The Curbside Classic Cohort is one of the most respectful and friendly communities on the entire internet. I can think of no other website where I actually read the comments. You guys and girls help make this my favourite website, and I can’t read an article on here without reading the lively discussions and conversations that flow from it. So, I have a Challenge of the Day for the Cohort. I will present to you a series of vehicles. Unlike your favourite FM radio station, this is not a collection of the greatest hits from the 70s, 80s, 90s and Now. This will be a collection of misfires, failed starts, deadly sins and just in general, cars that don’t get much love. Your challenge? Say one nice thing.
AMC sure put out a lot of, umm, distinctively-styled cars in the 1970s.
The Gremlin was a cheap and dirty way to rival the from-scratch Ford Pinto and Chevrolet Vega. Simply a Hornet with the back lopped off, the Gremlin was cramped and hardly fuel-efficient. Later models offered a VW-sourced four that struggled under the weight of the car, although you could get a V8 in some years. But, in its favor, the Gremlin was fairly reliable – especially compared with the disastrous Vega – and it was easy to repair. Also, can you think of many economy cars with such a distinctive silhouette?
Speaking of unique visages, how about the Pacer? Again, conceived as an economy car but failing at its intended purpose, the Pacer did have excellent visibility in its favor and eccentric styling. Plans for a rotary engine fell through but that was probably for the best: the AMC I6 and V8 engines used may have been heavy and thirsty, but at least they were proven. The wagon variant was acceptably practical, too, and you could get luxuriously appointed D/L and Limited editions.
The Matador coupe was supposed to be a personal luxury coupe but AMC designers really misread the market when penning the curvaceous lines. But was it really that much worse than a Torino to drive?
Over at Ma Mopar’s in the 1970s, you could purchase the Dodge Aspen and Plymouth Volaré, much anticipated replacements for the venerable Valiant and Dart. These cars got off to a horrible start, with abysmal quality control and rampant mechanical failures. Neither as luxurious inside as a Granada nor as dynamic as a Nova or reliable as a Hornet, these F-bodies seem like a waste of space but when optioned with the 360 in Aspen R/T or Volaré Roadrunner variants, these were some of the fastest domestic cars of their time and they handled decently. The wagon version was quite neat as well, especially in Volaré Sport Wagon trim. Ford and GM had abandoned the compact wagon segment, so Chrysler only did battle with more expensive imports and the older AMC Hornet.
The 1980s were a very different decade for Chrysler, with the range completely overhauled and dominated by FWD, K-Car-derived models. The most expensive, ambitious and disappointing was the TC by Maserati, which was notable in being so delayed, it arrived after the much, much cheaper and similar-looking second-generation LeBaron convertible. Not to mention, despite the purported Maserati involvement, the mechanicals were very similar to more humble Chryslers. However, there was a degree of exclusivity – few people were inclined to buy one new, after all – and the leather seats were nice.
Chrysler certainly knew how to get the most out of its new FWD architecture. The ’82 New Yorker is often derided on here for being such an awkward interloper to such proud lineage, given its small dimensions and four-cylinder powertrains. However, it offered all the luxury of bigger Broughams in a compact, more fuel-efficient package, while being more visually distinguished from its K-Car platform donors than the Cadillac Cimarron and Lincoln Versailles were from their respective relatives.
Several boom and bust cycles later in 2007, Chrysler launched its second-generation Sebring sedan. Replacing a predecessor that was initially promising but was left to stagnate, the new Sebring sedan (and third-generation convertible) featured brash new styling and nifty interior features like heated/cooled cupholders and an available MyGIG hard drive-based infotainment system. Unfortunately, the Sebring was dull to drive, had a trashy four-cylinder engine, unimpressive performance figures, an interior rife with chintzy materials and an ungainly exterior. My “one nice thing” about the Sebring would be that in overseas markets like Australia, it was certainly a unique offering and was keenly priced and well-equipped.
I’ve tried to see the bright side of each of these cars, and now I pose the challenge to you: say one nice thing below in the comments. If you’re feeling particularly generous, say a few nice things!
One Nice Thing? I will never apologize for actually liking the oil-drum contours over the headlights of the Matador Coupe.
+1
+2. IMHO the only thing wrong looks-wise with the Matador is the way-too-narrow tires. Put some decent rubber under there and fill out those wheel openings!
Me too. I liked the whole car’s styling then and like it now.
There’s something special about big circles on a car, the way they harmonize with the wheels. Like Ford taillights in the fifties and sixties, some Forward Look headlights, and this Matador. Nobody’s using circles today.
The nice thing about the Matador was that when you ran the AC and the engine invariably began to overheat, you could switch on the heater and cool her down.
The Gremlin ran just as well neglected as it did maintained.
When the throttle cable broke on my friend’s (2-year old?) Gremlin, it was long out of warranty and he was long out of money. He fixed it (sic) by running a piece of rope through the firewall to the carb linkage. When I remarked that I thought it ran better that way, he replied,
“If I tied a piece of rope around your hooter and pulled, you’d run better too!”
That car, despite numerous accidents and indignities never quite completely died though, no matter what.
This is why I’m glad I live in Virginia. Cars need to pass an annual safety inspection, which keeps these sort of, ahem, innovations off the road.
I like the fact that Chrysler offered the “performance” Volare wagon — definitely something different! And, the Matador with the Barcelona (or is that a Barcelona II?) package — very swank by ’70s standards.
AMC: I would like to at least take each of the pictured cars for a drive. If I had unlimited garage space, I might even like to own a Matador or Gremlin (V8 powered please).
Chrysler: All of these cars kept the company alive long enough so they could build Cummins diesel-powered pickup trucks.
And then recall/buy back 500,000 of them
I like them all, how’s that for nice? Particulary that shag-tastic Volare wagon!
Most of the others look better in other colors and trim levels. For instance the much maligned Matador coupe looks much much less worse in the X trim level.
That Matator looks way better, the only thing I would change is to trade the rally rims for the aluminum ones, but that’s minor.
> And then recall/buy back 500,000 of them
How nice of them. 😉
Hehehe
Thanks to the pictured cars they have plenty of experience with doing recalls.
Oops, I need to say something nice. I got my ’78 Volare wagon up to 105 mph on the interstate.
