AMC launches Gremlin in U.S.

The AMC Gremlin goes on sale in the U.S. April 1, 1970, competing against imports such as the Volkswagen Beetle and Toyota Corona, and beating the Chevrolet Vega and Ford Pinto to market by five months.

The Gremlin, touted by American Motors as the first U.S.-built modern subcompact car, became the company's best-selling nameplate since the Rambler Classic.

AMC initially offered two basic Gremlin models: a bare-bones two-seater and a more accommodating four-passenger version. The two-seater with a fixed rear window was targeted as an import-fighting price leader and was initially offered at $1,879. The four-seater, which added a flip-up rear window hatch, was priced from $1,959.

The Gremlin took root in 1966 when AMC chief designer Richard Teague and stylist Bob Nixon discussed the possibility of a shortened version of AMC's compact car. Teague's solution, which he said he sketched on a Northwest Orient air sickness bag during a flight, was to truncate the tail of a Javelin pony car.

Nixon had joined AMC as a 23-year-old and did the first formal design sketches in 1967 for the car that was to become the Gremlin.

Ford and General Motors planned to launch subcompact cars for 1971, but AMC lacked the financial resources to compete with a new design. Teague's idea of using the Javelin resulted in the AMX-GT concept, first shown in April 1968 at the New York auto show. The concept did not go into production, but the AMX name was used from 1968 to 1970 on a shortened, two-seat sports car built from the Javelin.

Teague, when asked how AMC approached the Gremlin's design and development, often replied with an unconventional answer: "How do you produce an attention-getting subcompact on a shoestring?"

Nixon, AMC's future head of design, instead styled the new subcompact based on the automaker's Hornet compact car. The design reduced the wheelbase from 108 to 96 inches and the overall length from 179 to 161 inches, making the Gremlin 2 inches longer than the Volkswagen Beetle and shorter than the Ford Pinto and Chevrolet Vega.

Newsweek featured a red Gremlin on the cover of its April 6, 1970, issue for an article, "Detroit Fights Back: The Gremlin."

The Gremlin eventually spawned offshoots with V-8 engines and Levi's denim trim packages.

While the Gremlin's styling wasn't universally loved, it was praised in a comparison of economy cars by Motor Trend and customers genuinely appreciated its strong six-cylinder engine and compact dimensions.