Jeff Dunham's AMC Gremlins - Jay Leno's Garage
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- čas přidán 28. 08. 2024
- Jay invites Jeff Dunham to the garage to check out his 1972 and 1973 AMC Gremlins.
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Jeff Dunham's AMC Gremlins - Jay Leno's Garage
• Jeff Dunham's AMC Grem...
Jay Leno's Garage
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This is so cool, the name on the inspection sheet is my father Vernon Rawlins. He was mechanic at a local AMC dealership when I was a kid.
Wow! And was he sensible as Jay speculated? 🙂
That is too cool 😮
I hope he is still around and you showed him this video, that would be awesome!
This is one of the episodes where Jay is less host and more going for a drive with a buddy. Good dynamic. Thanks for taking us along.
i think he secretly loved those cars. he looked so happy and relaxed.
Most of my friends in high school during the late 70's had Gremlins - even several of them. I had a Pinto, being a Ford family. These cars were generally driven by the sons and daughters of families needing a third car. Practical and reasonable gas mileage (for the 70's) during a time when gas prices were rising. It always brings a smile to me when I see either a Gremlin, Pinto, or Vega today... not too many survived...
Don't lie you had a pacer didnt you?
Pacer gremlin hornet
Deybued on April fools day!!!! Says it all!!! Perfect for dingus day in poland!!!
I bought my powder blue Gremlin in Nov 1974, it was my first car. It cost $2,800 new, it wasn't an "X". It had no carpet and no cigarette lighter but it had FM stereo plus, my dad talked them into giving me white walled tires. I had that car 10 years and put 127,000 miles on it. It moved me, at least twice, halfway across the country. It died when my hotrod loving, drag racer boyfriend gunned the motor leaving a gas station. I forget what part got thrown and where it went in the engine. We found a replacement engine from a Hornet but could not match the transmission up and was unable to find a Hornet trans. Sadly I gave it up for parts and scrapped the rest. I would have paid anything to keep it going, I swore it would be a classic! That coming from a girl who cut her teeth on her brother's 1964 GTO convertible. P.S. Jay, I bought the car from Templin Motors in NJ whose father originally opened as an Edsel dealership. My car had a/c with a setting called "Dessert Only". To prove your theory regarding owners, I just retired from insurance. Haha you got me, boring!
My Mother had a 72 when I was a kid growing up in Ohio . During the blizzard of 1978 , My dad loaded sand bags in the back and delivered groceries to people who couldnt get out .
Am I the only one who like the looks of this car?
you are a idiot
I like it and would love to own one
I love it and would love to own the green one.
Gremlins are awesome!
Yes, Yes you are..
Was actually my first car....gifted to me by my Parents, when I first got my Driver's license....bought for $600. I think it was a 1972 or '73 model....was a used car for me, getting it in '77. My Dad and I had to make a few repairs to the engine....a couple required...the rest were good prevantative measures. Working on it was easy enough. Once we did that, it was very reliable transportation from there on. Had a 6-cylinder model and was economical on gas consumption. The hatchback, with fold-down rear seat was handy to have.
I had a lot of great times in this car. There were many Rock concert trips with friends to a nearby city, and Drive-In movies with my then girlfriend at the time. We were "Wayne's World" LONG before the movie ever came out. I drove my AMC Gremlin from 1977 until 1981.
My -71 Gremlin was the "big six" with a standard 3-speed. The fold-down rear seat gave you quite a bit of cargo room over the rear wheels, but lacking a tailgate, so the only access was through the rear hatch window. I remember transporting lumber with the back window open and six feet of lumber hanging out the rear window. We once squeezed a 90 cc Yamaha motorcycle through the back window to transport it. I also converted a snowmobile trailer to carry three dirt bikes and towed that all over the province of Ontario for 3 years. Adding two, 100 lb. sand bags in the cargo area during winter greatly improved winter traction in deep snow....never got stuck.
My older brother bought me my first car.
It was am AMC Gremlin that was sitting in a guys backyard in the tall weeds. Lol
I was so happy. I was 15 years old...
She ran like a top ...I wish I still had her...
I loved that car. She was great.....
So, here's my Gremlin story! I got one in 1979, when I was living in Louisville, Kentucky. It had 60K miles on it & it had some issues, nothing major. I got married in July, 1980 & we moved to Meade County, KY. I commuted to Louisville to classes for my Master's degree, about 50 miles each way. All of those miles led to some bigger issues.
I couldn't afford to pay anyone to work on my Gremlin, so I learned to do it myself! I changed the oil & filter, I installed new heater hose & gas hose, and I even installed new plugs & plug wires. In 1982, I drove that Gremlin to Brewton, Alabama, where I took a job. Driving on the Gulf Coast during the summer with no a/c was quite an experience! The Gremlin had 130K miles on it when I sold it in Brewton for $350. The lessons learned from my DIY auto maintenance on that Gremlin were priceless!
Hopefully you can still find it for your kids to learn on.
What do you drive now?
@@sharksport01 a Dodge caravan. Almost as much of a chick 😂 magnet
My oldest brother bought a used Gremlin back in 1973 -74 while he was stationed at Ft Hood . Had the straight 6. He drove it for several years and never had any problems with it. Really reliable car.
I worked in an AMC dealership in 1973. I loved these cars. I've thought about getting another one.
My favorite memory of this gremlin was my uncle used to race quarter mile and he had one tubbed out bored out punched over and that thing would do a wheel stand from the very start all the way down a quarter mile. Everyone laughed when he first showed up at the track with it but no one was laughing when he got to the end. That car was so much fun and I will never forget all the times at the track with him
I had a 1976 Gremlin X. It was a $300 used car. Drove it for 9 years. Never broke down.
also owned a Gremlin it was cheap and easy to keep running
I had one during HS. Mine was rusty from taking it to the beach often. But it never quit on me. So
easy to maintain. Sure wish today's
cars were as simple as these Gremlins were
Don't knock it people. Bought a used Gremlin for $180 that had a screwdriver for shift, drove for three years and sold it to my neighbor (who was the owner of two GTOs) for $500 who told me he would steal it if I didn't sell. Regret selling it.
