I’m calling this one an “Extra” because this was not my car nor a car I ever drove. This was my sister’s first car, and it’s a good enough story that I felt it was one worth sharing.
My sister got her license on her 16th birthday in 1982 but didn’t have enough money to buy her own car. Since my mother worked from home and didn’t drive very often, she allowed my sister to drive her ‘78 Plymouth Horizon. What little money she did have – about $1,000 – was from an inheritance that my parents had wisely locked away in a 16% Certificate of Deposit a year or two prior (one of the few advantages of high inflation). When my parents traded in the Horizon, she switched to driving my father’s Omni.
Mom’s ’78 Plymouth Horizon (Left) and Dad’s ’79 Dodge Omni (Right)
“Driving” Is a Strong Word
Now, saying my sister was “driving” those cars is like saying that Michael Vick was just “playing” with his pit bulls. She had a nasty, aggressive streak when it came to cars, and wear and tear increased exponentially after she started driving them. Most notable was a rear-end collision while driving the Horizon. She was leaving work, and the woman in front of her stopped short as they were pulling into the left-turn lane – my sister was driving too fast, not wearing her seat belt and cracked the windshield with her head in addition to the front-end damage. Say what you want about how ugly 5-MPH bumpers were, but that day they probably prevented the car from being a total loss.
The situation was so bad that my parents floated the idea of making me wait until I was 18 to get my license, a notion that I fought with every fiber of my being.
The last straw came when, after one of the Omni’s numerous breakdowns, the grille fell apart during the tow. When my father was relating the story about how he was determined to make the towing company replace the grille, we heard an “Uh…..” from my sister. After asking what she (clearly) knew about it, she admitted one of her friends was sitting on the hood and accidentally kicked in the grille. Like the smart teenagers they were, they glued the grille back together and hoped nobody would notice. The owner of the towing company had already purchased a Horizon grille from a salvage yard, which my father then reimbursed him for and installed on the Omni.
The Time for Action Is…Never
When it came time to trade in the Omni, my sister was warned that she would need to get her own car. Her CD had matured, and she was about to graduate high school. Now, you would naturally think that this would light a fire under someone’s butt, but not my sister. I have vague recollections of her mindlessly meandering through the Auto Trader looking at cars way out of her price range. I specifically remember her asking me what I thought of a 1979 Beetle Convertible listed for $4,995. How she was planning to buy a car with less than a ¼ of the money was beyond me. There was no way my parents would be stupid enough to cosign a loan for her (that year).
Oddly enough, I’m now exactly the same age my father was when all of this was going down, and I have two kids who are exactly the same ages as my sister and I were. I see this same behavior in my own kids. You can make the threat. You can even have a track record of following through on threats. Yet, they either still want to think you won’t follow through, or they just don’t care. It confounds me.
Needless to say, by the time my parents had put down a deposit on a new car, which they would pick up the following week, she hadn’t done anything. They also had no desire to cart her to and from various after-school activities or her job at Publix.
Whose Money Is This Anyway?
Luckily for them, my sister was just shy of her 18th birthday, which means that they still had control of her bank account. With just a week to play with, my father didn’t even bother with the Auto Trader, either because he didn’t want that many options or didn’t want to be bothered spending the $1.95 – or whatever it cost back then – having just bought a new car he couldn’t really afford. Picking up the local free Penny Saver – imagine a print version of Craigslist – he found what he was looking for:
1977 AMC Gremlin, A/C, 100,000 miles but only 5,000 miles on new transmission.
My parents then withdrew $1,000 from her bank account, which had grown to $1,350 thanks to that 16% interest, and brought the car home.
First Impressions Are Everything
My sister was horrified when she saw it sitting there on the verge in front of our house after she got home from school. She claims she even cried herself to sleep that night. She remembers telling them early on that the Gremlin was the ONE car she did not like or want. Up until a few years ago, she actually believed that they intentionally bought the Gremlin for that reason, a notion that I disabused her of. According to my mother, “She was such a miserable teenager, why would we want to make her an even more miserable person to live with?” As the ever-faithful little brother, I was loving every minute of this.
