OT: I loves me some AMC
- Thread starter iasooner1
- Start date
I never owned one of those little 'death traps'. The first car I bought was (in '72) a '69 VW bug for like $1800 or so.
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1972 AMC Gremlin.......HA!
The 72 Gremlin X which sported a V-8 w/ a whopping 150hp (max). A very over hyped but under performing car. But to this day, when you see one, you look twice.
Why in the heck did AMC bother to put a big (but weak) V8 in that small of a car K ? They easily could have gone with a V6 of the era that would have blown that away ! Was the Gremlin that heavy that it needed an 8 ?
No wonder AMC didn't make it...
No wonder AMC didn't make it...
V6's were not the wave at the time. The Gremlin wasn't heavy at all. Placing a V8 in a car (even w/ small HP), adding a sports trim, give it a Mag wheel look, then calling it some special name, in this case the "X", gave buyers a perception of V8 power blah, blah, blah. Keep in mind this was at the time frame of the beginning of the end of muscle cars. With the first Arab oil embargo, gas prices soared from .17 to .49, huge gas lines were created. So Detroit dumbed down cars. Keep in mind the Mustang II was introduced just two short years later. It was all about perception, V8 = Horsepower, when in reality it didn't & was all bout gas mileage (fed regulations). Toyota & Datsun were making huge strides in sales in the US at this time frame.
I had a '73 Mercury Capri with a 2.6 V6 that was a great ride for me from '75-'77 or so until I got rear-ended and ruined the uni-body. Loved that car.
Had a friend, (now deceased) that put a ton of bucks restoring a 69 AMX.
Really nice.
Had a cam and kit, with nitrous boost.
He skeered me a couple o times.
Really nice.
Had a cam and kit, with nitrous boost.
He skeered me a couple o times.
Those Javelins & AMXs' were some pretty hot cars. I believe some had Ford engines under the hood.
Do you all remember the classic April Fools joke that Hot Rod Magazine pulled in 2008? They ran an article about the return of AMC and showed all the redesigned AMC cars to be offered. Link.
http://amx390.com/cgi-bin/yabb2-2-6-0/YaBB.pl?num=1202878095
I actually sold AMCs and made a pretty good living at it for about 3 1/2 years way back in the day. Just knowing that should eliminate any doubts you may have about my powers of persuasion.
AMC did Jeep well. Had it not been for AMC, the brand may have disappeared. Many people (excluding me) still think the 1984 CJ's are the best models ever made. I'll keep my JK's.
Thanks to all for not jumping me for my senior faux pas: The "uncut movie" channel I was referring to is actually TCM ! I must be slip sliding away or something... Yeah I like some of the originality of AMC (in spite of the commercials) but obviously erred. Now we have a whole new acronym to explore; everyone have a Great Father's Day !
The little map light on the passenger side was cool. I had one also going to college.