Got a pastel green one out of a ladys backyard, metal on metal brakes and a bad motorola alternator. It had a new 304 under the hood very good car for a couple of hundred dollars drove it for a couple of years bought a vette and sold it for what i paid it was a better car than the 74 corvette i replaced it with
OK, Jay. I used to be a fan. After bashing my car for 25 minutes....not so much. While in college in Daytona Beach, I bought a Gremlin, brand new, in 1973. It cost $2098, with power steering, manual transmission, power brakes, and AC. It was metallic blue, probably the same as the '73 in your video. It is one of my favorite cars. It is well known to my family and friends that I wish I still had it, and yes, I have to put up with abuse from them, as well. It was, as you commented, a pretty cool car at the time. Mine was the straight 6, at as I recall, 102 HP. Easy to work on, and pretty zippy for a 6. I drove that thing everywhere. It's the car I met my wife in, and the car I drove 24 hours to upstate NY to see her in the summer of 1974. It carried us to Pensacola, for my first job out of college, and took us to the Florida Keys for diving in the late 70's. We were married in 1978 and bought our first house with the Gremlin parked in the driveway. It was rear ended in 1980, and the insurance company saw fit to total it. Broke my heart. I'm sure it's the memories of good times, and friendships long gone that keep me nostalgic for the old Gremlin. But, it was a great car for a poor college student in 1973.
Hey Jay,
My Mom bought a gremlin in '72 in the color of "Tiajuana Tan". I was 12 at the time. We lived in a very small town in Indiana and my Mom was a school teacher. This must have been her midlife crisis car and probably the only new car she had ever bought in her life up to that point. I remember specifically the moment she brought it home and my step father looking out the window and saying "Jesus Christ".
My sister and I loved it. When mom was gone from the house, my sister (19 at the time) would take it out and cruise with it....do wheelies and fish tails on the ice to show off to friends. Mom never found out.
One day, a few weeks after it was purchased, the cheap little handle on the back window broke while she was putting groceries in. Her opinion of the experience that came out of her mouth would have made a sailor blush. I think there was a small quake in the parking lot. I am sure the salesman was never the same after that.
It is interesting that she was a Lincoln girl for the rest of her life.
Love your show, Thanks!
Buddy of mine I grew up with still has his to this day. His parents bought him that car in 1976 for a high school graduation present. Car has about seventy something thousand miles on it now. He keeps it in his garage and it looks as nice today as it did in 1976.
I would like to have one these 😅but the yougo was the joke of them all...I was drunk enough to buy one ...my girlfriend would say, you go and I'll stay. ..
Had one. Dual exhaust,4 barrel,and intake. Smoked the Nova's and Mustang's in our circle. Dead reliable. Great car. Also had a Pacer.
I had one in the early 80's, hated that big blind spot but loved that 20 gal. gas tank.
No you didn't
@@nathan40307 Yes he did! So did I! Humiliated many a "badassed" Camaro with my 304 Gremlin !!
I smoked a chevy van with a 350 quadrajet he was pissed he had to buy me a case of beer!!! LOL
@@jamesbryant6484these Cars were fairly light being so compact so I could see that. Especially if the mustang or other muscle cars had a base 6 or small v8. Or possibly they didn't know they were in a race😄
My grandfather owned a 1972 Gremlin X, bought it new. It had a 304 V8 and I rebuilt it once with him. Memories.
I had a 1974 Gremlin X, 232, floor mounted 3 speed. I drove it for 13 years and it never let me down. Wish I'd kept it.
Same as ours
I love when this car broke down, the image of you two blocking traffic in that jewel was quite funny.
Seinfeld on comedians in cars getting coffee has had at least 3 or 4 breakdowns in various exotic classic cars, pretty funny
I'm 21 and just bought my first car and it's a 73 Gremlin. I love it to death. It's my favorite car of all time.
You'll always have a soft spot for your first. I loved mine so much that I had to find another after my divorce.
74 Chevelle Malibu
How this car work untel now
aboalmlk aboalrhman If you're asking about the Gremlin, my cousin had 3 of them and they rarely ever ran reliably. My Chevelle on the other hand, had 300,000 + miles on it before the rust took the Fisher Body off the chassis. Living in the N.E. close to the ocean gave the tin worm an ideal environment.
I notice this comment is 3 hours old. does the car still run since you posted this? I kid
"It's my favorite car of all time."
It's your first car....
Couple of fact checks:
> AMC used a "Unit Body" design all the way back to the Rambler days not a "chassis on frame" as mentioned
> You could get the stock 304 V8 with a manual trans (add the optional twin grip 3.54 rear end and it was a lot of fun!)
> As far as the rear being "truncated and effected handling" the rear overhang and wheelbase (96" to 98") was similar to the AMX and Corvette (not that it competed with those) there were other aspects of the car that compromised handling
> Gremlin and Hornet were introduced the same year
> The body style is honestly prevalent today . Look at most modern 3 door hatchbacks and you will see a similar design.
I really enjoy your show and the fact that you are willing to show the awkward moments, mistakes and reality of vehicular adventures... from the flipped "Hemi under Glass" to the painfully scratched Gullwing Mercedes... it's very raw and much appreciated. Keep up the good work, regardless of your disdain for AMC (of which I have way too many, including a 79 AMX with under 50K... same wheelbase and overhang as the Gremlin but a blast to drive!)
I thought they were a unibody as well... And the fact that he didn't talk about the limited edition 360 models, which were also dealer installed in 71 as special order units, was interesting. They had built them for the street, so AMC could take them drag racing that yr. I had heard about the 401's being put in these by racers, but didn't know they were actually being done at the dealership level, even if it was for only 21 odd cars. What i really do like, is that they elluded to the fact that AMC used pretty much every manufacturer's parts in various degrees. Ford ( Autolite) carbs and ignition systems, Saginaw p/s pumps ala GM and Chrysler, Torqueflite or Borg Warner transmissions, Delco and Motorola sourced radios, switches and electrical components copied from GM, Ford Fairline type front suspension that they used for yrs and yrs, some had Dana sourced rear ends with a Chrysler type limited slip as an option, and if I'm not mistaken, the a/c systems were Ford sourced as well...the list goes on and on.
I can't tell you how much happiness these videos bring me. I have to go back to old ones just to find the ones I missed. I started watching them in hospital about 8 or 9 years ago and I still watch them regularly when I have time.
I like them all but I much prefer when jay reviews old cars like these rather than the new exotic cars manufacturers bring to him. They had more character and jay seems more excited talking about them.
Thanks
I had a 1974 Gremlin X with the 304 v8 with a tow package. Had a big gas tank and a 4.~ rearend. Shot off the line (when the polyglass radials caught traction) but topped out at 96 mph. Taught my (then future) wife to drive in it. Oh, it was beige too!.
We had one in 74. It was my Moms car. My sister and I were 12 and 14 years old. We went everywhere in it. Ours was dark green with white stripes. We loved it and had great times in it. With the stripes, rally wheels and beauty rings, it was sporty and a cool cruiser.
1974 Gremlin was my second car and first one I bought new. I was 17 at the time and drove it like I stole it. I beat the hell out of that car, sliding it around corners, revving it up and dropping the clutch. Those cars were tough as nails and very dependable. The only major repair I had was replacing the oil pan I busted grabbing some air over an extreme railroad crossing. It saw me through college and 2 years into my first "real" job. Great little car.
