17th May 2006, 21:21
Jerry,
Good to hear that you still have the GT. I saw you a few years ago on a visit to Virgina from Illinois. Glad you are doing what you can to save the cars and parts. I'm still working on my 72 canvas roof car. It is rust free, but I could use some parts for the top. If you ever decide to part with some parts on those rag top cars, please let me know. Woody.
10th Jun 2006, 14:27
I have a lot of AMC cars, but am working on a 77 Gremlin X now... sun orange (code 7Z) with a black interior. I also have a 76 Gremlin which is fish belly (actually lime spray) green. It has a fresh coat of paint and I plan to put it back together with a Mustang T-5 five speed tranny. Gremlins can be fun and will be more collectible as the years pass.
Joe.
11th Sep 2006, 07:51
Being a '77 HornetAMX enthusiast, I have to say, Just as AMC Honored the Hornet in it's last production by dressing it up and decking it out with all the custom tricks of that era, I am glad to see the Gremlin got the same treatment at its retirement party!
The only one that I have ever seen in real life was packed in the middle of a row of other 'Parts Cars' at a wrecking yard on Columbia Blvd. This was over 15 years ago, I was scouting out AMC parts for my 1977 HornetAMX, when we noticed this little Gremlin that seem to have something like the '78 AMX package: (Air Dam/Flares/Gauges/Color-Keyed bumpers, and the use of Blacked-out Trim) And it appeared to be an original, factory installation!
Unfortunately, with most pieces missing and/or damaged and the car packed in tightly with other salvage cars. We checked around, (this was B.I., or Before Internet) both in reference books and asked Veteran AMC people at AMX club meetings (Like Max Frye, R.I.P.) and learned about the 1978 Gremlin GT. Never to actually see one in person, ever again! I wonder if it is still there? I seriously doubt it.
1st Nov 2006, 10:00
I am the owner of a 1978 Gremlin. This is not the GT model, but it is rare because it has the 4 cyl. 2L Audi engine. I purchased this car from the previous owner and I have no idea if he was the original owner or not. I have owned the car for about twenty years. I bought it just to have a second car around in case it was needed. I have two sons and they were in their late teens and early twenties about the time of purchase. Of course they needed to borrow the car quite frequently and they didn't take care of it like I take care of my automobiles. Fortunately they never had a wreck in it therefore the body is still in pretty good shape. We live in North Texas and rust is not a serious problem like it is in other locations. The engine has about 80,000 miles and because the exhaust manifold had a hole burned through it, the car has been setting up for about the last 14 years. I have started restoring it and believe me, finding parts for that engine is nearly impossible. It has the automatic transmission and factory air and the interior is in really great shape. I have been gathering parts from the internet and ebay for the last two years and I hope to finish the restoration by next summer. After I complete the project I will put some pictures on a website.
1st Nov 2006, 18:20
Why bother restoring that terrible engine? Didn't AMC install the 2.5 Iron Duke in the Gremlin for a few years?
6th Nov 2006, 12:35
I think the Iron Duke was used later, in the Spirit through 1982.
This is one of those cases where the rarer car is worth less: there were a lot more 6-cyl Gremlins than 4-cyl ones, but the sixes are still more desirable, for obvious reasons.
15th Nov 2006, 13:36
You guys may be right about the value of the 4cyl Audi, but I am not restoring the vehicle for the value. You see, I like to own things that are very rare, and most of all I enjoy working on them. When was the last time you saw a ‘running’ Gremlin with a 4 cyl.? I just think it’s unique having something that very few people have. By the way that Audi engine is one of the smoothest running engines that I have ever worked on, when it is tuned properly.
16th Nov 2006, 09:45
Just one more comment. I think the 4 cyl. engine that AMC used in 1977 & 1978 on the Gremlins got a bad rap because it didn't have a lot of power. I don't think power was the purpose for the 4 cyl. I am including some history below.
2nd Feb 2011, 21:10
OMG, reading everyone's comments on this car has me in stitches. I was 16 when my Mom handed over the keys to a shiny new '78 Gremlin GT dressed in Orange with Black stripes. Ohhh, if that car could talk. Had a t-shirt with an airbrushed caricature of the car that said Grem Balls.
Agreed, it was no Trans-Am, but it was always good for a 2nd gear scratch! And with the posi rear-axle, it always left neat tracks at the stoplight. You could spin donuts with it all day and run through every snow drift without hesitation.
It's been parked indoors most of its retired life with 86,000 miles, and it still drives under its own power. Mom said I could take it for a spin... so it's off to the car show this summer :)
3rd Feb 2011, 17:39
The Gremlin was a Hornet with the trunk chopped off. That's why it was fast for its time. You still sometimes see modified ones at race tracks.
28th May 2011, 10:41
I have a 78 Gremlin in decent shape. My mother bought it when it was almost new. While it does need some work, about the only place it has gone in the last 15 years is to car shows on the weekends. It seems that everyone over the age of say 45 either personally owned one, parents did, or best friend did, and most of them put 6 people in them and drove to Florida on Spring Break.
28th May 2013, 14:09
I have a 1978 Gremlin X with the 2.0 litre Audi engine. I agree with the poster who defends this engine. It was chosen to power the Porsche 924 - the Porsche was fuel injected. It's a great little motor, and if you took care of it, you should easily go a quarter million miles.
I really love owning this car in 2013. Everywhere I go, somebody asks me about it or remembers something about them. BTW mine is near mint and always garaged since new. A zero rust Levi edition with a 3 speed auto that shifts so unbelievably smooth.
For me it's not about the style of the Gremlin, but the character of a car that was manufactured as well as it could be, considering AMC was struggling with cash flow.
I just love my Gremlin. I also own 3 vintage Mercedes 450 SELs, one with the 6.9 engine. You gotta love cars to understand why we preserve them.
3rd Feb 2016, 01:37
I too had the same Gremlin GT. Levi Jean interior rally package. I loved that car till rust got to it being here in Florida. Got $500 for it and went to Las Vegas. I paid $2000 for it off the lot. First car I ever had.
3rd Feb 2016, 20:05
Wish I could have my 73 Gremlin with the 5 litre 304 V8 special ordered near back in November 1972. It cost me 2900. Wonder what it is worth today? There were also 2 six cylinders that were available that year, but I really wanted the V8. The color was copper tan metallic with gold stripes. Not a common color.
12th May 2006, 23:42
I had a 78 Gremlin GT in the mid 80's. Other than the front fenders being rusted it was one heck of a fun little dependable car.. Car was White with black-blue trim.. Blue vinyl int with no console and column shift auto... Wished I had the car now... Think I still have the front air dam...it had been replaced and I took it off because it kept hitting parking curbs... Thanks for the memories...Greg.