As you can see from the pictures, it was a pretty decent car for $1,000 in 1984 – a far better buy than my $1,500 car just a year later.
Charting the Changes: 1977
For 1977, the Gremlin sported new front sheet metal with a shorter overhang that reduced overall length by three inches. In the back, there was a larger all-glass hatch and bigger tail lamps. While a new Volkswagen-sourced 2.0-liter, four-cylinder engine was offered for the first time to get the Gremlin to achieve the gas mileage expected from a car this small, this one sported the ancient standard 232-cubic-inch inline six, producing a massive 88 horsepower with gas mileage in the teens. It was one of 38,613 produced that year with the six according to the Standard Catalog of American Cars.
Life with A Hated Car
According to my sister, she beat the hell out of this car because of how much she hated it. She quickly discovered that, thanks to the light rear end, it was an excellent car to take mudding. At some point during her ownership, an I ♥ Robert Plant bumper sticker showed up on the driver’s door thanks to her best friend, Kym. According to my sister, “She was totally obsessed with him!”
Internet photo of the trusty & true AMC 232 cu. in. Inline Six.
Hard plastic steering wheels can get quite hot in the Florida sun, so rather than the vinyl wrapping that most people used, my sister bought a big, thick, furry cover. That wouldn’t have been an issue except for the fact that the low-set bench seat and non-adjustable steering wheel already presented a challenge to her 5’ 2” frame. She and my father had a minor fight about that, but she refused to remove it. This was accompanied by about 100 things dangling from her rearview mirror.
Being a late-seventies American car and used, there were definitely issues, but not as many as you would think. She recalls having to take off the distributor cap and dry it every time it rained, otherwise the car would die. Once, when she and her friend went to visit other friends up in Central Florida on a non-rainy holiday weekend, the car died anyway. Fortunately, their friends had some mechanical aptitude and quickly diagnosed a bad starter motor. Amazingly, they were able to source one that day for $50. So, for that and a six-pack for labor, they were able to safely make it back home.
My sister most certainly did NOT feel this way about her Gremlin. Maybe if it was an X?
One of her worst memories was after the prom when her date threw up in the car, which is a smell you can never fully exorcise. After making him clean it up, they tried to use Polo cologne to cover the residual odor. To this day, you can pretty much guess what the smell of Polo makes her want to do.
My worst memory of the car was when my mother made me clean it out before its scheduled visit to my best friend’s father’s repair shop. Now, my sister is a slob, and forty years later her car is still a disaster area. On this day, there was probably a couple of inches of garbage on the floor of the car, including a letter she had written but had never given to whomever it was intended for. Let’s just say I learned far more about my sister’s private life than I ever wanted to know.
Internet photo of the Gremlin trunk. Note how the spare tire takes up much of what little space there is to begin with.
Time to Say Good Rid…Er…Goodbye
After she graduated high school, she decided to make a run at a show business career rather than go to college. She got a job in retail and about a year after “buying” the Gremlin, convinced my parents to (stupidly) cosign a loan for a new car.
The car was still in decent shape visually, but at some point had thrown a wheel cover – likely during one of her off-road adventures. I had a couple of wheel covers that I’d…ahem…liberated from an “abandoned” ’64 Impala. So, one side of the car had the stock Gremlin covers, and the other side had the Impala’s. Either way, the dealer only gave her $300 for it.
Today, of course, she looks back on the car with far more affection. It doesn’t rank among one of her favorites, but she does wish she’d treated it a little better.
Related CC reading:
Curbside Classic: 1971 AMC Gremlin — 1971 Small Car Comparison Number 6
Great story! So what did she get with the said co-signed loan?
Stay tuned.
A TOYOTA, definitely!
Nope! Guess again!
Ha, your sister sounds a bit like my sister. I wish my parents had got her a Gremlin, it would have been more durable than the Subaru she wrote off and the Colt she let deteriorate.