I believe the gremlin was one of my favorite cars. I took the 304 out and put up well modified 360 in place of it. I used a switch pitch turbo 400 guts into the AMC jeep housing, well modified to stall at 2000 and at the flip of a switch, 3000. It was a lot of fun being so light
Interesting car. It's like the 1st American GTI in a sense lol
How many horses under the hood?
I don't know why Jay keeps crapping on the Gremlin. IMO, it's a solid, little American classic. It was affordable, reliable, & had pretty good power. I'd love one!
same and i also like the way they look XD
The Gremlin had horsepower and torque that could break your neck and tow a house; the ultimate "sleeper".
💩💩💩
This is one of my fav duos on this show. Jay comes across as a laid back, down to earth guy on this channel. Dunham much the same. Two regular guys just shooting the breeze. These episodes are fun to watch. Add in these incredible cars and you have a recipe for a great show. Thanks Jay!
The son of an auto mechanic and stock racer, I grew up in an AMC family.
My dad, brother and uncle raced AMC Javelins, Hornets, and Gremlins on dirt and later paved NASCAR tracks from the seventies through the nineties. My brother still has his in his yard.
Some interesting things you didn't mention about the Gremlin:
1) Gremlin had the front body panels of the Hornet, but it actually sat on the 96" wheelbase chassis originally used for the 1968-1970 AMX.
2) Designers of the A/C controls had a sense of humor. Maximum A/C was instead labeled "Desert Only," like it was a warning or something. And it was no joke. When activated, even in 100° weather, the vents would literally blow visible, misty ice clouds of air into the cabin. It was sight to behold.
3) The engine block used for AMC'S 199, 232, and 258 cubic inch engines was used in Jeeps as the same 258 until 1987, when it got multiport fuel injection and became known as the vaunted and still missed 4.0 liter straight six. It was retired after the 2006 Jeep Wrangler.
And that was a shame retiring that engine. Jeep is one of the most unreliable cars made today (don't just take my word, every reliable list made say's the same thing), the one bright spot for Jeep was that straight 6 engine, if properly maintained they would run forever.
Titus Tucker I agree, I had a commanhe with 500,000 miles on it and it still stunning strong when my dad JUNKED I
Not same 6 in commanche
pipermike65 Sure it was, Mike. What are you talking about?
A great post! Really appreciate your input.
I absolutely love these videos with Jay. Gotta be the coolest guy on the planet.
I dated a girl in high school whose father drove a Gremlin. Her mother drove a hornet. The cars had no problem making it through the extreme cold & snow winters of the late 1970's. They were good & fun cars.
The genius of American Motors is that the Hornet was developed for just $40 million dollars and the Gremlin designed for just $6 million more. From 1970 until 1988, AMC marketed either the Hornet, Gremlin, Concord, Spirit, Concord AMX, Spirit AMX or Eagle models based off this car platform which was an incredible use of limited resources. Compare this to many car models that cost $1 billion to develop and may only last for four model years by many other modern brands. Add to this the fact that for 30 model years , AMC or Nash were able to market a car for $1,880 or less. The 1950 Nash Rambler sold for a mere $1,880. The 1960 Rambler American sold for only $1,880 and the 1970 1/2 Gremlin sold for just $1,879. The company was a master at developing simple, yet durable automobiles that returned decent economy for some of the lowest prices of any U.S. automaker.
Listen to how smooth & quiet the drivetrains are in those cars. They really did go for many many many miles if you took care of them at all well.
Yes sure. And where is AMC now?
This one here is a good example. It is not strange looking car as Mr. Leno said, it is an ugly car inside and out, even for the 70's. Another thing, the engine. I is just like an engine from the 50's. I mean you can't explain everything with cost cutting. You can also starve yourself to death.
Sorry I don't mean to be offensive. You got to invest in R & D and into your future. Everything else is wrong.
Peter Kroll: Yup, you gave the reason for AMCs demise. It just never could get the capital to invest in new tooling to build new models every year. They limped along from day to day, but their employees and customers were loyal right to the end. BTW_check out the Avanti when you get the chance.
Peter Kroll you are so wrong and on so many levels. The Gremlin was a success. Period. Where AMC went bad was with the development of the beautiful but one off 1974 AMC Matador. A single body car. They strayed from the formula. Multiple use products. it is said that the Matador development and tooling cost $80 million. nevrr recovered. without those funds they could not update Hornet Gremlin. Yet they eventually came up with Eagle and started a whole new segment from nothing. AMC was awesome
One of the bigger factors leading to American Motor's problems was the disinformation campaign in the Detroit area which led consumers to believe that AMC was about to "go under at any moment". This hurt sales drastically as most people wanted their new car to be serviceable. I remember hearing this rumor in the 60's and 70's and people who liked the cars wouldn't buy them for fear that they wouldn't be able to get maintenance parts or that their warranty (12,000 mile) would be worthless. Most of this disinformation came from Ford and Chrysler (who wanted the JEEP marque badly) leaking phony info to local reporters who then cited "reliable but confidential sources" ....Sound familiar?
I never understood why people made fun of these cars. I always thought they looked nice, were easy to work on, had a good price, and ran pretty good.
I, concur. AMC cars are wonderful. I wish that they would've survived the gas crisis.
SEE MY COMMENT ABOVE CHARLES........l THlNK YOU WlLL ENJOY lT. TRUST ME.
I think probably because appearance is subjective, and most people agree that they're ugly, or at least weird looking. In addition to that, they rusted into the ground at the slightest suggestion of moisture, they were small but drank as much fuel as many larger cars with more powerful engines, and they suck to drive.
Its all about perception. In the sixties AMC advertised their gas mileage at a time when that was considered to be uncool. Americans, by and large, were far more interested in chromed-up status symbols and lots of gee whiz doo-dads. Even though AMC made some excellant cars (the AMX if you wanted fast) they always had the reputation of being "economy" cars and therefore not as desirable to impress the neighbors. Dumb, yes, but that's the story.
@110736213155078813729 I don't remember anyone who didn't like the look of them, but I'll certainly agree with you about the rust problem. That's exactly why there are so few left on the road today. Same with Ford pickups from the mid to late 80's. I had two of them. You can't hardly find one today. They started rusting as soon as they left the lot.
