1973 AMC Gremlin X 5.0 V8 from North America
Summary:
A unique great "hot rod"
Faults:
The car needed a transmission rebuild recently.
The car required a one-wire alternator to bypass some electrical problems with the charging system.
The car required a new dual exhaust system recently.
The car shows some valve wear with the very high 258,034 miles on it.
I rebuilt the carburetor very recently.
General Comments:
My 1973 Gremlin X with a 304 V8 is still a lot of fun to drive despite 258,034 miles on it.
Twice movie companies wanted to use it it in films, such as "Mr. Holland's Opus" and an unspecified Zombie film.
With new spark plugs and a recently rebuilt carburetor, the car will easily "burn rubber" if great ease.
The handling seems pretty good for such an old fashioned automobile.
I've owned four Gremlins. And this one is not the fastest. But it's a unique small high performance car.
I have smaller 185 by 14inch tires on the front, and bigger 215 by 14 inch tires on the rear, with a three inch lift in back for more clearance, and a one inch lift in front. This way there is no tire drag on the wheel wells.
The car has a very basic "hotrod" feel. It is a basic small well built automobile with big motor. Some say Gremlin V8s are similar to the British Austin Healey automobiles of the 50's. A heavy, basic, but reasonably well handling fast car. Sort of a "poor man's Corvette".
Gremlins get plenty of attention. Most people think they're cool in a strange sort of way. A few people still laugh at them. But most admire a 30 plus year old car that is still on the road, and can still "burn rubber" while many other cars are already in a junk yard.
Gremilns aren't for everyone. But they're a great old small high performance car. They're easy to work on. And you can easily bolt in a rebuilt 401 with 330 gross horsepower for about $1,500 if you want more power than the Javelin 304 V8 that the Gremlin V8 models had. Offenhauser offers some great intake manifolds that will allow either one or two Holley or Predator carburetors to be installed. The Predator carburetors offer the horsepower of a six barrel carburetor in a single unit, so two of these will equal three standard four barrel carburetors. For small race track home built race cars, this will offer awesome performance. But for the street, probably one single four barrel carburetor like a Holley will be more than adequate to turn your tires to liquid if you so desire.
Any V8 Gremlin will be fuel hungry. The 232 and 258 six engine models will handle better than the front heavy V8 models as well. But the V8 is a fun motor in such a small car. Only the British built Triumph V8 models were a smaller V8 than the 1973 Gremlin for 1973.
Gremlins are increasing in value. On Ebay expect to pay $3,500 or more for a nice Gremlin V8. But this isn't bad compared to buying a small car with only a four in it.
On Ebay there are over 200 listings for Gremlin cars and parts today. Gremlins are a great 1970's car. Fun to drive. Powerful. Gaining value. Hemmings Motor News have offred several featuresin Gremlins and other high performance AMC cars recently.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 17th July, 2005
2nd Jan 2006, 16:10
Its easy unless its been repainted. On the back of my new 1973 Gremlin X it said... 5 litre V8. The 2 different sixes were noted the same way. That was the only area it was labeled by the way. The other giveaway on mine was the V8 exhaust note. I had dual exhaust added. I also put 60 series tires on mine on the factory rims and it handled very well except in the wet.
2nd Jan 2006, 05:11
I have a 1973 gremlin x how do I know if it's a v8 model or a 6 cyl can any body help thankls mike.