Small cars were flying out of showrooms in the early ’70s due to fuel shortages caused by the oil embargo, and the Gremlin was a popular choice for American car buyers immediately upon its release. Even though it didn’t come to showrooms until April of its debut year, AMC managed to proceed more than 25,000 Gremlins throughout the remainder of 1970.
That figure doubled the following year and ballooned to nearly 123,000 in 1973 and more than 171,000 in 1974. By the time the Gremlin was dropped in favor of the Spirit after the 1978 model year, AMC had sold more than 670,000 of the quirky little hatchbacks. That figure made the Gremlin AMC’s second-best-selling model behind its parent, the Hornet.
The Gremlin was popular for two reasons: it was cheap to drive off the lot, and it was inexpensive to keep full of gas at a time when rationing made fuel economy a primary concern for American car buyers. By 1972, the base price for a Gremlin remained below $2,000; by 1978, that cost had risen to just $3,539. The 1972 Hornet delivered drivers about 17 miles per gallon (mpg) of fuel efficiency, well above the average of 13.5 mpg for that model year’s vehicles.
