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Motors designer Richard Teague — remember that name — was responsible
for some of the coolest cars of the era. The Gremlin wasn't one of them.
AMC was profoundly in the weeds at the time, and the Gremlin was the
company's attempt to beat Ford and GM to the subcompact punch. To save
time and money, Teague's design team basically whacked off the rear of
the AMC Hornet with a cleaver. The result was one of the most curiously
proportioned cars ever, with a long low snout, long front overhang and a
truncated tail, like the tail snapped off a salamander. Cheap and
incredibly deprived — with vacuum-operated windshield wipers, no less —
the Gremlin was also awful to drive, with a heavy six-cylinder motor and
choppy, unhappy handling due to the loss of suspension travel in the
back. The Gremlin was quicker than other subcompacts but, alas, that
only meant you heard the jeers and laughter that much sooner.
