PCH, Six-Banger Kenosha Malaise Edition: Spirit or Gremlin? - Jalopnik Comments

PCH, Six-Banger Kenosha Malaise Edition: Spirit or Gremlin?

FuzzyPlushroom — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 14:11:20 EDT

FuzzyPlushroom

PCH, Six-Banger Kenosha Malaise Edition: Spirit or Gremlin?

SeanKHotay — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 12:46:01 EDT

For me, it's not even close.

The gorgeous, successful, and perky Girl-Next-Door-Yet-Never-Attained (and still single, mind you) drove one and that would mess with my mind more than any mechanics mess, malaise-era'dness, Romneyness, Kenosha'd-ness, Packer-Backer-assembledness, or any other -ness mess of problems could ever do.

Am I repeating myself? Or just expanding on past thoughts? Hmmm...SeanKHotay's in a rut...in more ways than one

I should just call her...Fack! See?! Its PCH-headmessingness is already setting in, warping with my fragile (not Italian) little mind.

SeanKHotay

PCH, Six-Banger Kenosha Malaise Edition: Spirit or Gremlin?

turbo zero — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 11:11:07 EDT

I'll take the Gremlin, so I can bomb along blaring out some Mogwai through the great new 5.1 logitec desk top speakers that I will install.

turbo zero

PCH, Six-Banger Kenosha Malaise Edition: Spirit or Gremlin?

v8corvairpickup — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 10:30:26 EDT

This is what I want. It's called the Cowboy. Is it a Grem la mino, a Gremchero or a Grempage

Here is the link to the original page. Scroll a bit down for it.

[www.arcticboy.com]

v8corvairpickup

PCH, Six-Banger Kenosha Malaise Edition: Spirit or Gremlin?

AmishJohn — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 07:35:16 EDT

@DannyBN: Mauled by cougar, perhaps.

AmishJohn

PCH, Six-Banger Kenosha Malaise Edition: Spirit or Gremlin?

DannyBN — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 04:17:52 EDT

@graverobber- Same great taste, new low price!: Don't be hatin' on Edna Krabapple. Total cougar, she is.

DannyBN

PCH, Six-Banger Kenosha Malaise Edition: Spirit or Gremlin?

FuzzyPlushroom — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 00:08:47 EDT

Purple. Hatchback. You got me there.

The Spirit'd just be too easy; there's too much working car there.

FuzzyPlushroom

PCH, Six-Banger Kenosha Malaise Edition: Spirit or Gremlin?

tomic — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 23:07:28 EDT

I had a 304v8 spirit. Basically a restyled Gremlin. AMC was umm leader of the pack in poor build quality in the mid-70's on, unfortunately, but luckily the chassis is a tune-up of the earlier American. THe "new" chassis started in '70, and is solid, stiff, light, and takes every motor AMC ever used from 121ci Audi 4, Iron Puke, 199/232/258, and all the V8's, 290 to 401.

For hacking on, you can't beat AMC -- parts interchange is spectacular, 1958-1988. Any brake system bolts onto any chassis. That damned Hornet/Gremlin chassis was in use from 1970 through the Concord in 88!

The Gremlin is iconic, but the Spirits can be made very nice looking with just a few mods, (like ditch all the f-ing beige plastic!). I used to SOLO II autocross one. ALl th AMX performance jun

tomic

PCH, Six-Banger Kenosha Malaise Edition: Spirit or Gremlin?

DoctorNineTenths — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 22:25:43 EDT

Have to vote for the Gremlin, as I almost died in one in 1978. Don't ask.

DoctorNineTenths

PCH, Six-Banger Kenosha Malaise Edition: Spirit or Gremlin?

Smells_Homeless — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 21:57:16 EDT

Gotta vote for the Spirit, but only because it made me think "well, maybe." That's hellified if I ever saw it.

Smells_Homeless

PCH, Six-Banger Kenosha Malaise Edition: Spirit or Gremlin?

cats4rent — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 21:54:45 EDT

the heck with these ramblers....i want the girl washing the orange gremlin

cats4rent

PCH, Six-Banger Kenosha Malaise Edition: Spirit or Gremlin?

Mike the Dog — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 21:33:24 EDT

@Pope Dearthair the Awesometh: "There are minute differences between the various versions of this six, just minute enough to drive you absolutely fucking nuts."
Which is exactly why "keep the intake and headers and drop in the good ol' 258 crank/rod combo into a common-as-dirt 4.0 Jeep block" won't work. On the 258 the intake and exhaust ports are all in a nice straight line. On the 4.0 the intake ports are centered about 1/2 an inch or so above the exhausts.

Mike the Dog

PCH, Six-Banger Kenosha Malaise Edition: Spirit or Gremlin?

