1974 AMC Gremlin

1974 AMC Gremlin Description

Not only will you get looks driving this AMC Gremlin, but you will also get a lot of smiles. Get used to people stopping you to talk about the great times they had with one of these cars and that this "ugly duckling" is now quite cool.
This is a 1974 model that needs some TLC from the right buyer. The car ran well the last time I drove it, but that's been over a year ago. Unfortunately,this was a purchase that I made back in late 2011and I underestimated what it would take to upgrade and maintain a car of this age, especially as I am not mechanically inclined. The good points about the car are that it does seem to run soundly with a reasonable amount of pickup (at least the last time I tried to drive it), the interior seats/carpet are in great shape, has a very sporty look with its wheels/spoiler, little rust (but there is some rust), an electronic starter thatwas installed after I first purchased it and the classic Gremlin gas cap in the back. The not so good points are that it doesn't start now (not too much of a surprise since it has been sitting for over a year), the middle of the dashboard, i.e., whereradio, heater, etc. would be locatedis pretty barren, the brakes appear to be somewhat weak (need to push down on thempretty hard), passenger door doesn't open from the outside, rear window doesn't lock,interior side panels are becoming unglued,the car has been repainted white with some chipping(looks like original paint was burnt orange underneath), and probably a whole host of other things that come with being a more than 40 year old car. Odometer reads 42,999 miles but title has mileage listed at 95,000, so none of this mileage information is particularly reliable.
I'm not much of a car guy and acquired this more for what a Gremlin represented than what it mechanically was. In other words, I'm not that knowledgeable as to its specifications and workings. Along those lines, I am not making any warranties or representations as to how mechanically sound this car is. My experience driving it was I found it to be a lot of fun but I clearly did not have the mechanical skills to keep this car long term, but also sense that someone who is mechanically inclined can have a great time with it.