She got a brand new CRV last year and it is clean and unscratched for now.
Great story! Sometimes, the stories about dramatically un-loved cars are even better than those of cars remembered more fondly. In this case, it sounds like your sister’s Gremlin was all around a decent car…but I’m guessing that she was/is just one of those people who can never bond particularly well with a car. I’ve known people who, even if they like the car, just can’t find it within themselves to NOT beat on it or fill it with trash. Oh well.
I don’t think I’ve seen too many Gremlins with that front bench seat. Most that I can recall had the bucket seats. That black bench does certainly look “economical”.
Thanks! Actually, it’s just the opposite. She bonded strongly with the next car, and drove the ’93 Mazda MX-6 LS (V6, Green beige leather interior – the best combo) that she purchased in 2000 for 12 years until she just couldn’t afford to fix it anymore. She loves the 2014 Cruze 2LT RS she purchased new and drives now, but she just wishes it stood out a little more in a crowd. So basically, she loves it, but is not IN love with it.
Decades ago, as a buyer of 10 year old compacts (relatively rust free) for resale in VT, I quickly learned to never, ever buy a car that had been owned by a Patsy, a Mitzi, or any other teenage princess.
Absolutely incredible what they can do to a car.
Just dropping I to say just how thoroughly I enjoyed this read – both the story and its telling. To be a fly on the wall when your sister reads this…
That final Gremlin ad seems to frame it like the “Charlie Brown” (or Christmas tree) of cars.
I can see your sister and her friends gluing the grille back together. Priceless.
Thanks Joseph. I’m honored.
Your sister sounds somewhat like my wife; she “thinks” her CR-V is simply a mobile, 4 wheeled trash can. All of her cars thru the years have looked that way. 🙁
I had given slight consideration to a Gremlin when I bought her first nu VW, a ’71 Super Bug. It was a “personal” (whatever that means?) TRASH CAN! DFO
In my experience the messiest cars belong to young women. I saw that 50 years ago and I see it now. Though my own sister was and is very tidy. I used to keep my own cars pretty clean on the outside but now I can go months, maybe even a year, without washing them. In winter when heavy rain is forecast I will move my truck or our van out from under the street trees they are normally parked under, to a more open location, so they can get a natural wash. But I do keep the interiors clean and especially tidy. Since the advent of modern consoles, everything goes in the glove box or console when I park the car; when I’m driving there may be a water bottle or cell phone in the cupholders but rarely anything more. I wish I could say the same about my workbench.
Now I’m curious as to what your sister did with her life so far.
Great stuff, Adam! I also had a sister close behind me in age.
I can relate to the post-prom exorcism of barf in a car. As a result, I can no longer go anywhere near a tree-shaped auto refresher.
Also a +1 to DougD above. My sister also destroyed her 1975 Subaru wagon by running it out of oil on the freeway in downtown Seattle (circa 1986). Not good. Not good for any of us.
Not all young women are messcats about their cars. My younger sister kept her first car. a 72 Firebird, not s TA, in pristine shape. Well maintained, also. Having a boyfriend (Now husband) who kept his Torino spotless, doubtless helped.
“messcats”?
There is one other interesting tidbit about the Gremlin that I realized years later. My father’s first car was a 1946 Hudson Commodore Six that he purchased in 1953. He also only owned the car for a year before selling it to his mother’s second husband. For the few here who don’t know – Hudson merged with Nash in 1954 to form AMC. Once I pointed out that Dad had – likely inadvertently – purchased for her a seven-year-old, six-cylinder AMC, she REALLY wished she’d appreciated it more.
Very enjoyable article! The part about the Omni’s grille and your parents’ arguments with your sister remind me of my family about the time my older sister got her license. She used mom’s Subaru – and being a similar species of little brother that you were – I made a point of examining that car regularly, and telling my folks about every new dent, scrape or missing piece of trim. Then I’d sit back and enjoy the hilarity.
My sister wasn’t purposefully careless, but little brothers just live for that kind of stuff.