In the mid 70’s I was a high school student. I took autos 1 & 2 then Voc autos 1 & 2(2hr classes). In 1974 a train derailed by the HS and one of the car carriers lost a Gremlin and a Valiant. The Valiant was totaled but the engine was fine and donated to the auto shop. The Gremlin was damaged on one of the rear roof corners. One of the auto shop teachers brought out at a discount. The back window was blown out and it would have taken substantial work to make it so a factory window could be installed. So like so many of us have done the teacher went with tape and plastic. 3-4 years after graduating a friend and I were out getting some exercise on our “10 speeds” and saw the Gremlin parked in a neighborhood driveway in an adjoining city. Lo and behold there was the auto shop teacher MR Finney outside puttering in his yard. We chatted for some time, that was the last time I saw him.
My first car in '76 was a used light blue '72 Gremlin (I called it the Millenium Gremlin). My sister had a used '71 blue Gremlin with a sporty white stripe, but hers was a pocket rocket because Dad had put a larger engine in it. After that she bought a Pacer wagon. My oldest sister had a Rambler American and Dad had a Matador. We always seemed to have American Motors cars back then. This brought back a lot of memories!
My first car - a 1971 green Gremlin bought in 1972 for $1700.00. My payments were $52.00 a month. Loved that car! It was like a little tank. Had to spring for the locking gas cap since the regular ones were “collector items”
My 70 Gremlin was $1995 for a 3-speed 6 cylinder. It lasted over 200,000 miles until I traded it in for a 75 model. It never broke down. My brother was sportier. He bought a Javelin.
The Gremlins replacement-the Pacer-sucked.
Same issue with the gas cap. I lost mine twice before I bought a locking cap!
@@gregguiltner8764 My Gremlin was white with blue pinstripes.(1970 $1995 because it had air.) The salesman was named "Butterbean". When I looked at the car in the salesroom it had 15 inch wheels. I decided to buy it and "Butterbean" said he would get it ready for pickup the next day. When I went to drive it home the next afternoon I noticed it had 14 inch tires. I mentioned this to "Butterbean" and he said I was mistaken. They came with 14 inch.
But when I opened the back hatch and looked at the spare-it was a 15 inch tire. They gave me the larger tires. I have been leary of salesmen named "Bubba" or "Butterbean" ever since then. I was 21 years old.
@@havenhemmings3574 No air in my 74. I remember arriving from a road trip with a severe sunburn...on one side only! hahaha.
My Aunt had the V8, "Loaded". It was white with the dark blue stripe. Had dark blue interior. She drove this car for more than 250,000 miles! It looked like the day it was bought when it's life was over. I remember many trips in this car! I always wanted to turn the air-conditioning control to the "Desert Only" setting. As a kid I envisioned Ice Cubes shooting out of the vents. I loved my Aunt Judy, and I have so many fond memories in her Gremlin.
I'm a lil late to the game watching this... Im 52yrs old, My dad had a gremlin and I remember he'd flip the air cleaner lid upside down and swear it gave it 100 more hp..🤣 (it just sounded cool when you throttled it)
Second when it was on its last leg, he wanted to put rotating van seats in it, have removal doors and make it into an ice fishing rig.. "if it fell through the ice, oh well...". I'm pretty sure it had the V8 and it was brown. I LOVE the green one y'all featured. Great memories of my PA, he passed in '17. This was a great trip down memory lane..
What I loved with the Gremlin (I had one), was that they called the heater control "WeatherEye" and the automatic shifter called "Torque Command".
It is a great car for guys working on construction sites! (Work Car)
Ok, my story. I had the AMC Spirit, similar to the Gremlin. I was young and it was all I could afford, but I learned to drive standard on it. My girlfriend’s father tried to teach me. Finally, I got a feel for the clutch. So, once mastered, my girlfriend and I went parking to get a feel for each other. One steamy night, we had to drive her mother on an errand. As the windows fogged up, I kept my eyes forward. My girlfriend, sitting in the backseat turned bright red and hid her face in shame. Her mother, who didn’t say a word the whole trip, just sat there with a telltale grin as she stared, not through the windshield, but at our collection of footprints that the fog , in utter betrayal, had revealed to her. I loved that car.
(One of the best car stories... ever!)
Good story😎
Hilarious!
lol that's awesome.
shhhh count dooku we kno about your fall from grace
Hey Jay, I just showed this video to my great grandmother who owned a yellow gremlin for years. Her face just lit up, she absolutely loved the video. Thanks for the upload!
HERE'S MY COMMENT: JAAAYYYY! COME BACK TO THE TONIGHT SHOW! I miss watching Jay Leno! It used to be the way I ended my day. You used to cheer me up at the end of a stressful days work.
We had a Gremlin X when I was a kid. It was Diamond Blue, and my mom named it Gertrude Evelyn Gremlin. In this episode, Jeff called it the "poor man's Corvette". That was actually the nickname for the Opel GT, which was our other car! I always loved our Gremlin, and 4 years ago I bought an Opel GT. Fond memories of both! I am also an only child, and used to stretch out on the back seat on cross country trips. Learned to drive in the Gremlin, then learned to drive a stick in the Opel. Love these videos!
I had an Opel Manta. Same engine and tranny as the GT. Fun as hell.
My parents had a '74 V-8 Gremlin that they bought new from a dealer in Tulsa. There was a paperwork screwup, and the one they got had been a factory experimental model with a custom oversized radiator and I think an oil cooler. It wasn't supposed to go to a dealer, but someone at AMC screwed up. They actually offered to give my parents a different one, and then they offered to give them a new one and forgive the loan, too. My parents were into autocross, and the extra cooling helped. …for about two years, then the custom radiator fell apart, and they had to have a new one put in, which meant re-drilling a bunch of mounts and stuff. Anyway, my mom used to really piss off a bunch of hot rodders and sports car guys at autocross meets by always winning. As she said, "Look, they told me to not knock over any cones, so I didn't. I was the slowest, but after all the penalties, I still came in first place. It's not my fault the jerk in the Ferrari and the Porsche guys over-drove their cars."
My dad's car was a Renault LeCar. He was a 6'4" ex-Marine all folded up in a tiny ice blue French hatchback. I don't think he ever out-raced my mom.
We had that Gremlin until about 1986, when mom & dad agreed to sell it to some teenager, and he paid them half what they agreed upon, and never sent the other half. My mom's statement on it was, "Well he technically stole it, but now he has to deal with the stupid thing, so I call it even."
Frank Copeland that ended hilariously
Sorry for the loss though
I bought one and needed a car, it was cheap, so I drove it for years and it never broke down and I fell in love with it.
I had one Gremlin 1975 and it was great, many adventures and fun as a teenager! I wish I had one now. Thank you Jay.
I bought a 73 with 30,000 miles on it in 1977 for $1500. tax License and registration included. It had a 232, 3 speed on the floor with a bench seat and a rubber floor. I put in carpet, buckets and made a custom console. Loved that car. I bought a 79 Spirit GT brand new after that and Loved it too! To bad AMC is gone.
