1978 AMC AMX Concord from North America - Comments

The sway bar went thru the oil pan after hitting a small pothole.

The valley pan gasket went out and flooded the engine with antifreeze.

The carb caught fire, and the engine bay was on fire for a few minutes.

Miles of vacuum lines and tons of leaks.

Very nice car, turns heads and RARE! It handles great, could have more power but that's a smogged out 2BBL 1970's 5.0 for ya.

AMC put the AMX name on this Gremlin-based econocar the same year that Ford tried to call that Pinto-based Mustang II a "Cobra". The year before, they tried to market the Hornet hatchback as an "AMX". I owned one, with all those fender flares and spoilers, and under the hood with the giant "AMX" logo, was--- a six-cylinder engine.

Both were failed attempts to impart some image of "performance" to what was otherwise a fairly ordinary car.

The 1978 AMX was actually based on the Condord hatchback, not the Gremlin, though that was the last year of the Gremlin model. In 1979 the Gremlin was replaced with the Spirit, and they made an AMX based on the Spirit in 1979 and 1980.

Definitely not the high-point of AMC muscle cars, but I think the 1977-1980 AMXs have a lot of character. I own a 1978, and yes, it turns some heads. That year there was a choice between the 258 c.i. six cyl. with a stick shift, or the 304 V8 with an automatic. Mine's the V8/auto. It's a fun car, and a better intake and 4 bbl carb helps a lot.

"The 1978 AMX was actually based on the Condord hatchback, not the Gremlin"

Well, the Concord was a dressed up version of the Hornet, and what car did the Hornet share a chassis with? The Gremlin.

In the early '90's one of our neighbors gave their teen-aged son an ugly green 6-cylinder Gremlin to drive to school. He got kidded unmercifully about that car, but his response was a great way to turn things around. He put lots of time, sweat and money (with his dad's help) into making the Gremlin a tire-smoking terror that won show trophies. He ditched the 6 and installed a small-block Chevy engine that put out nearly 400 horespower. He had the car repainted in a multi-clearcoat candy apple red with gold accenting, and replaced the ugly seats with very sporty buckets (I'm not sure what they came out of). People in our neighborhood still remember that kid who refused to cave in to ridicule and the awesome show car he turned the Gremlin into.