Also, I now have two teenage girls, and I also see a lot of this type of behavior in my own kids. I’ve been banging my head a lot lately; it’s always refreshing to learn that I’m not alone.
Maybe I found this in a previous article. Maybe not.
Like it matters?
“75/6/7” were good “Gremlin” years.
Great story! That “ancient” 232 six you referred also happened to be one of the best and longest running straight sixes ever made. The engine was introduced in ’64, and though updated a couple of times, was the same basic 7 main bearing engine that powered Jeeps up until 2006. They weren’t exciting motors, but they were durable. (I have a ’74 version with 175,000 on the motor, and you can still see the cross-hatching in the cylinders. 175k is frequently seen today, but there weren’t too many motors designed in the 60’s that lasted that long.)
Great story, Adam! Your sister sounds like she subscribes to my 1st ex-wife’s policy of making sure the inside of the car looks like a garbage scow. My ex specialized in throwing apple cores under the seat.
My parents (in a fit of parental brain fade, apparently) made the colossally bad idea of co-signing car loans for my trin brother & sister (who were 17 at the time) in 1985. I had moved out of home 3 years prior when the family moved to Texas (and I stayed in Washington state), so I didn’t have quite the ringside seat you had with your sister’s Gremlin-induced misadventures.
My brother bough a brand new 1985 Jeep CJ-7. It was the basic 4cylinder/4-speed stripper. The only option was the soft top. He actually took reasonable care of it but defaulted on the loan early on. it went from being his new Jeep to being the 3rd vehicle in the parental motor pool (and he rarely got permission to drive it afterward) He eventually bought a 3rd hand 1978 Chevy C-10, paid his dues, and survived beaterdom while saving his pennies for something better.
My sister got herself a 1984 Camaro (base) with a 305/AT. Unfortunately, as seemed to be the custom in SE Texas in the eighties when a young lady buys a (semi) hot car, here came the speeding tickets. Sadly, she apparently liked driving like Joey Chitwood after drinking a half-rack of Lone Star beer. The poor Camaro was abused to within an inch of its life. By the time she totaled it out after a year of unmerciful abuse, my parents wised up and said, “No more!”. As is another custom in that area, she was married by the time she was 18. Her (first) hubby had a new C10, he did not let her abuse it. She eventually grew up and stopped driving like Dale Earnhardt on crack…
My dad fessed up to me afterward and said, “Maybe it wasn’t a great idea….”
Me? Being the oldest, I did not have the luxury of parents co-signing a car loan I lived off a diet of $300-$500 beaters (and took care of them). Moving out at age 17 and being on your own tends to ratchet up the responsibility gene….
I remember the Gremlins in our fleet being okay cars but zero fun to drive .
I don’t get why some women have a need to drive their cars right into the ground plug fill them with nasty garbage .
-Nate
I remember the Gremlins in our fleet being okay cars but zero fun to drive .
I don’t get why some women have a need to drive their cars right into the ground plus fill them with nasty garbage .
-Nate
Hi all – this is the sister. May I make some minor corrections? I agree, Nate, that the Gremlin was not fun to drive. (I made it fun, i.e., mudding.) Plus, it wasn’t stick, making it all the more NOT fun. However, my Mazda was my MOST BELOVED CAR OF ALL TIME from the moment I sat in it. It just wrapped itself around me. It fit. And I took excellent care of it. I stayed (and still stay) on top of the servicing and I kept it until it literally could not be driven anymore. To be honest, I don’t really care as much about the outside of my cars. I did at first with my current car since it was brand new, but considering that it lives outside, is parked in an outdoor lot all day and is often parked on the streets of NYC, I gave up on trying to keep it pristine pretty early on. But, as far as what’s going on under the hood, I am diligent. However, if I ever get that vintage black BMW M135i Hatchback with the red leather interior that I almost bought, I’ll care a lot more about cosmetics!
