Memories, AMC Matador

All of the AMC V8's were the same block,Just different bore/stroke combo's.You could get faactory V8 Gremlins and hornets.You couldn't get that in a Pinto or Vega,Scary little cars when uncorked.My friend had the Gremlin V8 4speed with the Levi interior.He let is rust out in the swamp and wouldn't sell it to anyone.

Merry Christmas,D.G.

Yep , replace that little 304 with a well built 401 and look out. Friend of mine plucked the stock 304 out of his Jeep and put in a 401 with Edelbrock Performer package (aluminum heads , intake , carb and cam).
 
Yep , replace that little 304 with a well built 401 and look out. Friend of mine plucked the stock 304 out of his Jeep and put in a 401 with Edelbrock Performer package (aluminum heads , intake , carb and cam).

Yep, Common swap.Did it have the Dana's?Ahhhh.The good ones that people thought less of because of AMC.What wasn't to like?

Merry Christmas,D.G.
 
I'm sad to admit I had a Gremlin....

My first car was a green gremlin,even had a funny character namesake on it,My friends laughed but it ran great.Funny,it turned out to be collectable ,but I sold it for 300 bucks when I went to the service.........wished I still had it.
 
There's a lot of "wish I still had it" cars/trucks I can name. They are all vehicles that with the hood open you see the ground on both sides of the engine, and you could work on it under the "shade tree" without a degree in rocket science.
 
Not many were made, but the AMX was a true performance car. Available with a high output V8 and a tricked out auto transmission or a beefy 4 speed...

I remember the AMX well. They used to give my GTO fits. LOL.
 
I owned an AMC Hornet and like others have said those straight 6's were great. My Dad actually liked the AMC Pacer. He said the bubble top configuration reminded him of the PBYs he flew in during WW2 and Korea.

One thing that most people don't remember ios that Chrysler bought AMC for two things. First was the Jeep line but second was the mini van. The Mini Van was going to the the vehicle that saved AMC, instead it saved Chrysler.
 
Knew a guy in high school with an AMX and a pile of speeding tickets that kept him hovering on the edge of loosing his lisence! One day he told me he'd figured out what his problem was. He couldn't stand people in front of him and he had a car that could do something about it!

Teenage country boy wisdom....
 
Pacer

Howdy,
Here is a little known bit of info on the Pacer. The passenger door is two inches longer than the driver door to help get all the pretty girls they attract in and out of the back seat.
I know the door is longer. I cant say if it works or not?
Thanks
Mike
 
The first car I ever totalled out was a 74 Gremlin. I was a junior in high school, on my way to my after school job at Woolworth's, when a nice lady in a 1976 Cadillac Seville ran a yield sign and T-boned me. I broke the windshield with my forehead, but still had to go to work.

amc-gremlin-x_ad_71.jpg
 
I remember the AMX well. They used to give my GTO fits. LOL.

There's a very nicely built Pro Street '70 AMX running around here that has a healthy Buick 455 w/Edelbrock aluminum heads transplanted onto it. GM TH-400 trans and Dana 60 rear. Supposedly runs low 9s.
 
My first car was a '75 Vega wagon. Not sure how good of a car it was, one month after I picked it up a Ford LTD ened it's life at an intersection. So sad. Next up was a '76 AMC Gremlin. You can say what you want about the looks, that was one tough car. If I remember, it had an in-line 6 cyclinder (260 c.i.?) and had plenty of tourque. I sold it to a friend's mother in 1983 when I had a chance at a nicer car ('75 Old's Cutlass) and she drove it up until about 1990.

By the way, AMC did race the Gremlins in the Trans-Am series. I didn't know that until many years later. Still strikes me as kind of funny.

Nah, it wasn't the Gremlin in Trans-Am, it was the Javelin. Penske ran them and they were a darn good race car. In fact, owner Roy Woods and driver George Follmer won the championship in '72. I was heavily involved in SCCA racing back then as a mech and crew chief and many National weekends shared the venue with the Trans-Am and Can-Am series'. Lucky Russell had pit passes valid for the entire weekend! Now, the Can-Am cars were some scary-ass racing cars. Chevy 500 cid elephant motors in a 2500 pound chassis held the absolute lap record at many tracks. Does anyone remember the Trans-Am 2.5 series; BMW 2002's, Alfa-Romeo Giulietta's and Datsun 510's. John Morton took the series in his first year driving the BRE car. We had it on the showroom floor for a couple of weeks at a Datsun dealership where I worked. Good times; thanks for the memories.

Russ
 
My first was a Triumph Spitfire just like this. My father gave it to me when I was 15. Four cylinder; two one barrel carbs. Slow as Xmas but the girls liked it. The convertible top lifted off and you put it in the trunk. The wire wheels came off if you took off the spinner.

1967-triumph-spitfire-735455.jpg


I totalled it and my father gave me a crappy '62 (?) Olds Cutlass. Like this, only black.

2702492295_66376198c3.jpg


I have no idea what happened to it but man, I hated that car.
 
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