For many years Chrysler products cost thousands less new than their comparable Ford, GM and import competition. If you managed to find a well made one, they could last many trouble free years, and offered great value. For example, the Dodge Shadow was generally more highly regarded than the concurrent Cavalier and Tempo, and cost thousands less than the Civic. Plus the engineering was generally worked out from seven years of K car ancestry. My dad collected 150,000 miles from a `78 Dodge Aspen wagon, in salty Eastern Canada. And a close friend 217,000 miles from a 1991 Dodge Shadow with the 2.2 litre. It`s posted at the Allpar 200,000 mile Club. With no head gasket or transmission issues.
https://www.allpar.com/old/club/
Despite the proportions, I have always found the Pacer to be a clean, modern design, especially the front end of the early models.
The Pacer was about 10 years too early. My mom drove a 1976 wagon for years, i can say it survived taking four adults & four children on a day long trip to Gettysburg one time in the early 1980’s. Pre mandatory seatbelts & strict 55 mph days though.
I’ve always liked the Pacer more than the sedan.
I remember these cars, and seeing them always brings a smile to my face. ( Especially the Aspen / Volare!) 🙂
Thanks for sharing the pics!
One more nice thing: “/6”
I still have one of these, and cruising on interstate at 55 makes people desperately swerving in 2015. But it’s a comfortable ride with plenty of smoothness.
Gremlin? Fast, if you got the 304 V-8. They could be terrors in A-sedan autocross.
Gremlins could be STUPID fast with a built V8. A (rich kid) friend of mine had an IROC just out of high school. He of course totalled it, and then just to mess with people, got a Pacer and put the IROC engine/trans in it. He beat just about everybody street racing it (Hey it was the 80s, stuff wasn’t as fast as now) After he blew the rear end out of it, he found a really mint (for Wisconsin) “Spirit” to put the engine in that. He ended up making a full-on drag racer out of it, fiberglass body parts, roll cage, the works. He tore up drag strips all over WI/IL with it, too. He started out just kind of making fun of AMCs with his project, and became a dyed-in-the-wool AMC fan.
Yessir. Gremmies made good dirt trackers too.
I remember in the late 80s, Chrysler was one of the first domestic automakers to offer standard driver`s side airbags.
Because the Gremlin was so quickly hated and underrated, it became a rare bargain. A poor man could afford a two-year-old Gremlin that would run reliably.
In ’73 I worked in the office of a construction company. One of our field men was a genuine giant named Smitty. He was about 6’9″ and solid bone. He had a tiny wife and an uncountable set of little kids. Probably four, but looked like 10. Smitty and family lived in their Gremlin. The kids were always bulging out of the ductaped-plastic hatchback, but it all worked somehow. He always reached the job site, and the family seemed to be happy with the arrangement.
I worked in industrial construction as as rodbuster for a while in the late 80’s. This was in Oregon and we had workers from all over the US. Most of the white hats were either from Texas or New York. There was another couple of rodbusters who were Cajuns from Louisiana. They were both in their mid 50’s. The one guy shows up driving a beat up Volaré SW with his wife and kids looking probably much like your Smitty. The other guy was married to the other’s very young daughter. There was also a couple of guys who had worked on Trojan and the Alaska Pipeline.
On AMC
The Gremlim offered durable drivetrains in an import size package. From the driver’s seat you were in a real American car.
The Pacer offered the ride of a much bigger American car and an early adoption of rack and pinion steering.
On Chrysler
The Volare offered a quiet smooth ride with ample performance from the 318/torqueflite that allowed a customer to trade in his slant 6 71 Fury II and not feel he is giving anything up on his commute.
The Chrysler Sebring/200 offers a smooth quiet ride that is tuned to be completely different from the small import or import inspired small cars that are literally his only other choices in the price range he is in.
My compliments may sound narrow or backhanded but they are not. All the cars above are American cars of a type we are just not allowed to pick anymore because of homogenation of peoples choices. The 200 just went Fiat for example and is nothing like it’s namesake. Another departed choice, the world shrinks.
In an era when cars seem as similar as eggs, with about as much variety, I actually find myself longing for a Gremlin.
No one ever, ever mistook a Gremlin for anything else.
How could you not like a car with a sense of humor?
The back of the Gremlin is so funky – the tiny taillights, the paint job that draws your eye to the gas cap, the lack of a proper hatch door.
The Pacer was never intended to be an economy car. It was a city car, designed with the interior width of a full sized car, with minimal front and rear overhang, so it was easy to park. Bet AMC regretted selling the V6 tooling back to GM as it would have fit a lot better than the inline 6s, which try to hide under the dash.
And you need to admire AMC’s panache with upholstery.
Why did they bump up the door panels for most of its length? It detracts from what would have been a terrific view to the sides.
I still like the concept of a wide small car. At 6’3″ I’m pretty tired of ever-shrinking narrow cockpits.
I dunno — Gerry Meyers, head of AMC product development and later president during this period, thought the V-6 was too rough. They stopped using it in Jeeps in 1972 even though they had to stretch the wheelbase to get the AMC six to fit. GM of course then sunk a bunch of money into smoothing it out, but as Meyers said at the time, AMC didn’t have that kind of cash.
The Pacer is unique and does look roomy and practical on the inside. They always intrigued me. As a young boy in the late 70’s and early 80’s they looked futuristic to me.
In addition, two of my uncles had Hornets. One of the cars was purchased at a Garage Sale for about $200. It had a few aesthetic issues but was solid otherwise.I remember them as reliable workhorses. They actually served until the later 80’s. I remember them coming to my rescue on numerous occasions.
I had a New Yorker Turbo for a short time. The seats were comfortable and luxurious and the electronic gadgets (and Voice Alert System) were unique and entertaining.
The front seat was quite roomy, but the back seat is very narrow perched between the rear wheels.
The Aspen and Volare`s engineering was conventional, and generally well regarded, if not groundbreaking. As was the practicality of the design. Especially the wagon and sedan. Shoddy and inconsistent workmanship was the major undoing in the first couple of years. Plus all the recalls. I remember seeing a lot of early Volares and Aspens with mismatched paint on their replaced front fenders.
