Stuff I build: Round2's 1/25 AMC Gremlin X

Sometimes, what model kit I get is based on nerdy historical interest, or something that I've been just interested in for a long time. Sometimes, it's because I thought the kit looked extremely cool. This Gremlin is firmly in the latter category.

Round2 is a manufacturer that owns many old model brands, like AMT and MPC, which you might remember if you built model cars in the '70s or '80s. They've been updating and reissuing kits from these old makers, often with extras. When I saw they reissued a Gremlin kit, I could not resist buying it. Not only is it a kit of an economy car, but it was an economy car with an optional V8, and could be authentically painted in the most garish color combos the 70s could offer.

Which let me assure you becomes twice as amazing when you consider accent stripes.

The kit itself was very well done - while not up to the superior engineering of Japanese makers like Tamiya or Hasegwasa, it was very well done by any other standard. The "chrome" bits actually looked reasonably like metal, a first for any American kit maker I've tried, and while there was a little flash, it's nothing that the judicious use of a hobby knife couldn't handle. The vinyl tires were excellent. And Round2 really went all out with the extras. The kit can be built as anything from a stock '76 Gremlin X V8, to a full bore drag racer, or something in between. They even included two sets of windows - normal and tinted. As a lovely bonus, they include a cardboard poster of the cover art - which is actually good enough to be framed. (Your fiancee may disagree.)

The AMC V8 and transmission. One thing I've always liked about American kits is that they actually do the drive train and most of the suspension.

The completed engine. A neighbor's junked computer contributed electronic waste to spruce up the engine bay, and a few wires for hoses. Additions include a brake master cylinder, an A/C compressor, and a fuse box.

There are only two flaws with the kit. The first is that there are no side mirrors or rear view mirrors. (If this actually bothers you lots, you are probably able to fix it as well, by doing a little resin casting from another kit you have.) The second is pictured above. When you put the front on the Chassis, the hood doesn't fit. After thinking about this, I fixed it by sawing the front piece in two, and then sanding the cut to a proper fit. This works well, though you also have to sand the radiator interior to make the chrome front piece fit, and saw in half/fit the bumper as well.

The chassis after airbrush painting. Easily also done with a spray can if you are not well-equipped like me.

The lower bits done. The Exhaust headers are rusty, though that's about it for weathering aside from some hairspray paint chipping on the engine block.. Thanks to my patented 'cut twice- measure once' method the exhaust plumbing had to be bodged together using putty and sanding. One argument for making malaise-era cars: if you make a mistake, and then fix it half-assedly, then it just looks more authentic.

The done engine, with spark plug wires going from the distributor to the spark plugs. Because I grew up in the EFI era for cars, I made a guess as to what it'd look like. Consulting real pictures of the engine, I think the wires were tied down. The Blue is very close to AMC engine blue. Things you learn: domestic makers at one time used to have custom colors for their engine blocks, not only for makers, but also for brands. (Oldsmobile Engine Blue is an actual thing, for example.)

I used my Tamiya pin vise drill to make holes in the steering wheel.

The interior done. The interior was (of course) denim jeans. The brass buttons were an real design detail.

In my imagination, it's a standard. Like the rest of the interior, all this was hand-painted.

The body shell without detail. This was the most difficult part, as I had to repaint sections several times when the future I was using for gloss/toughness dried too thickly. I've only built a few cars, so I'm still learning how to get it right.

And the results! A Gremlin X V8, the sort of thing I'd want going to university in 1978.

It's difficult to make out in this photo, but the trunk lid is the Gremlin logo. Body badges confirm it is actually a V8, as opposed to just the X package. (If you are confused, I'll explain below.)

The color was a Vallejo 'deep sky blue.' I'm a fan of colors (as opposed to shades) on cars. The interior is a light sky blue. Both of these colors were near enough actual color options on the real Gremlin.

Front end hides scars well.

Paint stripes should make a comeback.

The hood sits with the help of tiny balls of sticky tac, but the rest of that (giant) engine bay turned out pretty well, I think.

I've never even seen a Gremlin in the wild, let alone driven one. But according to The Truth About Cars and Curbside Classics they were, uh, not great even by 70s standards. The why of this turns on what was happening to the AMC corporation in the early 70s...

