1976 AMC Gremlin X / V8

For 1976 the Gremlin line was sold in three steps: the standard Gremlin, the new Gremlin Custom, and the X package, which American Motors' Product Information Book describes as available on the Gremlin Custom only. Wikipedia, attributing Cranswick's Cars of American Motors, adds that the 304 V8, by then down to 120 hp, was cancelled at midyear after only 826 installations, and that the 1972 through 1976 V8 Gremlin total came to 40,994. The record's production rows carry the 826 as an installed count and the 40,994 as a five-year built count. Neither figure has been checked against Cranswick's book, and no X package production count was found in any source.¹

The Product Information Book presents the base Gremlin as the economy car of the line and says that for 1976 a Gremlin model is among the lowest-priced cars built in America, though neither dealer book read for this record prints a dollar figure. Its standard equipment list includes the 232 CID six, a three-speed synchromesh manual transmission with floor shift, electronic ignition, foam-cushioned seats, a folding second seat giving up to 26.9 cubic feet of cargo space with the rear seat down, manual drum brakes, and a front sway bar on the V8s. The Custom adds custom door panel and seat trim, carpeting, a custom steering wheel, a spare tire cover, dual bodyside paint stripes, bright rocker panel and drip rail moldings, a choice of 14 exterior colors, and a black and argent grille center section.

The specifications page gives the Gremlin a 96.0 inch wheelbase, a 169.4 inch length, a 70.6 inch width, a 52.3 inch height, front and rear tread of 57.5 and 57.1 inches, a 35.3 foot wall-to-wall turning diameter, a 21 gallon fuel tank and an approximate curb weight of 2,831 pounds. Three engines are listed. The 232 CID six with a one-barrel carburetor is standard, the 258 CID one-barrel six is optional, and the 304 CID two-barrel V8 at 8.4:1 compression is optional; both sixes are 8.0:1. Neither dealer book read prints horsepower or torque, so the record leaves engine ratings blank rather than borrowing a figure. The three-speed manual is standard, a Laycock J-type overdrive is offered with the sixes, and the Torque-Command automatic comes with column or floor shift. Axle ratios listed run from 2.53 to 3.15 depending on engine and transmission.

The data book also reproduces AMC's 1976 Consumer Information booklet, which reports passing performance under a Federal regulation. For the Gremlin Six it gives a low-speed pass, 20 to 35 mph, of 435 feet in 9.5 seconds and a high-speed pass, 50 to 80 mph, of 1,561 feet in 17.6 seconds. For the Gremlin V-8 the figures are 420 feet in 9.2 seconds and 1,296 feet in 14.4 seconds. The booklet says all passing times and distances were obtained with maximum-loaded vehicles with automatic transmissions and standard axle ratios, so they reflect the slowest acceleration for cars in each group, and it presents them as times and distances the vehicles can meet or exceed rather than as road-test results from a named driver or publication.

Paint and trim are the clearest gain from the dealer books. The standard Gremlin was sold in four exterior colors only, Brilliant Blue (6R), Limefire Metallic (6K), Sunshine Yellow (6V) and Firecracker Red (6P), with Laramie vinyl in black or tan/buff. The Custom's 14 colors add Alpine White, Medium Blue Metallic, Nautical Blue Metallic, Evergreen Metallic, Sand Tan, Burnished Bronze Metallic, Dark Cocoa Metallic, Silver Frost Metallic, Sienna Orange and Classic Black, which the Product Information Book marks as extra cost. Custom interiors are Fairway pleated vinyl, optional Potomac Stripe fabric, and the optional Levi's fabric in blue with bucket seats only. A data book footnote says the X package's back panel is painted the same color as the rally stripes, and the six stripe colors its grid prints (black, white, gold, red, blue and brown) match the Gremlin back-panel colors in the Rinshed-Mason refinish chart cited elsewhere in this record.²

Two disagreements are recorded rather than resolved. The Product Information Book's color page says the standard bodyside stripe is gold with G-9, H-4, P-1, 6-C, 6-P, 6-R and 6-T and black with all others, while the data book's chart note says gold with H-4, P-1, 6-C and 6-T and black with all others. Separately, both dealer books list the 304 V8 as an option for the Gremlin while Wikipedia says it was cancelled at midyear, and the pages read here carry no revision date that would show which came first. Both books are marketing material describing what AMC offered its dealers, so they establish availability and not what was built. No prices, option installation counts, color-by-color production or X package count were found in any source.¹