I recall an article from the early 80s, about a woman who lost the entire tailgate on her F-Body wagon on the Queensway (freeway) in Ottawa, Canada. Due to rust through.
Dick Teague worked miracles with a nothing budget. Oh, if only we had seen some of the things he was working on.
What happens when a Gremlin meets a Sportabout?
It seems AMC could at least afford Bebe Neuwirth as a model. 😉
I’ve never seen that one before, pretty cool. Now just imagine the Eagle version!
Total facepalm to that not being built!
Seriously, what a looker!
What can I say nice about the Volare?
The people in the ad would rather sand exposed in a thunderstorm on the beach than seek shelter in either the wagon or the “roadrunner”.
I liked my ’71 Gremlin.
It was 6-stick on the floor, a 3 speed and I only paid $60 for it in 1978. I called it “Bunky Bug.”
Never got any better than 16MPG with it but it was fun to drive and I thought the styling was cool.
Matador was never meant to be a personal luxury car. It was the two door Matador, though AMC offered up all that Brougham goodness through the options list. It didn’t compete with Cordoba, Monte Carlo, Grand Prix but other two door intermediates.
Always loved the styling of it. Rear windows rolled down when others were going cheap and nasty with fixed glass.
Gremlin: clever funky design on a budget.
Pacer: roomy.
Sebring: Retro details [messed up with cheap plastic execution]. Roomy.
Volare/Aspen: Better as a Diplomat or LeBaron. Slant Six. Torqueflite.
TC: As good looking as the LeBaron Coupe
New Yorker: lots of luxury in a small package
The Matador, at least in non- Brougham iterations, is much better looking than Torinos of the era. The concurrent Chevelles and Malibus weren’t anything to write home about, either. I do like the Cordoba/Charger, tho.
I’d love to have that Aspen/Volare wagon with the go fast stripe /spoiler kit and a 360 in it….you certainly wouldn’t see 6 other ones at the car show!
I’ve always thought the Aspen/Volare were nicely styled, even in the base versions. And that wagon with the lip spoiler is actually really cool; with a 360 it’d be quite a runner.
The Matador coupe, again, I genuinely like the styling. It’s eccentric, but in a pleasant way.
I used a 1976 Dodge p/u at work for many years from new, and only wanted it replaced when the garage supt. was too cheap to fix what broke. It would have lasted for years longer if only…. My ’77 Plymouth Fury was similarly rugged; but it finally succumbed to the tin worm.
For several years I read about the horrendous Dodge Avenger when I was given a 2013 model as a rental. They had nothing else available, and so I took a deep breath…and found it was nothing like the media (and others) would have you believe. It had plenty of oomph, especially with limited passing opportunities over the Tehachapis due to road work. And it sure wasn’t thrashy sounding to me, either. I put a thousand miles on that car, and it was a great travel companion.
As for AMC, well, we had Gremlins at work, too, but, umm………
Interesting challenge!
Here’s what I can come up with:
Gremlin: Creative, memorable design from a company with a severely limited budget. Beat the Vega and Pinto to the subcompact market.
Pacer: Revolutionary design let down by the inability to offer the engine that the car was initially developed around. Excellent packaging concept designed to appeal to American tastes.
Matador: Nice form, wrong time. Didn’t work in the baroque mid-1970s but would have been stunning had it released in the Fall of ’69.
Aspen/Volare: Great response to meet American tastes in a more economical form. Clean-lined and handsome for the era, bulletproof engines (even if the rest of the car was riddled with bullet holes of rust…).
Chrysler TC: Beautiful leather seats. Kept Cadillac company in delivering over-priced, underperforming 2-seat roadsters.
Chrysler New Yorker K: Posh interior for a domestic small car. Bold to put a turbo 4-cylinder into a car for the geriatric set.
Chrysler Sebring: Better to rent than a Dodge Caliber.
AMC may have been lucky the rotary engine was stillborn. It wouldn’t have had anywhere near enough torque to move the heavy Pacer with any authority.
OK. I’m struggling with the Sebring and the Aspen, but the New Yorker reminds me of the 80s Hollywood films of my childhood, just one of those nondescript American cars lurking in the background, perhaps driven by some pantomime villain in a kids flick, so that warms my cockles.
I like the wheels on the TC and especially the Matador, and the Pacer gave the public the chance to drive something that screams “concept car”. The Gremlin is exceedingly shiny.
The Volare I actually like. (I know nothing about Volares) The styling aft of the A pillar is quite neat, and it looks like a less inherently crappy version of a 70s Japanese wagon. (sorry, I can’t think of 70s Japanese cars as anything other than inherently crappy – I know that will seem wrongheaded to most of you)
Jump into the wayback machine and travel to the late 70s. Chevy is cranking out Chevettes and mutant Vegas. Ford presents the Pinto, and, in 78, their latest science, the Fairmont, which was compared to a Volvo 144 of 10 years earlier.
Chrysler delivered the goods with a genuine, up to date, product. Let’s hear it for the Omnirizon! Not only did they check all the boxes that the latest science from Wolfsburg did, they had fun with it. They rang up Shelby, he laid his magical hands on and gave birth to the GLH (Goes Like He!!)
Ford and GM would stick big decals on a car and call it a “sport” model. This badge meant something.
Darn cozy cockpit too. No P-box here.
Compared to a Chevette, Cavalier, or Escort, they were really nice inside.
Amen to the great car the OmniHorizons were! Once fitted with throttle-body fuel injection and five-speed stick, they were great driving, tough cars with 38mpg capability! I drove mine 30K miles per year, going from 51K miles to 287K miles with nothing more than regular maintenance and replacement of wear items. It was my one great buy!
Particular models notwithstanding, any customer who bought an AMC ‘Rambler’ six or Chrysler slant-six got the best engineered, longest-lived, durable engines of those decades. With reasonable maintenance, they would long out-live their less-than-sterling body quality.
As you might be able to tell from my avatar I have many nice things to say about AMCs. While they might look a little(!) funny, I can tell you a V8 powered Gremlin is very fun to drive. The short wheelbase, completely feel-free power steering and pounding wheel-hop of a rear axle wrapping itself around a leaf spring only add to the driving challenge and improves one’s hooning skills. It’s been often said that it’s far funner to drive a slow car fast than a fast car slow. Therefore, it’s way funner to drive fast car that should be slow, fast….am I still making sense?
