The AMC Gremlin (also American Motors Gremlin) is an American subcompact automobile introduced in 1970, manufactured and marketed in a single, two-door body style in America (1970-1978) by American Motors Corporation (AMC) — as well as in Mexico (1974-1978) by AMC's Vehículos Automotores Mexicanos (VAM) subsidiary.
Featuring a shortened Hornet platform and bodywork with a pronounced, almost vertical tail, the Gremlin was classified as an economy car by 1970s U.S. standards and competed with the Chevrolet Vega and Ford Pinto, as well as imported cars that included 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The Gremlin reached a total production of 671,475 over a single generation — and was superseded by a (thoroughly) restyled variant, the AMC Spirit.
The idea for the Gremlin began in 1966 when design chief at American Motors, Richard A. Teague, and stylist Bob Nixon discussed the possibility of a shortened version of AMC's compact car. 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 to launch new subcompact cars for 1971, but AMC did not have the financial resources to compete with an entirely new design. Teague's idea of using the pony car Javelin 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, but the AMX name was used from 1968 to 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, and was rated a good buy at an economical price. 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-seat hatchback with an opening rear window, at $1,959 (US$12,639 in 2018 dollars).
From the front of the car to the B-pillars, the Gremlin was essentially the same as the AMC Hornet. Although it was only fractionally longer than the contemporary Volkswagen Beetle, Time said the length of its hood over the front-mounted engine made "the difference seem considerably more", adding that the car "resembles a sawed-off station wagon, with a long, low hood and swept-up rear, and is faintly reminiscent of the original Studebaker Avanti." As with the Volkswagen, the Gremlin's styling set it apart from other cars.Time said, "like some other cars of less than standard size, the back seat is designed for small children only." The Gremlin's wider stance gave it "a stable, quiet and relatively comfortable ride—for the two front passengers”, for whom, by small-car standards, there was more than average interior width, seat room and leg room. The six cubic feet of luggage space behind the back seat was less than in the rear-engined Volkswagen Beetle, but with the seat folded the cargo area tripled to 18 cubic feet (509.7 l).
The upright design of the tail, which enlarged interior space, was aerodynamically efficient. Later, European and Japanese manufacturers similarly created different body styles on one compact car chassis by extending or curtailing the trunk (e.g. Volkswagen's Jetta and Golf models).
Designed and named by Teague to look either "cute or controversial - depending on one's viewpoint ... for many, it seemed perfect for the free-thinking early 1970s." American Motors executives apparently felt confident enough to not worry that the Gremlin name might have negative connotations.Time magazine noted two definitions for gremlin: "Defined by Webster's as 'a small gnome held to be responsible for malfunction of equipment.' American Motors' definition: 'a pal to its friends and an ogre to its enemies.'" The car's cartoon-inspired mascot was marketed for product differentiation and was intended to be memorable to consumers. The Gremlin's unorthodox hatchback design was also needed to make the car stand out in the competitive marketplace, and according to Teague: "Nobody would have paid it any attention if it had looked like one of the Big Three" automobiles.
AMC promoted the Gremlin as "America's first subcompact". This description overlooks the Nash Metropolitan and the earlier Crosley. The Metropolitan—a subcompact-sizedcaptive import, American-conceived and American-designed for the American market, and built in the UK with a British engine—has a claim to be "America's first subcompact."
American Motors promoted the Gremlin as "cute and different" and the marketing strategy was successful with more than 60 percent of the purchasers were under 35 years old.
The Gremlin debuted in April 1970 with AMC's 199 cu in (3.3 L) I6, a seven main bearing design which produced 128 hp (95 kW; 130 PS) as standard equipment, with AMC's 232 cu in (3.8 L) I6 - producing 145 hp (108 kW; 147 PS) - as an option. AMC said the Gremlin offered "the best gas mileage of any production car made in America". According to the auto editors of Consumer Guide it had "an unusually long option list for the era" so owners could have luxury and conveniences typically found in more expensive cars, and these options "came with a much higher profit margin" for the automaker.
As the first of the new domestic subcompact cars, "the Gremlin has been the most talked-about car since its introduction." Sales for the abbreviated model year were 25,300.
Popular Science assigned its editor to the equivalent of one year of driving by conducting a 10,000-mile (16,093 km) cross-country road test of a brand new Gremlin, and reported after driving it "without a single problem is an enviable record" and that "we were all impressed with the quality of this vehicle." A nationwide survey based on owners driving their 1970 AMC Gremlins over 1,350,000 miles (2,172,614 kilometres) conducted by Popular Mechanics concluded that the unique styling attracted many buyers, but economy topped their likes.
For the 1971 model year the "X" appearance/equipment trim package was introduced as a $300 option on the 4-passenger model and "proved extremely popular." It included body side tape stripes, body color front fascia, slotted road wheels with D70x14 Goodyear Polyglas tires, blackout grille insert, bucket seats, and "X" decals.
The 2-passenger Gremlin version entered into its second and final season. The 232 cu in (3.8 L) I6 engine that was optional for 1970 became standard, while a longer-stroke 258 cu in (4.2 L) version became the option. Compression ratios dropped from 8.5:1 to 8:1 for 1971, resulting in 135 hp (101 kW; 137 PS) (gross) from the 232 cu in (3.8 L) and 150 hp (112 kW; 152 PS) (gross) from the 258 cu in (4.2 L)
1971 Gremlin prices increased slightly (up by $20 to $1,899 for the base model), and sales for this first full model year rose to 53,480.
All Gremlins received a new body-colored front fascia treatment for 1972. Among many other changes was an available 304 cu in (5.0 L) V8 engine. It was "the muscle car formula of stuffing a big motor in a small car." Engine ratings were downgraded to more accurate Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) net hp figures, bringing the 232 cu in (3.8 L) engine to 100 hp (75 kW; 101 PS), the 258 cu in (4.2 L) to 110 hp (82 kW; 112 PS) and the 304 V8 to 150 hp (112 kW; 152 PS). Even with the lower engine output ratings across the industry, "the V8 Gremlin was a poor-man's Corvette, able to spin its rear tires at will and outrun some larger, more expensive pony cars" and it was "the only real performance car available under $2,200."
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