-speed manual w/ Laycock de Normanville overdrive, 3-speed Borg-Warner automatic (1970–1971), 3-speed Chrysler TorqueFlite automatic (1972–1978)

Length

161.3 in (1970–1972), 165.5 in (1973), 170.3 in (1974–1975), 169.4 in (1976), 166.5 in (1977–1978)

Width

70.6 in

Height

51.8 in

Wheelbase

96 in

Kerb weight

2633 lb

Related

AMC Spirit, AMC Eagle, AMC Hornet, AMC Concord, AMC Pacer

Designer

Bob Nixon, Dick Teague

Specification summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Measured facts from Wikidata (CC0). Check the linked sources for citations.

More photos

Sources

• Wikidata — https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q294696CC0 1.0 · retrieved 2026-10-01
• Wikipedia — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMC_GremlinCC BY-SA 4.0 · Text © Wikipedia contributors; revision 1372662195 · retrieved 2026-10-01
• Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1974_Gremlin.jpgCC BY-SA 3.0 · Photo: Users Interiot, Rsduhamel on en.wikipedia · retrieved 2026-10-01
• Car Model Index — https://models.autoculturesociety.com/Compiled record. Sources that do not permit reuse are not copied; this index is credited instead.

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