The Pacer; it’s hilarious, and roomy. People seem to forget the first year it was very successful, the other years not so much. If you roll up to a car show in one of these you’re guaranteed to get way more attention than any ’57 Chev, ’64 Mustang, ’69 Camaro etc.
The Matador; it won 5 NASCAR races. I still think they look cool in Un-Brougham form. I’d love to restore one with a 401 and a 4 spd, although they’re very rare.
The Volare/Aspen; if you could get your hands on a 360 powered one odds are it would pretty reliable to have survived this long. It would be cheap and once cleaned up, would be a pretty quick and unique car. Not quite AMC unique though.
Other than their too-early introduction resulting in some early buyers becoming beta testers, there really wasn’t much wrong with the Plymouth Volare and Dodge Aspen. They had durable drivetrains, were more spacious and comfortable, and rode more smoothly and more quietly than their elderly Dart/Valiant brandmates. And their cowls didn’t leak water when it rained. The fender rust problem was no worse than on the Valiant and Dart, either; and had the same cause. The F-body, renamed the M-body, had a twelve-year lifetime, which was a ripe old age in the car business, though not quite like the total production life of the 1960 Falcon and its derivatives.
Only one nice thing? But there are so many Omnirizons, like the attractive coupes. Vastly nicer than Ford’s attempt on the Escort platform a couple years later. I actually considered one in 80, but the company’s future was so clouded that I passed.
Not a bad office for the time.
I like the front clip on these early L bodies. Sharp little cars, very underrated. And I like that the Shelby Chargers kept the basic ‘face’ of the original. The later 4 eyed versions lost a little something in the looks department.
My all-time favorite car of my restless youth was a 1982 Dodge Charger 2.2. A nearly forgotten Omnirizon model, it was fast, fun, practical and nearly indestructible. Loved that car. Wish I’d kept and restored it. Such a simply plucky little runner.
The high level Volare Premier wagon and the equivalent Aspen Special Edition wagon looked great with roof rack, fake wood and road wheels.
That is cool.
Im not feeling the di-noc but those wheels can make ANY car of this vintage look cool!
The E-body New Yorker wasn’t a bad-looking car for its time, and was competitive with the GM A-bodies and Ford Fox LTD/Marquis at the time of its release. Sure, they let it get a littke long in the tooth, but I’ve always liked the E-bodies. Apart from the faux wood casket-style interior door pulls (which seem to have fallen off easily on most), the interior was quite nice and I think among all Corinthian Leather seat designs this car’s was the best looking, especially in red.
Do three different “L” body products count as one or three?
What happens when you take a can opener to a 024 coupe? The sweetest pickup since the best El Camino.
Plymouth got into the act as well.
Again, decent seats, not the things I saw in a Pinto that felt like they were stuffed with straw.
Yes, the L bodies had reliability issues. So did the Citation and Escort. It was the boldest move on the scene at the time, and it came from a near bankrupt also ran of an auto company.
I never knew you could get sport mirrors on a Dodge Aspen/Plymouth Volare wagon, I thought they were only available on the sport coupes.
Ive had a few good Chrysler products mostly Australian models some adapted from european cars like my Centura but it gave a quiet fast confortable ride othe Aussie cars Ive owned couldnt match very Peugeot like in fact.
AMC, never bought any but a Rambler Rebel a school friend had the keys to went great even if the front sheet metal appeared to be bungied on crossing railway tracks at speed.
The AMC Pacer inspired Porsche 928.
I have always liked the looks of the first (1975 – ’77) Pacer coupes.
That ’79 Plymouth Volaré Road Runner in the title shot also looks mighty fine.
AMC made a great I6 motor, that lasted into Mopar ownership, and used in Jeeps.
Also, love the 1965-68 Chy-co C bodies!
=============================
Oh wait, about the posted cars.
Pacers are unforgettable for sure.
Also, Chrysler got last laugh by reusing the F body for the M’s that lasted until 1989.
Every Gremlin I remember was full of dents, hardly ever washed or serviced, but still managed to be durable and easy to fix for their abusive owners. The Plymouth Volare my parents bought new was a good looking car and nice to ride in when it was running properly. It was their last Chrysler product. John Denver drove a Pacer in Oh God the movie with George Burns. The K car was important to Chrysler’s survival. That’s about all I got.
Loved the looks on the aspen/volaire twins.
My aunt and uncle had an orange with white stripe gremlin that ran seemingly forever
My uncle had a dodge Aries, closest I can get to a New Yorker,that comfortably seated his 6’+ self and ran well for years.
The pacer was cute
The matador was different and eye catching
And considering the challenge, with the TC and Sebring I will just keep my mouth shut
My favourite American cars are the 1974 AMC Matador sedan, the 1976-77 Dodge Aspen, and the 1969-70 Buick LeSabre. They have, if nothing else, the best looking front end appearance.
Rent – A – Wreck featured Gremlins for cheap weekend rates. One I rented had a non working speedo and the 6 banger drank gas like no tomorrow for a 250 mi. drive to Detroit. Since it had no radio, the wind noise around the windows was the music we enjoyed.
The Volare Road Runner has a sleek body style. 🙂
AMC–Who has been able to do more with less? Being the underdog means you’ll take risks that no one else will. You can call AMC many things but ‘boring’ wasn’t one of them from the mid ’60s on up. While some of their styling could be…ummm….controversial, their engines were solid. Ive owned 3 AMC Jeeps, all damn good rigs even though 2 were rode hard and put away wet before and during my tenure with them. “Jeeps are tough, you can abuse the hell out of em” seems to be the mantra of the knuckleheads who owned CJs in those days and the abuse that made them clank and shimmy would cause a lesser vehicle to disintegrate.
Chrysler–It’s obvious that I’m a fan, if not a fanboi. Ma Mopar has made her share of mistakes, but in the case of the K’s, no good deed goes unpunished. We all know how versatile it was, but as others have touched on there was real performance flogged out of the K based cars also. Mr Shelby saw to that, and at one time NO other car company had put more turbos up for grabs. When you can spank contemporary and even a few legendary muscle cars (some of your own, even) with 4 cans, a snail and fwd….that’s saying something.
