AMC Gremlin
The AMC Gremlin is an American subcompact automobile introduced in 1970 engineered and 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, hatchback tail, the Gremlin was classified 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 Corona. 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The Gremlin reached a total production of 671,475 over a single generation — and was superseded by a restyled variant, the AMC Spirit.
History
Origin and design
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.
