This is a new one for me; I had no idea that a GT package was made available half way through the Gremlin’s final year on this planet. No wonder only 3,000 were sold; or maybe I should say I’m impressed that many were sold.
I remember the Gremlin X all-too well; I thought that was the sporty variant. But the GT took that one step further. Not in terms of actual performance, as its only powerplant was the 258 (4.2 L) six, although it did pack a pretty decent 120 net hp for that era, thanks to a two-barrel carb. The 304 V8 had been cancelled back in 1976. But the ’78 Gremlins did get a badly needed new dashboard, shared with the Concord, and the GT got those big fender flares.
Ramblers were always fast cars for their price range, sometimes the fastest in any price range. But Rambler buyers were slow people, so you couldn’t impress the girls with a Rambler.
…until you recline the seats!
“The AMC Gremlin has always been a sporty, fun-to-drive car”. Oh yeah, that’s what we all thought throughout the Gremlin’s production life. Good thing that it was never built down to a price to provide cheap, basic transportation. Always the sportiest, most fun drive of the economy cars (sarcasm off).
“The AMC Gremlin has always been a sporty, fun-to-drive car”
The legal department should have advised an asterisk with small print at the bottom: “By AMC standards, and excluding Rogue, Javelin and AMX.”
I believe that the manual steering was originally six turns lock to lock. Certainly “sporty” compared to…a 1942 Peterbuilt??
I’m beginning to think Paul is messing with us.
I’ll go on record as saying I genuinely like this, not unlike in a ’78 Mustang II King Cobra way (which I also like). I said “like” and not “love”, to be clear, but I think it’s cool the Gremmie went out with a bang.
Happy Sunday! As soon as I saw this post I thought of you. As I’m typing this, my guess is you’re going through your classic vinyl trying to find the perfect soundtrack for this car.
Happy Sunday to you! That’s awesome. The truth is that I’m at a loss for coming up with a song for this Gremlin GT.
I did, however, find a classified ad for one from 2016 that had just over 18,000 miles on it. I hope that car went to a good home.
A) I never knew these existed.
B) This should have come out a couple of years earlier with the 304.
C) AMC had the best sporty steering wheel of the late 70s.
Which is great because their normal two spoker was hideous regardless of which was was “right side up” for that model.
The V8 came back for the 79 Spirit, but only on the new fastback body.
Sorry, I remember them, so I’m not believing this.
Best think about the last Gremlins were their build quality and value, but fun and sporty they were not.
Desperation kicking in to try to clear them out is the usual reason for special limited editions especially these horrors.
This was a US fashion trend of the period. Many domestic brands had a Firebird Trans Am type model with spoilers, fender flares, and stripes.
Something rather shameful about this offering…
New to me, too. Love the colors! My ’77 Jeep Cherokee Chief 2-door had exactly that motif, including the striping. The dash is an improvement in black and silver. There was something “Jetsonian” about AMC dashes, especially those Sputnik A/C registers sticking out of the package shelf.
My family had a soft spot for AMC in the late 70s and considered buying one for my older brother to take to university.
The car was excellent value and, as I recall got a decent review on Car & Driver. They appreciated the recognition that performance cars were attractive to the general public, and not everyone wanted squishy luxury. They also appreciated how this car demonstrated that handling could be dramatically improved in American cars of the day without much expense. As AMC did, simply tuning the suspension and steering components yielded notable improvement.
The conclusion as I recall, was that it was a huge step in the right direction and a relatively decent car for not much money.
I don’t remember Car and Driver testing the Gremlin GT. The magazine did test a 1977 Gremlin X with the optional four-cylinder engine sourced from Audi, and gave it a decent review.
A step further and we could have get a Gremlin AMX. 😉
I remember seeing the ads for these as a kid in some of the car mags of the time. I actually believe they could have sold a fair number had they come with the 304. The look was stylish enough but nothing to back the stripes.
Didn’t it come back as the Spirit ?
Yes, the Spirit “Sedan” used the same roofline as the Gremlin, but with larger rear side windows from the 1979 through 1982 models. The Spirit “Liftback” featured a fastback roofline and was built from 1979 through 1983. There was also the lifted, all-wheel drive Eagle Kammback (which used the Gremlin/Spirit Sedan body) from 1981 to 1982 and the Eagle SX/4 which shared the Spirit Liftback body from 1981 to 1983.
I can picture finding one in good shape and swapping in a 4.0 litre from a later Jeep TJ or maybe a 3800 V6.
It is easy to ridicule this car viewed in 40+ years of hindsight. Remember that in 1978, getting engines to run well with the emission controls (of the day) was very much a work still in progress. The economy was not particularly robust and there was an oil embargo underway.