The F bodies’ story is a bit more sordid…at least for the first few years. The cars themselves were a good design, it was the QC that hadnt been fully baked in. Compared with the old school muscle they attempted to imitate, the R/T and RoadRunner based on these may have seemed feeble, but the deck was stacked against them. For their time, they were good performers and attractive. That sport wagon REALLY appeals to me for all the same reasons the LX based Magnum R/T does. And lets not forget that the F bodies’ loose ends were eventually tied down in their own production run, as well as giving rise to the M bodies which were anvil dependable. The J body coupes were a bit more flighty in terms of quality, but the bones were there had they been fully fleshed out.
Im no fan of door sedans and while that generation of Sebring is a bit homely from the side, the front clip looks VERY much like the Crossfire…which I thought was an attractive car especially in roadster form. Those who own these Sebrings tend to like them FAR better than the usual suspects among automotive rags would have you believe.
The Gremlin was the unquestioned leader of its class until the Pontiac Aztec.
The Pacer was the clearly the inspiration for the Smart car – a compact vehicle only slightly longer than it was wide – but beat the Mercedes product to the market by almost 30 years.
I think the Pacer is a great looking car, no hipster irony intended.
I could say a lot of nice things about the three Chrysler products I’ve owned over the years. A ’72 Dart Swinger was my first car and it survived everything I threw at it, including numerous passes down the local drag strip; a 1980 Volare, slant-six sedan, that remained in the family for 23 years; a 2002 Sebring that was as trouble-free as a car could be.
My parents owned a ’77 Plymouth Volare when I was born. It was the first car I ever road in. They kept until I was 10 years old in 1989. A lot of good childhood memories in that car.
I remember liking the dashboard layout of it and can still distinctly remember the sound of its robust slant-6 moaning and straining as my Dad thrashed it over the numerous potholes throughout northeast Ohio.
Just for fun I test drove a new Pacer. I was impressed with how it rode and drove. It felt similar to my dad’s ’72 Torino. I remember thinking the built in door pull raised ridges at the top of the door panels were very odd. I guess that is what they were for. The feel of the canopy like greenhouse was kind of a different feeling, too. I always thought the wagon was the best looking version.
I have always liked the looks of the Volare/Aspens. I haven’t ever driven one, though. In fact, the Pacer is the only one of these I have ever driven . I rode in a Gremlin once. I always thought they were a pretty nice concept.
The front suspension of the Volare/Aspen has been used by some street rodders. A friend of mine has one under his ’48 Plymouth because he wanted to keep it all MOPAR.
I’ve heard that those ridges were because the windows were so tall compared to the beltline height, they couldn’t roll all the way down into the doors. Without those, people would use the top of the door glass as door pulls, eventually breaking the glass.
That makes sense. Thanks, I have always wondered about that.
Although I said above that the Pacer was the only one I had driven, I remembered today that I once rented a Gremlin while stationed at Ft. Sill. to explore the area. That was a fun little car to play with.
Gremlin: Nice big crush zone in front for a subcompact.
Pacer: A beautiful design, if they had made THAT car the size of a Pinto.
Matador: A beautiful design, if they had made THAT car the size of a Concord.
Aspen: I have a lovely memory of a beautiful woman snuggling up next to me in 1976 on the 60/40 front seat of an Aspen coupe with a 4 speed. We were a great driving team: I worked the clutch while she worked the shifter.
Chrysler TC: It made Iacocca happy. He saved my Dad’s favorite car company, so he gets a pass on that one.
’82 New Yorker: Dad, himself was saved by the strong cowl of his brand new one when an F-150 T-boned him in an intersection. Fast forward: we celebrated his 90th birthday last week.
2007 Sebring: I like the wings on the Chrysler ribbon crest.
Happy Birthday (belatedly) to your Dad!
Mine’s 5 years behind (only 85)…early on he bought as his first new cars:
– ’56 Plymouth (bought in Kingston, PA)
– ’61 Rambler “Classic” wagon (bought in El Monte, CA)
– ’63 Rambler “Classic” wagon (bought in Monroeville, PA)
(after that it was another 23 years till he bought his Dodge 600, also new (bought in Georgetown, TX)…kind of a down market version of the New Yorker in the feature picture)
I’ve since come to appreciate those marques, if not those actual models….as I’ve never owned an AMC nor Chrysler..but now feel a bit sad that I haven’t. (though I had an Uncle with a Volare Wagon, which I also once had as a rental car). I never drove a Gremlin nor Matador nor Chrysler TC, but did drive several of the others on occasion when I was a porter for Hertz in the late 70’s
Most people seem to remember the Pacer from the “Wayne’s World” movies…maybe because the car was considered a bit campy by that time…but didn’t John Denver drive one (a Wagon, I think) in a couple of movies too?..and had “God” as his copilot (but the Pacer was still for sale at any AMC dealer at the time…and wagons were hardly considered chic back then). Of course Wayne’s world is also the more recent set of films, so that’s likely why.
The Chrysler TC by Maserati is really a pretty good-looking car for its time. I think the hardtop portholes are OTT and inevitably the whole thing is hard to separate from the contemporary Sebring, but the Sebring wasn’t bad-looking itself. Being diluted by cheaper iterations/imitations being ugly.
The Lebaron coupe and convertible came out with very similar detailing and that’s what made the TC look ordinary, although they were very good looking cars in their own right.
Agreed. I’m not disputing that the LeBaron really undermined the TC’s impact, but if you consider the TC in isolation, it really is a nice-looking car. It’s sort of like seeing the fancier concept car or styling prototype version of a decent-looking mass market car (e.g., Silver Arrow vs. Riviera).
Every car mentioned was available in a wide selection of pretty paint colors. (Nice enough?)
Pet theory: Both the Gremlin and Matador might have done better had they been introduced for 1968. The Hornet platform of which the Gremlin was the short-pants version was mechanically superior in some respects to the platform it replaced, but against the utilitarian Falcon, Dart, and Valiant, the Gremlin’s funky looks might have served it better and buyer expectations for compact-car fuel economy wouldn’t have been quite as high.