Jay, I just wanted to let you know that little Gremlin was a very good commuter car. It had good gas millage, decent interior, and rode nice. Now I have to tell you about MY AMC. We were stationed in West Germany, when I went to the PX and met a representative from AMC and we got talking about cars in general when he showed me a picture of a 1976 Hornet and I really liked the looks of it. So I asked him that I would buy it if it came in Black. He told me it wasn't available in that color. So I told I really liked the car and wasn't willing pay extra for the color. So he contacted the factory in Kenosha and asked if it was possible to get it in Black because the Matador was the only model you could get it in black. He came back and told me that they were willing to do it at no extra cost to Military Personnel. So the car was built to my specs. It had camel color interior with all lights when you opened the door. It had 6 coats of Black Pearl paint with gold stripe on the side with factory Mags and it also had a 232 V6 and it had the badge Hornet X. It was the nicest car I ever driven. The best part of it was that the Hornet X truly did not exist until I ordered it. The dealership was furious because all I paid was tax and licence which was around $400 at the time. To me AMC was the best around for the Military. I'm sorry that AMC is gone, because I would have at least 2 in my driveway right now!
Wow! Amazing how AMC agreed to do that for you, CRM before CRM was cool! customer relationship management: C.R.M. I always liked the 2 door hornet body style, great story!
Ken DeSoto Interesting you mention the military aspect, because I just purchased an 80’ amc eagle in Alaska with tags and stickers to Vandenburg base in California on the car.
AMC never made a V6 I think you mean straight six 232; In my 1980 Jeep Cherokee repair manual I did see mention of a V6 but that was sourced from Buick and only using back in the 1960s.
Just so you know, black was available but you had to pay extra and I still have mine
Ken DeSoto that’s awesome man and thank you
My grandfather built these two cars!! He was a plant foreman at the amc plant in Kenosha
Actinium Anarchy, AMC motors was based in Detroit, MI. And not WI.
@@mrflynn01 there was a plant in Kenosha. I believe all of the AMC AMXs were made there
@@mrflynn01 Yes, AMC's main assembly factories were in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Comes from AMCs predecessor company, Nash Motor Co. AMC was essentially just Nash under a new name.
Boggy, Eric Walberg was from GM, still a Detroit based auto company.
@Joe Biden Oh those pesky unions protecting worker's wages pensions and all.
Had 232, 3 speed standard positive traction rear end ,fast little thing,myself and my friend would put bucket seat’s ahead and fold down backseat ,place to sleep,beautiful memories!
fond memories of gremlins. My grandmother had one that she loved and I remember he coming over all the time in that little car. This was when the gas shortages were starting but the demand for better fuel ecomomy had not hit it's peak where they went to 4 cylinders and front wheel drive. I miss the 70's cars... now, everything looks alike even in NASCAR... same car, different logos...
Had a 73 X the same blue as this one. Got it new in December 72 as a senior in high school. Cost $2100. Most reliable car I ever owned. So simple to work on. You could set the points at 0.015” using a beer can pull tab if you didn’t have a feeler gauge. I noticed the “space saver” spare tire in the green one. Lot of good memories with that car. Wish I had it back.
Good video, these guys are great together, always have been👍
-It was 1985, I was having my ‘76 Olds Cutlass painted so I borrowed, from my brother, an old Gremlin he had gathering dirt. I drove it for a month until my Olds was finished. It seemed like it was a year in waiting!
The only good time I remember in the Gremlin was sitting at a stoplight while a guy in a Cadillac ‘Boat’ sat next to me laughing! I rev’d the 6 cyl. he rev’d the heavy V-8 in the Caddy, light turned, we took off and I smoked him & left him in the dust! Lol! We came to the next stop light, he gave me a thumbs-up, still laughing as I joined him✌️
Thx Jay (turn the blinker off)😂😂😂
I bought a basic Gremlin when I completed Infantry training. Had it for a decade. It was great. I could fix everything on the vehicle. We had two children while owning the Gremlin. It served us well.
I love that SNL Adobe skit. It doesn't get enough notice and replay.
Back in 1978 I had a used 73 Levi's gremlin and it was the only car that started when it was 20 below 0 in Minnesota
Oh Yahhh....
I had a 1975 Chrysler Cordoba and it was the only car on the Block in Chicago that started when it was 20 below zero in 1981.
did your Cordoba have the "corinthian" leather? NICE !
Unless you have a gazillion $$, make sure someone makes repop EVERYTHING for your antique project before you buy or.... stay with " popular " stuff ( 55-57s ) camaro, mustang.
I had a '77 Volvo 264 GL and it would start at -40, not plugged in!
+Paul Wicklund I had a 78 cordoba. I had always wanted a hot rod so I bought an old beat up one and went to town on it. Completely hideous, I figured it would cost too much to make it look pretty so I made it look mean and ugly but boy would it move. People absolutely loved it too. I have a 2016 mustang and no one bats an eye at it, my cordoba? People would get excited, shout and wave everywhere I went. Loved that big ugly thing.
*Wow, does this bring back some bittersweet memories! Not only did I own one of these godawful AMC Gremlins, I had a '72 with the straight-six cyl, which I paid $40.00 for. It was, of course my transportation, yet it was so much more than that... it was my home as well, no "lol" here. Back in the early 1980's I lost my family and was literally alone in the world, homeless as well. I still had my girlfriend/future wife , but, at the age of 17 neither of us had a clue how to survive in the real world, we quickly learned though. Looking back, I remember how well I got along with my girlfriends parents, that is until I became homeless. After that they wouldn't allow me in their home, they wouldn't even speak to me! From one day to the next I became leper-like to them, they treated me as if I had a contagious disease. Before I lost my family I would go to church with my girlfriend and her parents every Sunday, after I became homeless I was no longer even welcome to go to church with them. Now that's what I call a Good Christian Attitude! Sarcasm, of course. At night I would park my Gremlin in a hotel parking lot, which worked out fairly well because as the hotel guests began to come out and start their cars, which would awaken me, that was my alarm clock, so to speak and I made it to work on time. Other than the fact that it was a weak, ugly pile, I have to admit that it was quite reliable. I never had to repair anything, I couldn't have even if I wanted to, I could barely afford to eat, let alone make major car repairs, as I was saving my money for an apartment; which required a down payment and two months rent in advance. Since the car was so small I began to have severe muscle spasms in my back, so I traded it to a friend for a '73 Oldsmobile Delta 88. The interior room was so vast in that Olds that I could stretch out on either seat, eliminating the muscle spasms and allowed me to get a relatively good night sleep. Every now and then a police officer would tap on the window and inquire about why I was sleeping in my car, after explaining my situation the officers usually asked me to move the car, telling me that if I returned he wouldn't notice, nice cops! Jump forward to 2020 and I now own a home and several cars, no Gremlins though lol.*
j.d. di giusto Thats quite a story! Her parents were shallow hateful people.
