From a contemporary and European perspective, the Gremlin (CC here) makes no sense whatsoever, with its large 3.8 L six, mediocre fuel economy (20 mpg, 11.75 L/100 kmh), and poor space efficiency. Never mind its slow steering and clumsy handling. Now I’m not going to claim that the Gremlin really did make sense, but I am going to try to put a little historical perspective to it.
Two passenger body style versions of conventional “full-sized” American cars were very popular from its earliest days up to WW2. Yes, the four door touring version of the Model T was the most popular, but in retrospect, it’s surprising how common the two-passenger roadster and coupe were too. Of course, the roadster was the always the cheapest version of any car’s model range; but then that was the case with the Gremlin. It was (essentially) a two passenger Hornet.
Roadsters and coupes were often bought by folks who used their cars primarily for business, or the younger buyers who didn’t have kids, and those that just wanted or needed to spend as little on the purchase price as possible.
The traditional two-passenger coupe evolved into the “business coupe” as cars got longer in the late thirties. Some coupes and roadsters also offered rumble seats that folded out of the trunk.
By the late thirties or forties, that rear storage area grew in size. This shows a late version, from the early fifties.
The Chrysler Corp. cars from 1941 through 1948 had a particularly sexy booty business coupe, if large ones are your thing. This is a ’46 Dodge.
And Some business coupes, especially those after WW2, had small back seats, suitable for kids, like the Gremlin’s. Business coupes did have huge trunks, which made them popular with traveling salesmen and the like, and hence the name.
They disappeared around 1953 or so. Anyone know which was the last (other than the Gremlin)?
Around the time the Gremlin appeared (1970) gasoline prices were near an historic low in America ($1.95 adjusted) up until then . Gas prices had actually dropped, in inflation adjusted dollars, all through the sixties. So folks looking for an “economy car” weren’t necessarily interested so much in in fuel economy, but a low purchase price. The Gremlin’s $1999 price ($11,000 in 2010 dollars) matched the Beetle’s, and was as cheap as any American car at the time.
Many Americans, especially away from the coasts, didn’t trust foreign cars, or had legitimate issues with them, like the VW’s wretched heater. That meant something in cold upper-Midwest winters (don’t ask about the Gremlin’s traction in snow, though). Service for imports was sketchy, and the Gremlin offered an utterly familiar and easy to service vehicle.
The Gremlin was likely bought by a single person starting out, since cars were very affordable in relation to hourly wages at the time. In fact, 1971 was the all-time high for median hourly wages. Get a job, instantly go buy a new car ; the (good old but not so ubiquitous anymore) American way. The Gremlin offered good straight-line performance, and felt familiar from the front seat forwards. Or it was bought as a second car, for a family still devoted to traditional American vehicles.
I’m not trying to exonerate the Gremlin from its many shortcomings, but hopefully, this puts it in perspective a bit, as the last American business coupe.
Thanks, Paul. I guess this was the answer to my wondering earlier. You work fast.
One thing I wonder though, about Business Coupes. I have seen some two-seater version with a cargo hold instead of a backseat, but were they open through to the luggage compartment, or were they in fact two compartments? One interior, and one accessible only from the outside? In effect, what I wonder, were they like modern hatchbacks, though without the actual hatch?
Another thing I wonder, why did the two-seater Gremlin come without a hatch? Wouldn’t a hatch had been more practical? I mean, it’s the only Gremlin with a large enough compartment, and it’s only accessible from the inside? Doesn’t make sense.
Ingvar, I’m not aware of any Business Coupes that had a pass-through, but I could be wrong. Yes, some had a storage compartment (I’m going to add a picture of that) where the rear seat might otherwise be. That, combined with an out sized trunk, made for quite a bit of room.
The only reason the base Gremlin came without a hatch was in order to make it’s price just slide under that magic $2000 level. The hatch and back seat were optional in that $1999 stripper version, but they got away from that after a few years. I doubt that many actually were sold without the opening rear window. Pretty stupid, but it made for good ad copy to have that $1999 sticker.
