1977 AMC Gremlin X: They’ve gone stark raving plaid!

Gremlin. For those of a certain age, the name will bring back lots of memories. The plucky little car that was built by a plucky little car company, the last of the independents, AMC. It was introduced on April 1, 1970. You can’t help but admire a company with a sense of humor.

Naturally, thrift was played up heavily in advertising. The inaugural ’70 model had an overall length of 161 inches, seated four, and had a base price of $1959 (about $15,031 today). There was even a cheapskate-special two-seater model for only $1879 ($14,418), touted as the lowest-priced car in America.

For comparison’s sake, a ’71 Pinto based at $1919 ($14,724), and the ’71 Vega was $2090 ($16,036). But upon its introduction, the Gremlin’s primary competitors were the Ford Maverick (no, not the pickup for you young guns, the compact car that replaced the Falcon), Volkswagen Beetle, Toyota Corolla, and Datsun 510.

For you numbers folks, 1971 Gremlin production was 76,908, Vega was 269,900, Maverick was 271,897, and Pinto was a whopping 352,402. Granted, Ford and GM had vastly superior cash reserves; in addition, a four-door was added to the Maverick line; and, as you may recall, the Vega came in sedan, hatchback, wagon, and even a panel truck. Ditto the Pinto with a wagon version.

But as the Gremlin was heavily based on the Hornet compact, I’ll bet the tooling was miniscule compared to the clean-sheet Ford and Chevy subcompacts. Plus, that pair had four-cylinder engines, while the Gremlin came standard with a 199-cubic-inch, inline six-cylinder engine, but that was 1970 only. Starting in ’71, the 232-cu-in version became standard. The 258 six was optional.

Not much changed on the Gremlin through the years, though the addition of the 304 V-8 in 1972 made for a pretty compelling mini-muscle car. The ’73s got away with a somewhat enlarged front bumper, but only for a year. The ’74s got the awkward, giant Federal bumpers front and rear, which did not improve things aesthetically.

The 1974–76 Gremlins had only minor changes to the grilles, colors, and the available stripes on the sporty X model. By 1976, the Gremlin was in its seventh model year, and other than the bumpers, not much had changed. But a refresh was in the works.

My friend Drew Beck, of the greater Madison, Wisconsin, area, had three Gremlins back then, a 1974 X, plus a ’77 and ’78, both of which had the Custom Trim package, which included extra trim and standard features. I asked him if he had any Gremlin memories. He said “about a zillion,” so I asked him to pick one.

“Saturday night racing … a 1974 Gremlin X with the 258 six will easily outrun a Porsche 914 in a straight line, but once things get curvy, the Porsche pulls away quickly. Very front-heavy cars, though that means burnouts are as easy as finding mosquitos in Wisconsin.” And yes, he’d love to find another one.

The 1977 Gremlins presented a fresh face to the world. The long, front overhang was no more, replaced with a brand new front clip that was much tidier, with an attractive eggcrate grille. The new front end would be shared with the facelifted Hornet in 1978, redubbed Concord and given a more aspirational-luxury look. But the Gremlin got it first.

One item touted for all 1977 AMCs was the “Buyer Protection Plan II,” which added a full 24-month, 24K-mile engine and drive train warranty. It also covered the entire car, except tires, for 12 months or 12K miles from the date of delivery. Now that doesn’t seem like much today, but at the time it was rather comprehensive. After doing very well, sales-wise, in the early 1970s, by ’76–77 AMC wasn’t doing so hot and was trying everything in its power to bump sales.

But we were talking about the Gremlin, weren’t we? In addition to the new nose, Gremlins got a facelifted back end as well, including new, repositioned taillights and a “shadow box” recess for the rear license plate. The rear hatchback glass was also enlarged for better visibility. Standard features included front disc brakes, AMC’s famous Weather Eye heater/defroster, color-keyed carpeting, carpeted cargo area, a parking brake warning light, two-speed wipers, and a “Luster-Guard” acrylic baked enamel paint job.

The Gremlin X remained the sporty version and added those amazing plaid bucket seats, full-length sport stripes with a matching rear deck stripe, “X” badging, sports steering wheel, Extra Quiet Insulation Package, and slotted, styled steel wheels with D70x14-inch blackwall tires. It was largely a decor package, though you could order the 258 six with a four-speed floor shift if you so desired, or floor- or column-mounted automatic transmission.

Our featured car was seen at the excellent Maple City Cruise Night in Monmouth, Illinois, earlier this year on August 5. I had only been at the show a few minutes when I came upon this immaculate example, resplendent in Alpine White with that oh-so-attention-getting blue plaid interior with bucket seats and center console. Believe it or not, the Gremlin came standard with a split-back bench seat, despite its small size! It was only the second car I photographed. But even though it was one of the first cars I saw, it remained among my top five favorite cars at the show.

And while the Gremlin nameplate only lasted one more model year, gaining the all-new Concord instrument panel in the process, the car itself became a Spirit in 1979, with the same basic body—albeit losing that oh-so-identifiable triangular rear quarter window for one with less of a blind spot.

And a much more boring name: the “Spirit Sedan.” But you could get a flossy Limited model with leather! Uptown Gremlin! Love it or hate it, the Gremlin had its fans, then and today. A quirky little car that was 3/5 Hornet—and more than the sum of its parts.