And by the way… the current “trash” in my car consists of a power amp, bongos and other percussive instruments, a few local band stickers to add to my mic case, and tote bags for grocery shopping. Ok, maybe the unfinished water bottles from gigs that I eventually drink and toss could be considered “trash,” albeit temporary. Ok, yes, sometimes it’s a loooong period of temporary-ness. But there’s no “need” to drive my car into the ground. I just LOVE to drive. Periodendofstory. Often like a race car, I’ll admit. Driving stick lends itself to that. 1000% Especially if I’m mad. Naturally, that leads to some wear and tear and (to me) it’s worth it. My current Cruze is 10 years old and, with the exception of minor cosmetics, it’s in more than decent shape. So there. 🙂 But, if I didn’t have Olaf on my antennae, I’d never find that plain ‘ole black sedan among a million other black sedans in any given parking lot. Had the trunk been big enough to hold my equipment, I’d have a Juke right now. It’s weird looking. I dig weird. 🙂
Apologies for the duplicate posts! Tried to submit 3 times and it wouldn’t post, so I cut in half to post in two parts. Of course, the entire thing posted right after that.
Pam, thank you for chiming back in. Your brother’s story about your Gremlin was already great, but reading your comment here just adds to the whole reading experience. This has been one of my favorite entries lately out of a bunch of great content, now added to with your comment. To your point, driving a stick can definitely be conducive to working out aggression in the same way as slamming down an old phone receiver. “Hanging up” with a cell phone will never even come close.
Sister Pam; thanks for chiming in. It’s always good to hear from the owner directly. I felt your pain when your parents forced that Gremlin on you; not cool.
Isn’t the Juke something of a modern day Gremlin though? Both were weird.
Slamming down the phone…Yes!! You get it!!! But then I feel bad and apologize to the car.
Thinking of sister’s which happens now and then with me these years.
My sister’s first car was a 1974 Mercury Capri V6 that my father bought. See right there hers was free and I paid for my Cougar in 1969. I only recall it clearly for one year, 74-75, when she left the Bay Area (home) to join my down in San Diego for college. Interesting year since she was at SDSU and UCSD in the same year. Didn’t like the first, switched, and didn’t like the second. Believe UCSD, and the dorms, then SDSU and parent’s condo. Reality was she needed to be close to home and Mom.
So she went to UC Berkeley which was a 5 mile drive away. By the time I got to Cal Grad school in 1977 she was living in Berkeley. so I never saw the Capri. She graduates and I graduated and while in the same region each are busy with our lives. Now into the early 90’s and I an aware she has an Accord and then another after the first. I know she kept her cars clean inside even as a teenager.
My mother moved in with her, at her invitation, around 2010 and by 2015 was showing signs of dementia. My sister and I started talking monthly at that time which was something we never did between 1984-2010. I have always meant to ask her what happened to that Capri which was a nice car. I’ll never know because when a congenital brain aneurysm, in 2019, decides to blow you are gone in the blink of an eye.
Now I am thinking of her right now and how I won’t have her to talk back and forth in our senior years. With parents gone she was expected to be the connection to past family life. However, her last Accord is alive and running fine with her son.
I’m very sorry for your loss, tbm3fan.
Thank you, Adam. My mind was sailing along today and then I read this and it brought her into my day. Emotional but it is Ok. I miss talking to her but at the same time I am still upset with her. She had symptoms 10 weeks before but didn’t share them with me. I was told she was too busy. Had she she would be alive as, after being told, I would have told her to see a neuro M.D. stat.
Moral of the story: don’t let a loved one disregard symptoms that don’t seem to be getting better even if they say don’t worry for whatever reason.
I’m sorry for your loss, too. Adam and I are lucky enough to only live a couple/few hours away, and I love road trips, so we do get see each other pretty regularly without too much time passing. Your story makes me sad. It’s hard to think about ever losing my brother!!
They are both totally weird. I have a completely different attitude about the Gremlin now. I’m sure I would still hate driving it, but it’s classic and I would smile if I’m ever lucky enough to see one in the wild.