Unless you are a car person, you've probably don't remember AMC. It was America's fourth largest automaker from the 1950s to the 1980s. Based mainly out of Wisconsin, the American Motors Corporation had a niche market in making well engineered, solid economy cars in the 50s and 60s. (My family on my mom's side was an AMC family - they owned several AMC Ramblers, and my Grandpa's last car was a brown AMC Concord.) In 1970, the domestic automakers were going to bring out their first compact cars. AMC decided it had to be in that market. Unfortunately, there was no money for designing a new car, or making the tooling to produce it in AMC's coffers. They had just cleaned themselves out making a new mid-size design, the Hornet, and buying up the (then independent) Jeep. The solution to this problem was cheap and cheerful: take the Hornet platform, shorten the wheelbase, and then  chop off the last 1/3rd of the car. The result was the AMC Gremlin.

The result was an immediate sales success for two reasons. One, the first gasoline crisis happened a few months after the Gremlin made its humble debut. Two, unlike the other domestic compacts, the Gremlin was very good at cruising on the highway. AMC had dropped a series of big V6s into the Gremlin's giant engine bay, while its domestic rivals made do with anemic (and in the Chevy Vega's case, disastrously unreliable) 4 cylinder engines. Actually, speaking of disasterous - the first crop of domestic compacts were so bad that they were the start of the perception that Detroit hated small cars. The Ford Pinto and Chevy Vega are only known as jokes nowadays, and Chrysler re-badged a British import so uninspiring I can't even remember its name off the top of my head. AMC by taking the cheapest, simplest route of all, ironically managed to top its larger rivals - if only because the donor car was actually quite good. By today's standards, the mileage the Gremlin got was terrible for a small car - about what you'd get from a modern 4WD Ford Ranger - but in the context of the era, it was downright miserly with fuel. (That is kind of like being the thinnest kid at fat camp, but still.) Another advantage was that most of the transmissions and engines used were old, but extremely durable designs. This made it cheap to own over the long run, just the sort of thing an economy buyer in the 70s would think about. In fact, the transmissions and engines of AMC were so stoutly engineered, they survived long after AMC itself vanished, being used in a lot of later Jeep products. So, it was alright in a straight line, and its durability was commendable.

The rest of the car, however, left something to be desired. For one, despite being rear-wheel drive, it was very nose heavy, so the Gremlin tended to spin its rear tires very easily. This was made worse when panic braking: with all the weight shifting to the front, the rear wheels would have no grip at all. This would make for some tricky handling just when you least wanted it. Also, the car had a back seat, but it was apparently vestigial - only small children could use it without complaining excessively.

AMC managed to paper over these flaws in the time honored tradition of the car business: with option packages and marketing tie-ins. This is where the specs on my model Gremlin come into play. The 5L V8 was an option for most of the Gremlin's production run, which made it the best deal in town for young people who only had a little money (to buy new, it was indeed a mad time,) but wanted some performance. The other famous option was the 'Levi's' upholstery - you could order your Gremlin with denim seat material, with real Levi's brass buttons. (Thanks to killjoy safety regs, you couldn't actually use real denim on the seats, so some nylon twill was used.) While the V-8 came with the X package (a bunch of cosmetic upgrades) you could, of course, order the X package without the V8, if you just wanted the look. Thanks to the internet, you can now find old car brochures, which I looked at a bit a reference material.

Base colors on the left, Vinyl roof treatments(!) on the right. Stripes lower right.

Options included mudflaps, locking gas caps and a variety of CB radios. Both these images from oldcarmanualproject.com.

By the late 70s sales slowed and the game was up, for several reasons. For one, the Gremlin was now competing against Japanese cars that were smaller outside, much bigger inside, and got twice the mileage. For another, AMC had actually done another compact car, the AMC Pacer, which cannibalized Gremlin sales. So, the AMC Gremlin died in 1979, replaced by the AMC Spirit.

Like most economy cars, Gremlins were driven till they were all used up. This attrition was made worse by motorsports, of all things. Drag and dirt track racers valued the Gremlin highly, as AMC's big 6L V8 could be dropped into the engine bay without modification. All this has made the Gremlin extremely rare today - the few remaining examples having been restored and now sit in air conditioned garages.

Which is why models exist. You can get the color you want, and you can even have the V8 version.