Mike the Dog — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 21:21:51 EDT

Gremlin. You had me at purple. It really needs the motor from the Spirit, though. And a 4-speed. And duals with glasspacks.

Mike the Dog

PCH, Six-Banger Kenosha Malaise Edition: Spirit or Gremlin?

NovaloadMissesPolar — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 20:57:34 EDT

I am totally stumped on this one. Gremlin, I guess. Have "Purple People Eater" hand painted in yellow script along the flank--wait, it doesn't have a flank. Maybe a big old Vikes helmet on the hood?

NovaloadMissesPolar

PCH, Six-Banger Kenosha Malaise Edition: Spirit or Gremlin?

graverobber- Two BEER minimum — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 20:19:48 EDT

@DannyBN: That'll do nicely, although if you don't mind, I'd rather look at the girl washing the orange one than Jonathan standing jauntily next to his pride and joy.

graverobber- Two BEER minimum

PCH, Six-Banger Kenosha Malaise Edition: Spirit or Gremlin?

DannyBN — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 20:07:25 EDT

@graverobber- Same great taste, new low price!: Close enough?

DannyBN

PCH, Six-Banger Kenosha Malaise Edition: Spirit or Gremlin?

DeadFlorist — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 20:02:23 EDT

Before today, I didn't think any car could look good in purple and white.

DeadFlorist

PCH, Six-Banger Kenosha Malaise Edition: Spirit or Gremlin?

Mad_Science — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 19:16:23 EDT

@graverobber- Same great taste, new low price!: No need to make up stories, we're not here to judge you.

(Perv)

Mad_Science

PCH, Six-Banger Kenosha Malaise Edition: Spirit or Gremlin?

graverobber- Two BEER minimum — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 19:10:15 EDT

@Mad_Science: You know, funny thing- I was actually trying to find a video clip from the Simpson's Treehouse of Horror where Bart says "There's a gremlin on the side of the bus!"

Couldn't find that, but this showed up and I thought, what the hell?

graverobber- Two BEER minimum

PCH, Six-Banger Kenosha Malaise Edition: Spirit or Gremlin?

fresnel — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 19:02:28 EDT

ok.... gotta go with the gremlin....

My first car was a tan 77 gremlin X .

I put nearly 220,000 miles on it, rarely changed the oil, beat the living hell out of it, and it still refused to die.

aaaah... memories of doing donuts in the high school parking lot and jumping the Gremie over snowbanks after wrestling practice....

good times

fresnel

PCH, Six-Banger Kenosha Malaise Edition: Spirit or Gremlin?

Mad_Science — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 18:59:15 EDT

@graverobber- Same great taste, new low price!: <--Searched the internet for "gremlin porn"

Mad_Science

PCH, Six-Banger Kenosha Malaise Edition: Spirit or Gremlin?

Bee1 — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 18:58:10 EDT

Had to go with the Gremlin because my cousin had one with a 401 and a 3 speed. That car was scary fast at the age of 15 in 1985.

Bee1

PCH, Six-Banger Kenosha Malaise Edition: Spirit or Gremlin?

graverobber- Two BEER minimum — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 18:45:42 EDT

By the way, I guess that two-tone porno Gremlin interior works:

graverobber- Two BEER minimum

PCH, Six-Banger Kenosha Malaise Edition: Spirit or Gremlin?

graverobber- Two BEER minimum — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 18:43:33 EDT

@RalphieDC: Thank you for that. I was trying to collate a deck for a presentation tomorrow and be witty at the same time. Have to give my boss the ultimatum: Jalopnik first, work second, okay?

graverobber- Two BEER minimum

PCH, Six-Banger Kenosha Malaise Edition: Spirit or Gremlin?

BeerDearthair — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 18:23:36 EDT

I have a sneaking hunch this would be more hellish than even imagined here. Having worked on -- and subsequently driven, however briefly -- these straight-sixes, I know they are great engines, and can produce great gobs of torque... but AMC seemed to have a sense of humour, moreso than even implied by looking at the Gremlin or Pacer.

There are minute differences between the various versions of this six, just minute enough to drive you absolutely fucking nuts. It's been too long, I can't remember all the details, but, for instance, the grandaddy of these, the 195.6cid six, had multiple different versions with differing heads and attachments. And non-interchangeable parts. Step up to the 232 (you mad, impulsive FOOL you!) and it mattered greatly whether it was the original "Typhoon" version or the later non-Typhoon version... and so on.

Let's face it. Step one would be to yank the engine and throw in a Jeep 4.0L... (or a 401... wait, that's against the rules...) so in that sense, does it matter about the car?

I'll take the Gremlin, because, DAMN, it's a Gremlin!

BeerDearthair

PCH, Six-Banger Kenosha Malaise Edition: Spirit or Gremlin?

Kelly — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 18:19:17 EDT

I'm conflicted as they're both, IMO, equally hellish.