I love this thread..I hope the”say one nice thing” series continues.
Throw a 340 in that wagon and you might have a winner
The ‘dirty’ 360/4 they used in police cars and the 1978 L’il Red Express Truck were up to the job too.
The Aspen and Volare were good looking cars in a time when many were not. My neighbor pulled a scam with some friends at the police depot that netted him a fresh Volare squad car with a 360/4 barrel for $400. Thanks taxpayers! The police version was not addled with emissions controls, and he had one of the fastest cars on the street. He flipped the air cleaner cover for maximum induction noise and refitted a spot light to the A-pillar. The result was a car that could terrify anyone. For some reason, a friend and I were mooning cars one night when the Volare came into sight. We didn’t know what it was, just seeming to be a generic sedan at a distance. Almost instantly, that spotlight was on us and the car closed the distance in seconds, blowing us off the shoulder as it roared past. We were about ten years old at the time, and hadn’t seemed to consider that the most likely people to drive down our dead end street were either neighbors that were friends with our parents, our parents, or the driver of the meanest car on the street. Dumb times.
A neighbor of my grandparents bought a new F-body and got two cars for the price of one! As it went down the production line, the exquisite practitioners of assemble trimmed it out as an Aspen on one side and a Volare on the other!
I have a soft spot for some of these models. I always liked the Matador coupe, particularly when it could be found in non-brougham trim. The K-car Chrysler New Yorker was (is) a family favorite. Mom bought hers from a cousin when he replaced it with an Olds Silhouette minivan (why he did, I don’t know). Mom really liked that car. Ice blue metallic. Luxurious and plenty of room. Grandma still has her gold 1985 model, even though she doesn’t drive anymore (She is 92 now, decided to play it safe and give up her license).
Dad even liked the Pacer because of it’s oversize passenger door and huge windows, but he decided not to buy one. I did. It was the orange HotWheels model with the huge engine mounted in the tail.
Gremlin: Cool cars. Id like a V8 Levis model please.
Pacer: Our neighbor had one when I was a kid and I remember thinking how comfortable the seats were; I guess it was a DL model. The wagons looked cool and again, make mine a V8.
Matador: not the prettiest car ever but certainly not the ugliest.
Volare/Aspen: Love these. I just bought a ’79 Volare 318 wagon that’s been in constant service since it was new and not a spot of rust on it anywhere so obviously they weren’t all bad. Great looking cars, they handle and drive as well as any late model sedan and make decent power with a 318, plus the upgrades are endless. If they had just waited until 1977 to introduce these cars and spent an extra year on R&D, Chrysler’s position in the late 1970s may have been entirely different.
K-cars: I have no kind words I can say about anything K-car-based so I will just say I am thankful they provided the cash necessary to bring us Vipers, T-300 pickups, and the LX cars.
Sebring: Why all the bad press around these cars? They are not bad cars and no better or worse looking than any other late model box.
A friends mother had one of these 80s Chrysler, I’m pretty sure it was an ’85 Dodge 600, it was a convertible. Neat car. We would go joy riding in it when she wasn’t home. The car talked, it was real cool back then. Pretty sure it was a turbo.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VIpfUuRg1VE
This is easy.
American Motors: In my mind, the Matador Coupe (The styling pictured) is one of the most gorgeous cars of the era.
Chrysler: I own a 1986 Dodge D250 (3/4 ton) pickup. It is the easiest truck that I’ve ever serviced. For being a D250, it also rides down the highway more smoothly than my 1995 F150. I’m also a fan of the 360- what an engine!
————-
I’ll have to bite my tongue on the “K-Car New Yorker” for the transmission. But that car was one of the most comfortable cars that we’ve ever owned.
*perk*…did someone say K-car?
Best piece of market research done in decades was when Iacocca had a custom shop hack the roof off a LeBaron coupe, then he drove it to work and looked at the reactions it got.
not bad, considering where the platform started
Two of them. No waiting
Is it just me, or are car interiors really drab today?
I had this Marc Cross interior in a Light/Dark Steel blue leather . Best 500$ car I ever loved.ever inch of it .even the crystal star hood ornament. the whir of the tiny turbo. silver,digidash trip computer
I think the Pacer was a decent car with bad timing.
It was designed to be a small car, not an economy car. It reminds me a lot of the original 1950 Rambler concept.
Unfortunately it hit the market after the gas crunch, not before.
One nice thing for each car, starting from the top:
Volare wagon and coupe – the wagon has a cool front air dam that makes it look substantial and solid, plus the mags are eye catching; the coupe with the mags looks good too. I’m trying to figure out the relationship with the friends avoiding the rain with their coats and these two cars… okay this is where it gets negative….the marketing gurus having nothing nice to say about the cars, so instead they make the cars appealing because they’re a dry refuge?
Next!!
Gremlin – AMC did something Chrysler didn’t with their F bodies; points scored for originality for chopping off the rear of the car. Imagine that black and gold Volare coupe up top with the back window continuing down to the ground, kammback style. With that kind of creative thinking inspired by the Gremlin, it helps ward of Alzheimer’s disease as I exercise the brain imagining so — that’s a good thing too!
Pacer – Wayne’s World wouldn’t be the same without the Pacer. The World in general wouldn’t be the same without the same Wayne’s World. That could be a good or bad thing, but I err on the side of good…so, that’s one nice thing to say about the Pacer if I do say so my lonely self.
Matador – kind of reminds me of the exotic Avanti car. I always liked the look of the Avanti even if some people think it has a forlorn look about it. I don’t know… Also, the Matador just has that funky kitsch look about it, kind of like the modern day Nissan Juke that you and a bunch of friends would bomb around in, carefree. Personally, I’d call the car Madeline.
Chrysler TC – I really think this is a pretty car. I just love the headlight treatment and always thought it was kind of neat how the Maserati symbol fit within the Pentastar outline. I’d actually drive this car with pride and enjoyment to this day as long as someone else foot the inevitable repair bills — whoops got a little negative there… apologies.
K Yorker – Back in the 80s and 90s, I loved the throaty whistle those potent turbo 2.2s made as they drove around the neighbourhood. Also, look at those seats! Mmm, comfortable! Also the talking dashboard was tubular. Gimmicks oops I mean features like that is what sells cars, I’m tellin’ ya!!!