Don’t understand the criticism of the gremlin if you paid 40 dollars for it and never had to do a repair.
@Chris Goodayle that's not a good Christian attitude. That was not being a good Christian.
@@michaelsteal9128 As I said in my comment, " it was a weak, ugly pile". Wow did you ever miss the point of my story! Cat got your tongue?
I lived in my car for 5 months to finish college last year, its rough. But the only alternative was dropping out. I wasnt about to quit right before graduation so i lived in my car!
My Mom had a Gremlin ,cant remember what year ! But I paid $500. Bucks for it ! Brought back a nice memory !
In 1973 my sweetheart bought one of these in red with black trim. One night we went to a drive-in theater in Miami, which amazingly had air conditioning. It worked really well and you clamped a big air tube to a window and rolled it up to hold the bracket on the end of the hose. After a bit we climbed into the back with the rear seat folded down and did the horizontal Mamba until we fogged up the windows. She had button-up blue jeans and when she put them back on we went to the concession stand and I realized she put them on inside-out. If that was not enough to add magic to the evening, on the way home she hit a possum and when we pulled into her parent's driveway the biggest possum I have ever seen was wedged head-first in the Gremlin's grill.
That’s HYSTERICAL!!! Great memories,in detail ❤️
@@Honiedo The best part is we have known each other since Mom put bells on my shoes.
My first car was a '75 Gremlin X with the 5 liter 304 v8 and a 3 speed bought in june of '75, when i was 19. As of to today that car sits in my driveway and I'm 63 now lol.. AMC might be dead but not forgotton
wow, sir make a video, with photo's through the years please:)
Do something with it. Make it a super charged sleeper and have fun with new Mustangs and Camaros on Saturday night
If it has the manual trans, it is rare...
@@davidhollenshead4892 yup its a manual
@@3PercentNeanderhal I have an original Edelbrock 4bbl intake that will go on in the spring.
"A spy wouldn't have owned this car."
Actually it would have been the perfect car for a spy. Because nobody would have guessed that it's being driven by a spy. Unlike when you saw someone rolling up in a DB5.
it worked, because in cars 2 the character "rod redline" disguised himself as a Gremlin
My first car! 1974 AMC Gremlin X. 3 speed shift. 5.0L V8. Bought a muscle car and didn't really know it! Sales guy had to drive it for me as I was new to the in and outs of a clutch!
Thanks for bringing back memories. My dad bought one in 73 and it's what I learned to drive in and passed my driver's test in. They were a quirky car but had enough room in the back to fit my entire drum set. The first car I actually bought was a 69 GTO, and have a 70 GTO now. But, now I want another Gremlin!!
Nice video!
As a Gremlin owner he seems used to being quick with a comeback, and didn't take too much crap from Jay! I give the owner a "10." One of the best owners ever on the show.
They're both professional comedians, so that probably has a lot to do with their witty banter.
@@stephenhawkingsfootballboo7885....I think it's also obvious that Jay and Jeff are good friends.... :)
Yes, indeed!
This episode is just hilarious. Entire episode was based on making fun of this long forgotten (but well liked) car.
I think he's some sort of professional comedian in his own right.
Had a 73 in high school in the 80s, loved it.
How was it being a virgin in the 80’s?
I had a couple of Gremlins in high school and college. Easy to work on. It was a fun car. Wish I had one today.
I had a '73 304 Gremlin X, black with gold stripes, jeep 3-speed, jeep rear dif, had the engine rebuilt, balanced, mild rv cam, headers into shot-gun pipes, and what a fun ol' rusty girl she was, and pretty quick up to about 85mph, anywhere near 100 the valves would float, but you could go for miles flat out. I put 10" TA's on the back, 8" TA's front, premium shocks etc., and there were few cars in the neighbourhood could stick with me on the back roads. The only real gripe I had was replacing the rear window a couple of times, kinda fragile. I loved that car, it sounded mean, and with the rocking Pioneer stereo whipping out 35 watts, it was ready to party all the time. I actually miss it 50+ years later, and still have a couple of up-right (as in alive) friends who occasionally remind me of our adventures in it.
I grew up working with my father and uncle on cars from the early 60's through the mid 70's. I like all makes, but have always favored FoMoCo's and MOPAR's more than GM. AMC's were usually owned by the most frugal types, with the one exception being a friend's family which had a Jeep and Hornet wagon along with a 55' Nomad his father built (but mother drove) that they raced at the local Drag Strip.
My friend drove a VW Beetle (they always had at least one of those too) and when his younger brother started driving he bought a 70' Javelin SST with a 360/4 spd that ran high 13's low 14's in the quarter mile. It was well worn and smoked quite a bit, but ran like hell until he blew it up one night.
A girl I knew had a '76 Gremlin X with a 232 and a 3spd on the floor. Bare bones not a single option I can think of other than the "X" package with the styled steel wheels (Same wheels Jeff Dunham's 2 have).
If I could turn back time I would have enjoyed life more back then.
As I get older, time flies by so quickly. I tell all my nieces and nephews to take advantage of every opportunity they can while they're young and healthy. I tell them the best advice I can give is to treat people kindly, never risk their health, and to enjoy every moment and the people they encounter in their lives because life is much shorter than they can ever image it will be.
Thanks Jay and Jeff.
I also had a 1976 Gremlin X. It was black with a 3 speed on the floor and the rally wheels. Was in perfect/mint shape till around roughly the year 2000 when it shot a rod through the side of the block. Car shook like hell but it still got me home. Dropped in another engine and kept on going :)
I worked my first job at 16 over a summer and bought my "72 for $300! Total base model, not even carpet, and a suspicious axe shaped hole in the rear pillar. The 232 six was super reliable. Check for oil leaks from the valve cover gasket; replace every year or so. I put baby moon hub caps and Dodge trim rings on it for style. The rear bench seat was small but perfect for 2 6x9 speaker boxes held down by the seat belts and conveniently placed on the roof when summer party music was needed. I installed an Alpine underdash cassette player and an EQ/power amp and it was the most rockin' Gremlin in high school. Loved it.
I also had a '74 Gremlin with the 304 V8, and a '74 Javelin 360 V8 painted Corvette yellow that ran dual exhaust with glass pack mufflers. You could hear it coming for miles.
Not gonna lie, the "suspicious axe shaped hole" part really sells the whole story. :)
We had AMC growing up and when I got out of the service, found myself buying a Javelin. Still appreciate the AMC’s.😊
I had a 1976 Gremlin in High School. It was the same color as a smurf! It was a chick magnet! Had lots of fun in the car, but sucked in the snow. This show brought back some great memories. I put a lift kit on it and put 50's on the back and 60's on the front. Looked pretty cool!.
