Vehicle Description
1973 AMC Gremlin X - California Car - Factory 304 Replaced With A
401ci V8 in 2021 - 4 Speed Manual Transmission - Yellow Over Tan
Interior - Window Sticker - Maintenance Records High inflation,
rising gas prices, changing emissions requirements, and the
Watergate trials were among the events happening at the time that a
Gremlin like this one could've been driven off the showroom floor.
AMC's Gremlin was a response to the Japanese compact cars that were
beginning to take up a considerable amount of the market share.
Other American cars that were developed to try and gain back some
market share from the import brands were the Chevy Vega, and the
Ford Pinto. The Gremlin, Pinto, and Vega had pretty mundane
styling, but the versions of those cars that had larger engines
were fun. The combination of a big engine in a small car always
makes for a vehicle that will put a grin on drivers faces. In the
case of this Gremlin X, the power to weight ratio is favorable for
fun. Offered here is a Mellow Yellow (code E9) Gremlin X. This car
spent a majority of its life in the Oxnard California area, and
covered a low amount of miles. Its first owner was a World War II
veteran who served in the 812th Bombardment Squadron whose mascot
was a Gremlin. It was a special car for him, as he only put about
20k miles on the car. The car comes with an original window
sticker, a stack of maintenance and parts receipts, and a display
board as seen in our photos. The car was lightly restored by the
couple who purchased the car from the first owner. It's finished in
Mellow Yellow. (Sorry if you have the Donovan Mellow Yellow song
stuck in your head now.) The paint is evenly applied and is glossy.
Body panel fitment is dialed in, although the orange section
between the tail lights is fading a bit in spots. Since it's been
optioned with the Gremlin X package, there were exterior styling
add ons like a stripe, painted grille, slot style 14x6 wheels, and
Gremlin decals. Other exterior details include a chrome roof rack,
updated headlights, dual exhaust, white letter radial tires, a rear
spoiler, and a Gremlin adorned gas cap. Interestingly, AMC decided
against having a hatchback lid that could open, and opted to have
only the back window glass open. This meant that the body of the
car had some extra rigidity. Inside the car are a few other cool
options that were part of the Gremlin X package. Bucket seats,
sports steering wheel, cargo insulation and carpeting, space saver
spare tire, and the interior appointment package which looks to
include an updated gauge cluster. The seats have been recovered,
but have a period correct two tone tan/brown color scheme. A Hurst
shifter was added which gives away the fact that there is a larger
engine under the hood. Under the hood is a 401ci V8. Since then the
engine has been cleaned up and dressed up with a few Edelbrock
parts - intake manifold, and chrome valve covers. MSD plug wires,
an aluminum radiator, and MSD ignition are a few other upgrades
made to the power plant. As it was when this Gremlin rolled off the
assembly line, we are in the midst of an interesting political
climate, inflation is fluctuating, and gas prices have been on a
roller coaster. Seems that the time to buy a Gremlin X would be
now. This car served its first owner well as he was seeing similar
news stories to recent events. Make some room for this little
monster in your collection, unlike the evil Gremlins in the famous
'80's movie, this Gremlin will have you smiling from ear to ear.
Please call if interested or e-mail with specific questions. Thanks
for looking.
