I actually do like the gremlin. Don't know why. But I was sad to see it die.

 

Wasn't it super dangerous to drive?

 

Idk. Don't know much about them. I think you might be thinking of the Pinto, though. Something about the gas tank which gave it a tendency to do this under even a relatively light rear-end accident.
[video=youtube;0zKNBVVrWos]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zKNBVVrWos[/video]

 

No, there weren't any safety issues with the Gremlin.

I don't remember if it was in commercials for the car, or in real life, but if one was looking at the side of the car as it came from behind a truck or the side of a building, one would see the hood, then the front door, the roof, and expect to see the trunk, and suddenly, there was no more car! No trunk!

I had a 1971 Gremlin for a few years, it was a great car. Mine had the 232 cu in straight six, and a manual 3 speed on the floor. It was surprising how much stuff you could cart in it with the rear seat-back folded down. The back window swung up, but it didn't have a tail-gate. That would have made it better. Back when the speed limits were 50 mph, (on interstates that were designed for 80 mph) I ran up and down the East coast with a "Fuzz Buster" and a CB. Although I didn't know it at the time, it was dubbed the "poor man's Corvette"

Snipped from wikipedia:
The Gremlin was faster than other subcompacts of the time. Motor Trend magazine recorded zero to 60 mph (0 to 97 km/h) in 12.6 seconds with the 232 cu in (3.8 L) engine. The Ford Pinto and the VW Beetle were in the 18-second range. Fuel economy was 28 mpg[SUB]-US[/SUB] (8.4 L/100 km; 34 mpg[SUB]-imp[/SUB]) to 30 mpg[SUB]-US[/SUB] (7.8 L/100 km; 36 mpg[SUB]-imp[/SUB]) with the small six, compared with the 35-plus mpg economy of the VW Beetle.[SUP][52][/SUP]
Although front-heaviness was generally thought to compromise the handling, Tom McCahill wrote in Mechanix Illustrated that the Gremlin was "fast and easy", with a comparatively stiff ride because of the shortened rear springs. He ran a 232-engined Gremlin with automatic transmission from zero to 60 mph (0 to 97 km/h) in 11.9 seconds, saw 100 miles per hour (161 km/h) on the Daytona Speedway straightaway, and summarized: "On a dollar for dollar basis, I rate the Gremlin the best American buy of the year".

 

The Pinto did hold up pretty well when backing over children though... I know from personal experience (I would have preferred it to have burst into flames instead of rolling over my head though)

As a side note. My Mom had a poodle she named "Gremlin" due to that being the first car she saw after picking the puppy up.

 

We had both Gremlins and Pintos in Driver Education in High School and both were just fine for us!
Several friends ended up getting one of the 2 as a first car but alas,no car for me.

It wasn't until years later that the Pintos more "Exciting" feature became a well known thing.

Back then the Gremlin was a pretty nice little car.......in a way that only every AMC could ever be considered 'Nice"?

AMC? Coinicidence?

Remember the Pacer?!

 

I laughed when I saw the gremlin. I looked at my husband and awww sh$;, zombie apocalypse and there is still a gremlin, there is hope yet lol!

 

The metal bird finger hand on the back killed me. :zombies_lol:

 

That was priceless!

 

I drove one once, actually a fun little car!

If Gremlins are still alive and well in the US ZA, somewhere in Europe a Yugo is still kicking.

 

I had a Pacer in the early 80's! It was bright red and everyone at work called it my cherry tomato! :zombies_lol:

 

Wait huh? lol must hear this story....

 

I suppose that does require some explanation... When I was 4, I was riding a skateboard on my stomach in the street (no need to point out how my parents could allow such behavior, as I have already done so.) And a pinto was backing out of the driveway next door. I had seen cars back out of driveways plenty of times, and knew that they drive away after backing out into the road, so thought nothing of it. This time though the car continued to travel in reverse right towards me (unbeknownst to me, this particular car was actually backing up to park in front of our fence), and by the time I caught on I had no time to get out of the way. Attempting to move put me right under the passenger side rear tire (a Goodyear if I recall... Though not a good year). My head caught like a rock under the tire and it skidded my skull about four feet down the road until it finally caught traction and continued it's arc over my dome. I pulled myself out from under the car and ran to the side of the road where I fell down (took me a few to realize I broke some legs... Go Adrenalin!)

Plenty of folks came to see if I was OK, and eventually an ambulance took me to the military hospital, where I was turned away because they did not have the facilities to treat my injuries. I wound up in a hospital in Albuquerque, being treated for 2 broken legs, a broken arm, a shattered collarbone, and my left shoulder blade, 4 broken ribs, and a wonderfully cracked skull (I have a Y pattern fracture directly mirrored to the immovable joints in the cranium) that calcified into what amounts to a helmet on my noggin that makes my head as hard as a rock (I have broken everything from 2x4's and windshields, to cinderblocks and bones over my head without suffering a concussion or being knocked unconscious-still hurts though).

The down side is, I HATE PINTOS! I have never driven or rode in one in all my 43 years, just that one ride underneath for me was enough. And there you have it. My only regret is having an eidetic memory that won't allow for the blocking of traumatic incidents... Sometimes you just WANT to forget.

 

Forget about Z Man you should of called yourself Y Man, maybe even Bill Y Man Because you're a rolling stone

 

OH.....MA.....LAWD.

I guess you can be somewhat thankful that at least it was a small light car. I don't know HOW that didn't crush your head!!! You are one lucky dude....with a lot of crappy memories.

WOW.

 

(clears throat)
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO (throws tomato)

 

You are Admiral Benson and I claim my five quid!



[video=youtube;h0KPWQp_ivo]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0KPWQp_ivo[/video]

 

Yeah. I have often marveled at how my head did not pop like a grape. I mean, the structural integrity had been compromised with the fractures. I chalked it all up to "not my time". It does make scenes with zombie heads getting crushed and makes me think "there but for the grace of God go I".

The gremlinm was a real good idea though. The only ways they could have stopped it was what they did or blowing up (though a quick snip-snip on a wire underneath would have ended it too.)