I always liked the Gremlin, but the car AMC made I Love was the Marlin. You have to get an owner of one of those cars on your show. I live in Kenosha and haven't seen one in years. A person in my neighborhood had a Marlin. It was bright red with black down the fastback. That was a Beautiful car. That guy also had an AMX,also bright red.
Love the Marlin!!! Very similar body to the '66-67 Dodge Charger.
I just bought a '65 Marlin to restore last year. It's definitely a head turner! And yeah, it's red with black down the middle. :)
When I told friends I thought the Marlin was "Cool" they all laughed and told me I was Crazy. Hope you have good luck with your project.
Every three years, the Kenosha history museum sponsors an AMC reunion day..next one will be in 2020..I've been to the last 3 of them and there were a few Marlins down by the waterfront in 2017
No Gemlin here, but I have a '77 AMC Hornet with 20K original miles on it. 258-six cylinder, automatic, no A/C, no power brakes, not radio, etc. I would definitely drive it cross-country any time! It's dependable as a hammer, gets decent mileage, and is quite comfortable. AMC's Rock!
Mini Tanks!
@@ct9827 right, the '75 Matador I had as a "company car" could take on a bull!!
Dad bought a 74 Hornet coupe, automatic and nothing else. Slowly but surely it fell apart piece by piece despite Dad being careful with it. He sold what was left of it in trade for a 1980 Cutlass Supreme which he loved...
I didn't have one, but my dad owned one - a '73 Gremlin X.
This car is the butt of many a joke, but I can remember being in the Gremlin as a kid and witnessing it dusting some Porsches and even a Corvette on the highway.
The Gremlin X was really a crazy sleeper, but I suppose that'll happen when you drop a 304 V8 in a car the size of a roller skate.
This brings back memories. Growing up in the 70’s…. My parents had 2 cars. The Olds Custom station wagon as the family car and my dads daily driver was a Gremlin. One day my dad sat me in his lap and let me steer as we were going to the hardware store. It was glorious. One of the happiest days of my childhood. Don’t tell my mother…lol
Same with my family only it was a Pinto and dad got stuck with it. Mom always drove the new car which was a much safer boat.
Funny thing is my dad was a 6'6" Marine and watching him step out of that little thing always amused my friends.
My dad was an AMC and Studebaker freak. We had Ramblers out the wazoo!
The Rebel Station wagon was my favorite. Three speed in-line shifter with a separate overdrive stick. Felt like the Batmobile...
Brought back some good memories as I had a 1971 Gremlin 232 cyl. Wished I still had it today.
I like what Jon Stewart said when introducing Springsteen at the Kennedy Center honors, describing himself working at a bar and going home... "I was driving... at the time, an off brown, 1977 Gremlin. The Gremlin was designed for two reasons. First - birth control for young males, and second, so that the Pinto wouldn't feel so bad about itself."
I learned to drive in one of these. It was perfect for a high school kid it handled well enough to be entertaining, just enough power to play and not get in to trouble. Played 🐈 & 🐁 with a classmate in the fresh ❄️🌨️ left the 🐈 in his V8 Fairlane spinning in an intersection. He's 😊 married to my sister now. Thank you Jay , you are the best at this, just a lotta fun and that's what it's all about. Steven
My sister had one in the 70's that had a 258 inline 6. With a three on the tree. It had a lot of torque. It would actually take off in 3rd gear, on an uphill slope in our driveway. Spin the tires like a big V8. People forget about the powerful inline sixes that each brand had back then. The 300 Ford, 292 chevy, and even the slant six dodge. They all had twice the torque as they had horsepower. Like 120hp, 250 ft. Lbs torque. Does anyone else remember the wrangler jeans model Jeep? The counterpart to the Levis jeans rambler.
I learned to drive with the Gremlin with the manual 3 speed so I've always liked them, even the looks. I think this is why I like hatchbacks.
It did have a lot of torque. It was nothing more than a stroked 250 Chevy. Modified stock car guys loved them because it could be used ( by cheating of course) in place of the Chevy and could not be detected from the outside. Sportsman class was limited to 250 CID at many tracks.
Same engine they put in the CJ Jeeps I believe
Toyota also had a big six in the Land Cruiser that they bought the rights to from GM. It was based off of the old stove bolt and they built it in various forms up until 1992.
David Yegiazaryan They used a variant of the Chevrolet 292 ci inline 6 for Years in UPS trucks. They were bullet proof and full of torque. Right up until they went to the powerstroke Diesel.
I have a soft spot for the Gremlemon. A guy I used pump gas with as a kid had one of these and he shoe-horned a 396 big block into it with a Muncie M21. The thing had so much twist that it would break windshields regularly. Fun fact, AMC used the same bumper stamping for both the front and rear bumpers on this car. That’s how cash strapped they were.
I had a 1973 Purple ("plum metallic") Gremlin in college (mid-80s) It has 11000 miles on it, a 232 Straight 6 with automatic transmission. It was very reliable, easy to fix and cheap to fix. All great assets for a college student. It had to let it go when it rusted out after too many Western NY winters. Got to about 108k miles, so it was a great car. And all my friends new where I was. ;-)
Mid 70's, my Aunt was a Rural travelling Nurse in New Hampshire. She had a Gremlin-X, 8 Cyl, loaded! Over mountains and dirt roads, Winter and Summer, back and forth. Well, it kept blowing engines, and rear ends, and brakes way too often... After many times to she dealership for free warrantee work, she got towed in with her 400lb+ patient (My Aunt came in at about 300Lbs herself...), they said she needed to upgrade, and refinanced her that day! saved money all around!
Just remembered.. it was green inside and out, and had an 8-track! Maybe A/C but i was a kid then!
We were sitting behind a purple one at a left turn light one day. The light turns green and the car just takes off burning rubber. The car fish-tails and goes into someone's front yard and miraculously starts doing doughnuts around a tree in the yard. I could see the driver's eyes as wide as teacup saucers. After about 4 or 5 times around the tree the driver killed the engine and stopped the car. It turns out, the carburetor return spring snapped in two and the gas peddle wouldn't come back off full throttle. Good times were had that day. lol
This was great! I had one back in the late 70's early 80's. Drove it all through college, Manitoba winters and across Canada. When I joined the air force shipped it to Germany. One of the most dependable vehicles I had ever owned. A poor college student can't afford a lot of repair bills. Other than the old, plugs, points, condenser, tires thing, this just rolled on and on. Scrapped it in Germany. Got many an bewildered look from Germans driving this beauty. Like they said, basic transport, but dependable. Loved the old 258! Pulled like a freight train. Not exactly a speed demon with a 3 speed :-)
my brother had one with a 232 and he pulled a 16 ft stock trailer with his riding mower and push mower 15 miles to town on dirt roads every saturday to town for his lawn mowing business never missed a beat i loved that car
I had 3 Gremlins as a teen including the Levi's Gremlin. I loved the car.