The only thing more unpleasant AND AMC might be a '76 PacerX which has a Ford 300 CID 6-cylinder in it. That combines the worst of multiple worlds.

I can't believe this, but I remember the test-drive my folks took in a '76 Gremlin. What a heap! They also drove a '76 Rabbit and eventually settled on a '77 Datsun B-210 sedan, aka Bluebird. Of only my mother hadn't crashed and totalled (multiple endo's will do that) the '72 510 wagon...which was FREE! Was a replacement for the joke of a '66 Covair , which ran for about a week. The Datsun wagon needed a transmission, as the OEM auto had 1st and R. I cut my baby gearhead teeth on the conversion to manual in 1974... It stuck. I was a surprisingly helpful 6-yrear-old.

Kelly

PCH, Six-Banger Kenosha Malaise Edition: Spirit or Gremlin?

muleshoe — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 18:07:38 EDT

@selfhatingotaku: Spirit Spirit Maybe you were thinking Chevy

muleshoe

PCH, Six-Banger Kenosha Malaise Edition: Spirit or Gremlin?

Spasticteapot — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 18:05:16 EDT

As a Wisconsinite, I always thought the thing our state had the most to answer for was Joe McCarthy.

And then I learned about AMC.

Spasticteapot

PCH, Six-Banger Kenosha Malaise Edition: Spirit or Gremlin?

vwminispeedster — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 18:02:09 EDT

@selfhatingotaku: +1

vwminispeedster

PCH, Six-Banger Kenosha Malaise Edition: Spirit or Gremlin?

ranwhenparked — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 18:01:10 EDT

@RalphieDC:

Considering the Gremlin's primary competition was the Vega and the Pinto, I think AMC's customers were willing to settle for "out of date" as opposed to "replace engine every 20k miles" or "stay off my rear, I'm explosive".

Plus, it was still more modern than the Beetle.

ranwhenparked

PCH, Six-Banger Kenosha Malaise Edition: Spirit or Gremlin?

muleshoe — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 17:54:38 EDT

Now days a turbo on the Gremlin.You can take me to Hell in one a I won't complain....Been There Done That.

muleshoe

PCH, Six-Banger Kenosha Malaise Edition: Spirit or Gremlin?

P161911 — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 17:50:18 EDT

Spirit comes pre-molested with unknown/unreliable mods. The Gremlin is just old and rusty. Had to vote for the Spirit.

P161911

PCH, Six-Banger Kenosha Malaise Edition: Spirit or Gremlin?

RalphieDC — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 17:50:13 EDT

@graverobber- Same great taste, new low price!: "It's twenty four years old, and was out of date when new." It's thirty four years old and was out of date when new.

RalphieDC

PCH, Six-Banger Kenosha Malaise Edition: Spirit or Gremlin?

DannyBN — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 17:49:05 EDT

OMG!!! Price cut on the Spirit!

Still not gonna sway me.

DannyBN

PCH, Six-Banger Kenosha Malaise Edition: Spirit or Gremlin?

Maymar - now with 37% less anonymity — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 17:48:56 EDT

I'm more drawn to the blank canvas of the Gremlin than the heinous Spirit (in which I'd want to undo most of the work done to it before I could get started), so yeah, my hell looks like it was modded to meet the rad trends of 1988.

Maymar - now with 37% less anonymity

PCH, Six-Banger Kenosha Malaise Edition: Spirit or Gremlin?

Bo Darville — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 17:41:06 EDT

I was swayed by the custom straight-off-a-boat-trailer taillights on the Spirit.

Bo Darville

PCH, Six-Banger Kenosha Malaise Edition: Spirit or Gremlin?

Tomsk — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 17:40:41 EDT

Spirit. How many of those are left relative to Gremlins? I vote mighty, mighty few.

Tomsk

PCH, Six-Banger Kenosha Malaise Edition: Spirit or Gremlin?

lascauxcaveman — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 17:40:41 EDT

My unironic ironic choice is the Gremlin. The Spirit just looks on the bland side of silly. The Gremlin is bona fide weird.

lascauxcaveman

PCH, Six-Banger Kenosha Malaise Edition: Spirit or Gremlin?

anaxomander — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 17:39:05 EDT

Spirit.
That's no mere hood scoop, it's a gaping hood maw.

anaxomander

PCH, Six-Banger Kenosha Malaise Edition: Spirit or Gremlin?

graverobber- Two BEER minimum — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 17:38:36 EDT

Oh golly, has to be the Gremlin. H-E-Double Toothpicks awaits whomever spends three grand on a grimace-colored gremlin. It's twenty four years old, and was out of date when new.

I'm guessing the X in the name refers to the porno-set two-tone interior. Ooh-la-la, shake it baby.

graverobber- Two BEER minimum