When Dick Teague sketched out – one the back of an air sickness bag no less – his idea for an American subcompact car, he was making both history and legend. The small car that grew from that sketch became the American Motors Gremlin.
Launched on April Fool’s Day in 1970, the Gremlin surprised the automotive press. How was tiny AMC, which in 1967 was close to going out of business, able to rebound and beat the Big Three to market with the first American subcompact car designed to compete with a new wave of imports? Chevy and Ford wouldn’t field their entries for another six months, and Chrysler wouldn’t offer its own subcompact until the 1978 model year.
Teague was able to work this magic by cutting 12 inches out of the wheelbase of AMC’s Hornet compact sedan, and then created a shorter rear section that incorporated a hatchback design, which was unique among American cars at the time. Being based on the Hornet meant Gremlin received a 199-cu.in. six-cylinder engine as standard equipment, and by 1972 even a 304-cu.in. V-8 was optional. Sure, Gremlin wasn’t as light and economical as other small cars, but its gas mileage was surprisingly good and interior comfort was superior, in the front seat anyway. The back seat was cramped but so were the rear seats in Pintos and Vegas.
But here’s the rub: American Motors’ designers were real car enthusiasts, and they wanted the company to offer a special Gremlin model for enthusiasts circa 1970, something they dubbed the Gremlin GT. They produced an illustration to show what it could look like and now, having located a copy of it, I sure wish AMC had approved it. Ralph Nader probably would have gotten apoplectic over it, but it was a really exciting concept.
As illustrated, the Gremlin GT wore white body paint with two black racing stripes running down the hood. The Gremlin’s stock hood bulge was fronted by a blacked-out metal casting to make the bulge appear to be a functional scoop. Inset on the scoop plate was the number “360.” The grille surround was painted body color, rather than the argent silver seen on standard models, and the grille insert was black sporting an offset “GT” emblem. Headlamp buckets were flat black except for the outer edges, which were bright metal. The body sides were adorned with AMC’s standard painted pinstripe, along with a GT emblem placed on the rear quarter, and a 360 emblem on the front fenders. Five-spoke wheels and AMX-like rocker panel moldings completed the aggressive look.
Those 360 badges reveal the big story behind the Gremlin GT. It wasn’t a simple “stripes & wheels” sport package like so many other cars in the 70’s (including the Gremlin “X” that debuted in 1971). The Gremlin GT was slated to be equipped with AMC’s potent 360-cu.in. V-8 topped with either a 2-barrel or 4-barrel carburetor. Paired with a three- or four-speed manual transmission and equipped with a Twin-Traction differential, the Gremlin GT would have offered amazing performance at an attractive price.
The last generation AMC V-8 engines all used essentially the same block, so the 360 engine would easily have fit the Gremlin – it was, after all, offered in the Hornet. Certainly, the brakes and suspension would have needed beefing up, just as the Hornet required. It probably could have used the same parts. But as far as engineering goes, the Gremlin GT wouldn’t have needed much effort to get it into production.
Although the car wasn’t built, we can speculate with some accuracy as to its performance. In Car Craft tests, a stock two-door 1972 Hornet SC/360 did the quarter mile in 14.5 seconds with a speed of 99.1 mph. After adjusting the timing, a run of 13.9 seconds and 101.9 mph was logged. That was better than a 454-powered Chevelle tested previously. Since the Gremlin weighed less than the Hornet, one can figure the Gremlin GT would have produced slightly better results, if they kept wheel spin under control.
AMC eventually built a Gremlin GT for 1978, but it was vastly different from the proposed design described above. In my humble opinion, the proposed Gremlin GT would have been a minor hit for AMC, selling in fairly small numbers but greatly enhancing the company’s performance image. It’s too bad it never got the chance.
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