Sebring – I’m sure it was a nice car. I’m guessing that perhaps, sometimes, maybe it’s the professional reviewers that are the problems as they likely travel in packs to the sheep farm and back with their always individual and original critiques. BAhhaahaa! I drove a courtesy car Dodge Caliber once and I found it comfortable and pleasant — even with the hectic CVT and motor droning away madly. Anyway it certainly beat walking! I’m sure the Sebring drives similar as they are of the same Daimler-Chrysler-Cerberus era and without the CVT I presume.
Even though to most eyes they were strangely styled, the AMC’s were very cool cars in their own right. Maybe back then they didn’t quite fit in, but 40 years later they are still conjur up a lot of different feelings, emotions and look cool.
A certain sarcastic, biting, “Bitter Queen” person needs to switch from decaf to the real stuff.
It just dawned on me that the author of this thread actually likes all the cars he “trashed” and just wanted us to defend his favorite cars.
Gremlin – retro kitch now, but at the time a daring attempt to do something different with a low budget, and more reliable than the Vega
Pacer – Neat styling that predicted the 80s in many ways (aircraft style doors wrapped into the roof etc) and large interior. Make mine a later wagon model with woodgraining
Matador Coupe – Curvy styling, looks great in the dark red colour with slotted wheels, AMC handled the 5mph bumper issue well on these
Aspen/Volare – some of the best looking compacts of the 70s
TC – the porthole is very round
New Yorker – sumptuous interior, comfy seats, better gas mileage than their predecessors
Sebring – the winged logo is nice
That’s easy. I owned a 79 Volare Wagon in yellow. Slant six, torqueflite. By then the sins of the first year were fixed. Bought new and kept for 8 yrs. Perfect car for a young family pre minivan. No major problems Last new car I owned with a carburetor. Yes I rebuilt that, plus put a starter on it. Slant six, change the starter without crawling under the car, love it. Never let me down. When I sold it thru an ad in the paper, a guy showed up the next morning with cash. Never saw it again.
One nice thing? I can think of several:
1. You can actually SEE very well out of all of them.
2. We owned a 1976 Gremlin, bought used, and had a ball driving it.
3. AMC had big dreams, but a too-small pocketbook to adequately carry them out.
4. Chrysler: same thing, but had a bit larger wallet, but it’s customers did the beta testing all too often – not that Ford & GM are 100% innocent in that regard!
5. I loved the Chrysler/Maserati TC LeBaron.
Great article and a fun read on a Saturday afternoon.
I was always intrigued by the fact that AMC V8s are the same external size and weight regardless of the displacement, so that bolting in big cubes was as easy as falling of a log, and no weight penalty over the front.
Yup. And there were plenty of people who had that idea.
As soon as AMC reworked the Pacer to accommodate the 304, someone dropped a 401 into it. I think it was Motor Trend that did a report on the car, and dubbed it “the flying fishbowl”
More Gremlin goodness from Mr Teague. The Voyager, which was quickly nicknamed the “Grembin”
Another Gremlin proposal. Imagine this coming out in 74, tagged as a Javelin, against the Mustang II
Looks like they even dipped into the Javelin parts bin for the taillights.
That would have worked. If only they had moved quicker…
That would have worked. If only they had moved quicker…
The vast majority of their R&D resources were being sucked up by the Pacer and Matador coupe programs right then. They were trying to think outside of the box to find a space where the big three would not hammer them.
If management had not been able to find the money to fund the Pacer and Matador coupe, maybe they would have funded low cost line extensions like this hatchback and the “GT” wagon I posted earlier. Ironic, eh?
Anyone else see Spirit hatchback when they look at this picture?
Of course. Too bad this rear window and hatch design didn’t come out in 1970.
IMO, it would have been far more marketable (and practical) than the Gremlin roof line they went with.
iirc, the hatchback thing didn’t get traction until about 73, when suddenly all the GM X bodies and the Hornet, sprouted hatches.
The Vega started out with a hatch, but the Pinto started out with a trunk and grew a hatch in, iirc, 72
Don’t know if I would call the Gremlin a hatchback as only the window opened, rather than a larger panel as in a true hatchback.
The more square rear of the Gremlin was more practical as it offered better headroom in the back seat and space for taller loads, so it was the better grocery getter. And, most importantly for a company that doesn’t have a lot of money to spend on advertising, people noticed a Gremlin when it went by, Some may point and laff, but they noticed.
Anyone else see Spirit hatchback when they look at this picture?
Sure. And the Spirit was offered in AMX trim. The primary differences are the 74 has Javelin taillights, the 74 has extra bulgy rear fenders that beg for big rubber, and the 74 was 5 years ahead of the Spirit, when AMC was stronger and could have cashed in on it better as it would be going up against the old school Camaro, and Ford’s latest Mustang science, that didn’t even offer a V8 in 74.
I like the 1967-1970 AMC Javelin, with the “divided” grille.
-I really like the Matador’s styling too…it was different and in a good way.
-Pacer. It was a brave attempt.
-Gremlin. Glad they served their owners well, and I can enjoy them ironically, but too clumsy to want.
-TC Lots of good things. They looked great, drove great, and were one of the most enjoyable cars I’ve driven (one of my bosses bought a three year old one, and I drove us around a lot in it. As of last year he still had it.) The deadly sin was the ridiculous Maserati pretense/price. They were very nice cars judged purely on their merits.
-The Aspen/Aspen Wagon…here’s the challenge for me. Something good…their styling was inoffensive for the time? That’s about the best I can do.
These two cars, bought as a pair (cursed be their toolings) were the single reason my family never bought another Chrysler product after 30 years of zealous Mopar loyalty. My dad was furious, and called in favors and pulled strings until he got a buyback. Ford got the benefit until the first Toyota, and that was it for American cars to this day.
-New Yorker These made no impression on me, but they had nice leather seats.
-Sebring I only had to drive one once, and I got to give it back to Enterprise Rent-A-Car after only 2 days.