Ha! I'm also 70 now like Jay and my buddy bought his new Gremlin in 72. I drove it all the time and loved it! Especially the rear hatch window that lifted up to access the back. It was a big six with I want to say had 4 on the floor. Lots of fun
I had a 1974 "Plum" Gremlin as a first car. It had the 232 in engine, automatic 3-speed and a front bench seat. The radio, rear air deflector and passenger-side mirror were extra-cost options. It got 19-20 mpg. I sold it in 1979.
We just one a trophy with ours at a car show
The Gremlin was unitized, not body on frame. The 258 I6 was rated at 110 HP after the emissions regulations strangled the engine. I think the 258 was rated at 155 HP, but there were aftermarket performance parts which improved power significantly. The 3 speed manual 258 was pretty darn torquey. Jeff Dunham is a great guest. Jay Leno is the best. Love cars, love Jay.
I had to laugh when he mentioned the Adobe. I remember the skit, and instantly started singing “Hey, heyyyy, we’re Adobeeeeeeee…the little car that’s made out of clay!”
Jesus. I am old.
When I was 12 we had an accident in our Gremlin X, we ran off an 18' cliff at 60mph. Took out an 18" birch 12 feet up. My brother and I had the back seat laid down because that's how you rode in the 80's, seatbelts where for survivors!To this day that slow motion moment in time flying upside down and seeing this stupid face on my brother is the most vivid memory in my mind, every piece of dirt, floating Doritos, toolbox, and tire iron. It still amazes me that when the car was drug to the road my dad readjusted the side view mirror and drove it home!
You should write Pocahontas Warren's biography !!!
12 is to 18 as 18 is to 12 as 80 is to...dragged*
@kcotte59 yeah 😃
@@josephwatson8448 OR DON THE CON'S EXCUSES.
That is an AWESOME story..."stupid face on my brother"
I was stuck behind some dude the other day who had his left turn signal on the whole time; I thought to myself, "Who is this guy, Jay Leno?"
Watch 20:17 and a little beforehand, lol.
Lmfao
Was he weaving between lanes and taking both hands off the wheel in a million $ car?
No, just some old balding dude, with a pony tail, composed entirely of neck hair, from Oregon!! It's been on since he left Portlandia! LOL.
Jay, I had a Gremlin when I loved your in Texas in 1976. I was going through a separation of my marriage, heading back to Florida. I couldn't keep it because I had no room. Truck with all our household stuff, trailer with my motorcycle & soon to be ex-wife driving her car. I should have put the trailer on her car and trailered the Gremlin behind the truck. I didn't realize how much I missed that car until I saw this video. At 73 now, I wish I had the finances to get another one. Thanks for the memory & keep that turn signal on !
I had two Gremlins and also a Gremlin-esque Spirit. I don't know the model years on the Gremlins, but the Spirit was probably bought new sometime around 1983.
My first car, bought when I was in college, was was an extremely worn out 1965 Oldsmobile F-85 wagon, burned oil like crazy, very hard to start in the winter, and so rusty around the front window that it was no fun at all driving in the rain. Bought that for $100 in 1976 and sold it a year later for what I paid for it. Replace the Olds with a rusty Gremlin, paid $300 for it in 1977, buying it from a teenager who was trading up. Very reliable car but after about three years bought a used Gremlin from a dealer, white one this time, no visible rust, and an aftermarket air conditioner that would stall the engine if I tried to turn it on. Traded that in on the Spirit when I finished college and got my first 'real' job.
Both Gremlins were very reliable, and were the last cars I owned that I worked on myself. They had a lot if 'pick up', really overpowered for their weight (and they just had the single-inline 6 cylinder engines). Not really enough weight in the rear to keep the wheels from spinning during string acceleration. Both of those cars liked to swap ends without warning on roads if there was any ice, and each of them got towed out of ditches after spinning into them. From my Chicago home base, I took those cars on a couple long distance road trips every year, out to the extremes of the Pacific Northwest, southern California, Arizona, the eastern seaboard, and a circuit of then Great Lakes. These were the last cars I had with 'bias play' tires; the Spirit came with radials. I recall having to stick a screwdriver into the carb's air intake, to defeat the choke, when trying to start their engines at high altitude campgrounds in western mountain ranges and the Rockies.
Poor sheet metal work on all three of those cars; apparently no galvanizing, sloppy fit of doors and hoods, runs in the paint jobs.
Good basic cars, very respectable bang for the buck. I am glad that I had the experience of owning and driving them.
Mine was a 75 Gremlin X. Yellow w/ brown stripe. I learned to drive in it and mom and I shared it. Loved that car. Mine had the issue Jay experienced with the electronic ignition. It would just stop. Eventually my dad had it rewired for points. It was fast though. I once outran a souped up Malibu. Very fast off the line. I would kill to have that cart back. Such a great little car.
My Mom, Bought an 70 Hornet, new. It was A great thing for her. She was proud. As A single Mom! She worked so hard
Well. bless her. Hard life back then, for a single woman.
One of my customer drove a Pacer for decades and I would fix it,when it broke. Not often.
He and his brother were VERY large human males.
I did a wheel alignment once with no one in the car. Mistake!
They shredded the front tires in a week!
OK,free tires. Then ,I put them 300 pounders in the car and did the wheel alignment. "Stop wiggling around in there".
It was fine,as long as those two monsters were in the car!
The TOE CHANGE was massive!
I would have bought that car,if it was for sale.
My first car was a 1974 gremlin x Levi edition with the V8 and 3 speed. I loved that car. It had a big gear in the rear end, but I don't remember what size it was. Everything was stock.It was a good 1/8 mile car but would run out of steam before a quarter mile. With replacement wider tires in the back I could beat 6.6 l trans am automatic off the line and beat them to the next stop light. It would come off the line so strong considering it was a mild 1974 low compression and choked motor. Mine was all stock and was an extra strong runner. I loved that car. It was black with a white stripe and to me the 74 gremlin x was the best looking. Had so much fun and had beer confiscated by police more than once. It was a rather crude car with sloppy steering and not so good breaks. But a lot of that was normal in those years. Thank you for this video of Jeff Dunham's Gremlins it brought back so many good memories
Drove my Gremlin from Chicago to LA dead of summer, three days in 73. Nice to know other people appreciate the Gremlin.