The Gremlin GT seems on-par with the form without function playbook popular at the time. Not much different from what the competition was offering.
I would be delighted to have a completely stock specimen in my driveway today.
1978 was a record year for US auto sales and there was no oil embargo. Cars like Corvette and Trans Am were red hot at retail.
I was kinda right. I guess it was technically an “oil shock” and it was 1979. Details here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1979_oil_crisis This event featured blocks long gas lines, and decent folks slugging it out at the pumps for cut-in-lines.
Dunno about Corvette and Trans Am being hot at retail – if you say so. In Cali, where I was then, those types of cars were being dumped in favor of Toyotas and Datsuns. Anyway, most of the available product was pretty crappy – just like our subject Gremlin.
The Carter era was the all time peak for Corvette sales. The all time record actually is 1979, despite the second oil embargo. Sales didn’t cool until the 1981 model year–partially because of the general economy, and partially because the product really was obsolete by then. There were no 1983 Corvettes at retail til GM brought out the C4 in the spring as a 1984 model.
Trans Am sales had a similar peak and fall.
Most cars sucked, but sales for actual top performance cars like Corvette and Trans Am were limited by capacity, not by dissatisfaction with their performance or the available technology.
In SCCA showroom stock racing at the time only one car ruled, the VW Golf (Rabbit) Take a look at this video of one Gremlin among 50 Rabbits. This is how AMC rolled. Take on the giants.
Actually held its own surprisingly well, hard not to root for the underdog watching that. I found it interesting how the two Pintos seemed to fall behind that pack real quick
By the time the Gremlin GT debuted, we all knew that the Pacer was a flop, and AMC was staring into the abyss. Both the Gremlin and Concord were outdated compared to the Big Three offerings – let alone the imports. This car thus had a whiff of desperation about it. I don’t remember our Pontiac-AMC dealer ever having one in stock – he had a hard enough time unloading standard Gremlins by 1977, and things didn’t improve in that regard for 1978.
There is a Rambler/AMC fan from Ephrata, Pennsylvania, who regularly brings restored Ramblers and AMCs to local car shows. He has an immaculate 1977 Gremlin X, and it generally attracts a great deal of attention – much more than it did when new.
Something that’s always baffled me is how the Gremlin managed to come in dead last in the famous 1971 Car and Driver small car comparison that included (in finishing order) Vega, Simca 1204, Corolla, Pinto, Beetle, and Gremlin.
I mean, the Gremlin was bad, just an old, rebodied Rambler with the trunk chopped off, but having the largest engine (and a six, too, when everyone else had a four) should have counted for something, particularly on the highway, which was actually one of the big reasons the Vega came out on top over all the others.
I dig these. Despite the fact that they made a whole ‘nother model range by cutting the Hornet’s butt off, there’s just something about the Gremmie that doesn’t feel as cynical as some of the other American subcompacts of the era. Sure, it’s not exactly a paragon of efficiency, but you got a durable powertrain with decent performance in a car that was fairly well screwed together… much less likely to leave you holding an empty, smoldering bag on the side of the highway after a few years (see Chevy Vega). The standard vacuum wipers used in 1970-71 were kinda questionable, and having to pay more money to get a 2.0 liter four cylinder with *less* power than the standard six was erm… a bit weird- but by and large, the Gremlin seemed like a solid offering that was quite appropriate for the 1970’s.
I’ve never encountered a Gremlin GT, and haven’t had much personal experience with the Gremlin in general, but I have experienced Concords, Eagles, a Hornet, and a Spirit. Also rode in a Pacer wagon a number of times when I was a little kid. I’m especially fond of the Spirit Liftback and Eagle SX/4… I’ve always liked the frontal treatment on 1979-up cars, even if it was leftovers reheated with some new ingredients, and the Liftback just looks “right” to me. As I’ve mentioned before, full instrumentation gives me warm and fuzzy feelings- and that GT has eight gauges if you include the clock. Sure, you have to strain to see four of them, but they’re there!
I had a 1971 AMC Gremlin. A long time ago. Back when I was married. With no kids. Just me and my wife. We had lots fun and good times with the AMC Gremlin. I sure miss the little car.! Please Bring Back The AMC Gremlin.! I Love the little Car. I miss the fun and good times.!😁
Don’t remember this ad at all.
The only fond memory I have of a Gremlin (circa 1970) is that I knew a detestable fellow who was so mad at his girlfriend (for possibly some accidental slight to his fragile ego) that he got out of his brand new car and slammed the door…and the door window glass shattered all over the street. I disliked that guy, I hated the car…it was one of those moments where it all came together. I knew I should feel sad for him…but he so deserved that pitifully bad car, and it so pitifully served him up.