[Comments found in brackets are my own additions to the article. (J.Rosa)] March 13, 1997, The Times-Transcript, 'Wheels' section., pg D6 AMC's slim budget led to subcompact Gremlin *New design based on chopped version of the Hornet By BILL VANCE FOR TIMES TRANSCRIPT The Nash Motor Co. of Kenosha, Wisc., was the only successful American small car manufacturer between World War II and 1960. Hudson, Willys, Kaiser-Frazer and a handful of fringe makers tried, but only the little Nash Rambler introduced in 1950 would survive, and even it had a hiatus during 1956 and '57. When Nash and Hudson joined forces to form American Motors Corp, in 1954, it was the Rambler- derived design that would keep the company going for as long as it scrived as a separate entity. Nash had been ahead of its time in the domestic promotion of smaller cars But as small imports began taking a bigger share of the market, the Big Three responded with their 1960 compact Chevrolet Corvair, Ford Falcon and Chrysler Valiant. But when the compacts gave the imports, especially the Volkswagen only a temporary setback, Ford and GM tried again with their 1971 Ford Pinto and Chevrolet Vega subcompacts. American Motors knew that Ford and GM had smaller cars coming in 1971. It already had ex- perience with smaller cars from the '50s when it married American styling to English Austin mechanicals in the Nash/Hudson Metropolitan, but that clearly wouldn't do this time. Something more modern was called for, but it wold have to be cheap because AMC had depleted its resources during the '60s trying to be a Big Three- type full-line carmaker. AMC'S chief stylist Richard Teague, the master of the low-cost makeover, came through with another of his ingenious but inexpensive creations. The result was the subcompact Gremlin, which AMC was able to bring to market on April 1, 1970, a half year ahead of Ford and GM. Teague based the Gremlin on the Hornet, which AMC had created by heavily facelifting the Rambler American in 1970. By chopping the back end off the Hornet at an angle just behind the front doors, and fitting a glass hatch, a much shorter car was produced. Compared to the Hornet, the wheelbase was reduced 12 inches (305 millimetres) to 96 inches (2438 mm), and overall length came down from 179 inches (4347 mm) to 161 (4089 mm). While the Gremlin was a subcompact in length and wheelbase, it wasn't in width or weight. It was still as wide as the Hornet at 70.6 inches (1793 mm), and its 2,550-pound (1159 kg) weight was decidedly un-subcompact. The Gremlin suffered from being exactly what it was: a cut-down big car. Its lack of finesse was betrayed under the hood, too. While other small cars had economical four-cylinder engines, the Gremlin had a six of 199 cubic inches (3.3 litres) standard, or 232 (3.8) optional. The six wasn't particularly economical, nor was handling that great due to the heavy forward weight bias. And because so much had been cut out of the Hornet, the back seat was cramped and luggage space was minimal. Even the Volkswagen Beetle, hardly a paragon of space effi- ciency, offered more cargo room. Also, cutting 18 inches (457 mm) out of the Hornet's wheelbase meant that the rear springs had to be shortened with the result that the Gremlin had a choppy ride. [Note from J.Rosa: Note the writer mentions 18" above, yet earlier, he claims the cut was 12"....OOPS!] [photo of 1971 Gremlin] caption: The subcompact Gremlin was launched in 1970, well ahead of it's competitors. The Gremlin's performance was above subcompact car levels of the era. Motor Trend magazine recorded a zero to 60 mph (96 km/h) acceleration time of 12.6 seconds with the 232 (3.8) engine. Both the Ford Pinto and the VW were in the 18 second range. Fuel economy was rea- sonably good at 28 to 30 mpg with the small six, but was not competitive with the 35-plus VW. American Motors recognized that they didn't have a style leader, so they promoted the Grem- lin as "cute and different" and pitched it to younger buyers. The strategy paid off; over 60 percent of Gremlin purchasers were under 35. Considering the shortened model year, AMC did fairly well with the Gremlin, selling 26,209 1970 models. The little-changed 1971 soared to 73,534 sales, helped along by the optional stylish X-package with such features as a blacked-out grille, bold stripes, fancy wheels and larger tires. For 1973 [correction: 1972], AMC made the 304 cubic inch (5.0 litre V-8 optional, which turned it into a kind of mini-muscle car. It also got a stylish blue denim "Levi's" trim package which was popular with young buyers. The Gremlin got its only real restyling in 1977 in the form of new front fenders, hood and canted grille. In keeping with the times, it also got a Porsche-derived overhead-cam, 2.0 litre (121 cubic inches) four-cylinder engine (the V8 had been discontinued in 1976), but it never proved popular. Less than 14,000 fours were sold during its short two-year offering, but it did have the distinction of making the Gremlin a car with one of the widest engine ranges of all time: from 2.0 to 5.0 litres. Nineteen seventy-eight would be the last year for the Gremlin as such; it would be badge- engineered into the Spirit for 1979. During its 8-1/2-year span from mid-1970 to 1978. Gremlin sales totalled almost 672.000, and it was a money-maker for AMC. That's not bad for what was basically a chopped-off Hornet. [End Bill Vance's book, Reflections on Automotive History is available from Eramosa Valley Publishing, Box 370, Rockwood, Ont., NOB 2K0. Soft cover $18.50 ($23.50 with GST and ship- ping) hard cover $28.50 ($34.50).]