Godfather's 1976 Gremlin

[ekpolk]

Were I ever to awaken in bed, and find lying upon my arm a woman with looks the human equivalent of an AMC Gremlin, I'd quietly chew my arm off so as to make quick and uncomplicated escape. . .

 

[addyguy]

Originally Posted By: css9450
Originally Posted By: addyguy

My Godfather was pretty well as cheap as you could get. He bought the car brand-new in September, 1975 for the ONLY reason that it was the cheapest new car you could buy.


Just like George Costanza flipping to the very last page of the catalog of wedding invitations, because that's where the cheapest one was. Actually most of my relatives are like that; my first car was my Grandma's old '71 Nova, and it not only lacked AC and an automatic transmission but it also lacked basics like front disks, power steering, carpeting, radio, cigarette lighter, etc. A real stripper.

Years later my parents bought their very first brand new car, and the choice boiled down to the Civic or the Toyota Tercel (this was before the real rock bottom cheap cars like the Yugo and Excel). They eventually settled on the Civic because they could get it for something like $15 less. The fact they felt the Civic was the better car had nothing to do with the decision; had the prices been reversed they would have bought the Tercel.


I have to confess, this Gremlin wasn't a complete stripper - it DID have the 'custom interior package', and auto, and radio...etc....but it still wasn't an expensive car in 1976 - AMC had trouble selling them due to lack of interest.

Ironically, after getting rid of this Gremlin, my dad bought a 1989 Tercel that WAS a real stripper - it had a 4-speed manual and no radio! ONLY option on it was a rear wiper!!! OF course, to him, this was better than ANY domestic!

 

[addyguy]

One other 'interesting' thing about this car is how the interior, more specifically the seats, held up.

This car saw basically nothing but short trips, and my Godfather was 6'5". So the drivers seat saw a lot of hard use.

When he gave the car to us, I did a bit of 'exploring' to see what kind of shape the car was in, and found that he had 're-built' the drivers-side seat with duct tape and cushions!

I sat on it, and it was as hard as a rock - so I took the seat covers and blankets he had off it, and found that he filled in the broken seat with about 2-3 inches solid of duct tape. I wanted to try and taske the tape off, and mayube 're-stuff' the seat, but it had glued it self into place - any attemps to remove it, and the seat started to come apart!

Ironically, the back seat was mint, b/c the only time it was EVER folded up was when I went in the car for a drive!

Last few years he had the car, that must have been uncomfortable! LOL!