Owned a Grim-One that’s what I called it. The AMC still ran when I sold it to the Junk Yard, couldn’t afford it, school a duplex and the Cutlass. The Aspen/Volare’ I thought looked great especially with all the trim (vinyl roof included) And I aspired for the little New Yorker with Turbo but wisely settled for a Toronado instead.
AMC just had such an unconventional approach to everything in this period, as if all major decisions were done on a whim without any thought or recognition to sales projections, customer surveys or even the given fads of a time. Most people are baffled and even appalled by that notion in such a judgmental and bottom line driven society, but that nonconformist presentation of their products is definitely an appealing trait for those who embrace the underdogs, and for the underdogs themselves to have any chance of hitting their stride.
The Matador, the Gremlin, the Pacer were all such great examples of this approach, and even the AMX – a car much more widely acclaimed by your average person, was just as ridiculous and unconventional (A two seater ponycar/Rambler American underpinned Corvette fighter???). Whether or not these cars laid the seeds of AMC’s demise(if it wasn’t inevitable anyway), they certainly have lovable character now, and really when it comes to curbside classics I cannot think of anything better to be say in their favor.
I’m struggling with the Chryslers though, especially the Sebring, but the Volare wagons were pretty damn nice looking, second best looking wagon to the Hornet sportabout in my eyes
.Easy assignment.I had a series of AMCs-my first new car was a 5K$ 1981 AMC Spirit (I6 and 4 speed).amazingly reliable decent MPG etc.should have bought another while the company existed.also had a new 1992 Dodge shadow America 2.5L 5 speed.Two daughters and friends learning manual transmission and it still could be driven to the scrapyard when repair costs exceeded replacement value.Both excellent vehicles and great -the respective company problems were more complex than just poor design on product
Well, I’ll focus on the AMC products and the Volare/Aspen twins – the 6 cylinder engines in both these makes each deservedly gets my vote for most reliable and durable domestic six cylinders of the 60/70s. The only one to add to make a Top 3 would be Ford’s big 300 truck 6.
Not a challenge at all – AMC (in conjunction with Renault) built what was the best car in its class in the US at the time, the Eagle Premier. The cars were both technologically-advanced and dynamically-excellent by the standards of the time, though they were ultimately dogged by long-term reliability being something of an issue. However, given that its DNA survived into the LH cars (thus saving Chrysler’s bacon in the ’90s), it and Jeep were arguably the best things to happen to Chrysler in the last quarter-century.
Note that I selected the Premier in preference to the venerable Jeep XJ Cherokee, itself a brilliant (and Renault-assisted) design, and one which did absolutely nothing but boost Chrysler’s fortunes in the ’90s. The latterly-introduced 4.0-litre straight-six that powered the great majority of them (and other Jeeps) it is also one of America’s finest engines – but I felt that as an ’80s underdog the Premier deserved the spotlight that it never really got to rightfully occupy.
Never paid much attention, if any, to the Eagle Premier, but maybe I should have. I like it! Should have been a Camry killer.
Volare wagon: You could roll down the rear windows, unlike its GM competitors from ’78 onward
Gremlin: Turned out to be better than the Vega, Pinto, or various Italian or British competitors. Late in the decade AMC turned this into the Spirit with an attractive fastback roofline – I don’t know why they didn’t build it that way from the beginning.
Pacer: It inspired the Porsche 928, so says its designer.
TC: Lovely T-Birdesque porthole windows. Also the wrinkled-look leather seats, the clock, and the red dash lighting at night. And a much more reliable daily driver than a Biturbo, and less expensive to maintain due to all those K-car parts.
Can’t muster much love for the Matador coupe, a tragic, misshapen missed opportunity to craft a player in the red-hot personal-luxury segment, or the K-car New Yorker which in photos looks like a worthy mini-Brougham but in the flesh is betrayed by chintzy switchgear, door latches, and other hardware that lacks the substantial feeling of either the older C- or R-bodied NYers or the revamped late-’80s car that replaced these.
The Sebring wasn’t an awful car in the Chevy Vega sense, but rather just uncompetitive by dint of being a bit worse in every aspect of performance than its competitors. Other cars had better fuel economy, less noise, more legroom, you name it.
I remember around 1978 or 1979 a neighbor bought a 1974 Gremlin for $ 75.00. She drove it until 1983 when she replaced it with a new Pontiac J2000. She bragged that it was the best car she ever had and did not put any money into it other than oil changes and new tires. She said getting rid of it was the biggest mistake she ever made, the dealer gave her $ 300.00 for a trade and she went from a reliable car that she owned outright to a piece of shit that she had to make payments on. Imagine that a car the appreciates in value with age, a Gremlin no less. hahaha As a kid I thought the Gremlin was cool.
In 1976, my parents bought a Volare Premier Wagon which had the wood grained side trim. It was an attractive car and it drove quite well. My parents really liked that car when they bought it, but that was diminished with the rusting fenders and carburetor issues. It’s standing was further lowered by the need to replace the grindy mopar starter three times in as many years. To it’s credit, though, it’s front bucket seats were extremely comfortable, which made driving it a real pleasure.
It was replaced in 1981 by a Mercury Zephyr with a 4 speed, no less. Dad absolutely loved that car, but had a difficult time keeping it under 70 miles per hour, even on rural state highways.
While I was growing up, we had family friends who owned a summer house across the brook. When Mr. S retired from an extremely successful career, he and Mrs. S stopped by at my folks house driving an early nineties era Chrysler New Yorker. On retiring, he had a choice of several gifts, two of them being a Rolex watch and the New Yorker. Obviously, he chose the New Yorker, saying to my parents, ” I don’t need another watch”. It was the first car that he had ever owned. Until then, he’d always had company cars, I believe, mostly Buicks. He drove the New Yorker for several years, and drove Chryslers from then on. Having the means to buy practically any car he desired, it would appear that Chryslers suited him well.
My girlfriend had a Volare, and she was thrilled that it had cruise control.
I had a canary yellow 86 New Yorker sedan, and I loved driving that car. It really did float down the road. Great suspension.
My aunt had a 1977 Dodge Aspen SE coupe. It was an awesome car. Very reliable. I didn’t think to look under the hood to see what kind of engine it was powered by, whether it was a 225 Slant six engine, or a V8 engine. I would’ve bought it had she not sold it when she did.