My first new car was a base 71 Gremlin two-seater that I bought as a 17 year old junior in high school enrolled in work release program. Creative dealer took base car, added chrome reverse wheels with white letter tires, put on Gremlin X stripes ( covered X with K, dealer name Bob Kay), and a chrome T handle on 3 speed floor shifter….and priced at $2100 ! Car was competitive with base Beetle, Pinto & Vega….but my Gremlin was “CUSTOM”. I don’t think I even noticed hatch was stationary until I got it home ( i learned to drive a stick on that drive home). I was one proud high schooler, and within a couple months I put the widest 60 series Mickey Thompson’s I could get on 5″ wide rims on the rear, air shocks for the rake and clearance, and of course a glass pack / no tail pipe….my first “Hot-Rod” (tongue in cheek) ! BTW, at 17 this was my third car, 63 Belaire 4 door at 15 and 63 Chevy II ragtop at 16.
My aunt and uncle had an old Chrysler Corp. business coupe that the kids drove. Can’t remember if it was a Dodge or Plymouth, but it had no back seat, just heavy cardboard-type material all around. Three of us sat on suitcases back there to take one of my cousins to the train station nearby. I was only about 7 yrs. old and enjoyed the ride. I think originally the Gremlin had fixed back glass, but later versions allowed it to open as a hatch. Side windows were fixed but flip-out was an option. My 1976 was a hatch w/fixed quarter windows. Base version. The business coupes were easy to spot, as the rear quarter windows were short and the trunk was very long. Also Paul, do you remember the huge Chrysler or DeSoto three-window coupes from that era? A large car with no back seat and no quarter windows! Even came in a convertible version! That’s a CC I’d like to see and learn more about.
Those are delicious. I added a ’46 Dodge to the article; thanks for reminding me.
These cars also featured the center rear brake light, a “butt-light” as me and my buddies referred to them as. I also saw a lot of these with factory “blue dot” tail light lenses, too, and made that nice reddish-purple glow at night. Fantastic memories rush in, I can’t remember them all at once!
You can certainly put alot of junk in the trunk of a ’48 Dodge.
sorry
couldn’t resist. That ’36 Ford BC is a stunner. I’d drive that for 365 days!
I bought a ’71 Gremlin in the summer of 1978. 232-6, 3-speed on the floor. Ratty but I only paid $60 for it. Don’t remember ever getting over 16 MPG. Ran well and it was cheap fun, especially since it had a stick. I drove it for a couple years before trading even-up on a ’69 Camaro convertible (no kidding, although it was a northeastern bondo bucket).
I’ve always been fascinated by the strangeness of those old business coupes. Imagine a modern Camry business coupe. But unit bodies now rule that out. I suppose the ubiquitous pickup with hard cover is today’s body-on-frame equivalent.
Would you say the is a business coupe version of the Sidekick?
–Mike
Oops, I tried html but expected to be able to edit it or preview it.
Would you say the 1996 Suzuki X-90 is a business coupe version of the Sidekick?
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7f/X90silver.jpg
In these days when people talk about “two-door coupes” the distinction among business coupes, club coupes, and two-door sedans will soon be only a memory. In the late 40′s and early 50′s particular, in the low-priced three each of these had its own distinctive body style, with different tops and rear quarter windows. Even Studebaker had a business coupe as well as the Starlight club coupe and a two-door sedan. Iirc Hudson also made club and business coupes. I think Packard was the only manufacturer in those years to have only one coupe/two-door sedan body style.
I remember seeing something called a business coupe in 1957-59 Plymouth brochures, but this was simply a two-door sedan without a back seat and with fixed rear glass. In 1960 and 1961 the Plymouth and Dodge two-door sedans were shaped a lot more like the traditional club coupe.
My second car as an acne scarred teen was a 1950 Dodge business coupe. I did not relish the fading black exterior, so I painted it with a 4 inch brush with $1.98/pint glossy black enamel to very mixed results after the first rainstorm. $19.95 madras slip covers from J.C.Whitney completed the customization.
The trunk was cavernous with a notion that I could rent it out for elopements or full scaled wedding receptions, but I had no takers for either. There was no pass through. Entry was through the trunk.
I do recall the straight six had a “semi automatic” three speed tranny allowing turtle like acceleration from any gear. Vacuum-driven wipers dictated driving in dry weather only.For my $65 investment, “Bessie” provided a summer’s less than thrilling transportation.
I also owned a 71 Gremlin green automatic. The only issue I remember with it was the four gas caps that we stolen from it.
Hi Paul, you state that “1971 was the all time high for median wages”… not according to this chart http://www.data360.org/dsg.aspx?Data_Set_Group_Id=773
Only the red line on this graph is relevant. Unfortunately it does not go back to 1971. The blue line is not corrected for inflation and is therefore no relevant.
Nice try Paul but evem labeling it as something else doesnt make a Gremlin an attractive proposition its still a cutdown Hornet. Lots of AMC cars found their way over here but Ive never seen a Gremlin in the wild, far too many proper compact cars about when it was new, and little collectibility since Business coupes were a great idea even the sloper style from Aussie built on many US cars a style long gone from the worlds roads
“Business coupe” would pretty much describe the 1980 AMC Spirit (Gremlin with full rear windows and updated grille and tail lights) I owned several years ago. 2 doors, no rear hatch (Just an opening rear window), no rear seat, just a large carpeted area behind the front seats, which a previous owner had covered with a thoughtful carpet-covered sheet of plywood, hinged at the “front” edge for extra cargo capacity. 4 cylinder GM “Iron Duke”/GM200 column-shifted automatic transmission.
I Took it in for an oil change shortly after buying it – proprietor told me he was ex-dealer mechanic, if I wanted car to last, get overflow tank for radiator (which just had tube dumping overflow straight to the road surface), as Spirit was a stripped loss-leader. I bought one from a local scrap yard out of an AMC Corcord – bolted right in to exact spot on Spirit it came out of on the Concord. Other mechanics were amazed when they saw it…
I sold it when I “upgraded” to an ’85 Chevette.
“Anyone know which was the last (other than the Gremlin)?”
Surely you don’t mean the Chevette Scooter… :^D
The low budget reclaim for Gremlin radiator content was a plastic 1 gallon milk jug with its handle sliced horizontally in the middle. The factory overflow hose exactly fit inside the jug handle and was long enough to reach the bottom.
All available cooling was requried for a modified AMC 6, with exception for the Gherty Dyno Kit (recurved distributor) featured in a 1972 Car & Driver article “Big 6 Quick Fix”. The kit corrected factory over-retarded timing, allowing 2 more mpg , a bunch more power at higher rpm, and diminished cooling problems. I monitored the temp gauge closely again only after adding Hooker headers and a factory Carter WCD “Rambler power-pac” (on a factory 2BBL intake manifold ordered from the local AMC dealer). The WCD dual floats fixed a known Gremlin issue with fuel delivery during hard corning.
The AMC 7-main bearing motor was a reason to chose a Gremlin over imports. It would take any abuse in return for regular oil changes. I measured 165 lbs per cylinder after 135,000 miles and 8 years of enthusicatic service.
$2250 purchased new, $300 when sold to the next owner = $243 per year.
Funny story about that back glass.
Original Gremlin 1970 hatch glass had two struts and never failed, but ’71 and after got just one strut support (I assume to cut cost) which did fail catastophically (asymetric spring pressure?) and brought laughter from junkyard dealers when Gremlin owners sought a replacement window for the one that ejected itself on the Interstate . I refitted the latches, hinges and (single) strut to a sheet of dark tinted Lexan when my factory window abruptly stopped being a window and became a heap of tempered granules.
One snippet I remember about the Gremlin is, it “broke all records” in Popular Science’s braking test. I suppose this was due to its Hornet brakes?
Regarding gas hatch struts, that’s one advantage of trunks: their long-lived lateral torsion bars.
My MGB’s driver-side window disintegrated spontaneously, luckily while it was rolled down. I have no idea why.