AMC Gremlin vs. Ford Pinto: Who Ya Got? [View all]
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day, compact hatchbacks? You were the hottest thing around until everyone got extremely parched and sunburnt and decided they were done with this shit and couldn’t wait for fall. It’s time to revive the good souls of the AMC Gremlin and the Ford Pinto and let you all decide who shall reign supreme.
Today, we’re kicking things off with two of my most favored hatchback tragedies in car history, the much maligned AMC Gremlin and Ford Pinto. Both experienced a charming rise in popularity, only to fall from grace in some particularly spectacular fashions.
In The Red Corner: AMC Gremlin
The Gremlin was introduced to the world on April 1, 1970 and saw a formidable amount of popularity before it became the butt of everyone’s favorite car-related jokes. Here was the progenitor of the compact hatchback craze—both the Pinto and the Vega were yet to be released. People wanted small, economical cars. AMC was here to deliver.
AMC kinda... tossed the Gremlin together. It were originally just going to re-release an updated version of the Hornet before realizing that people actually dig things that are totally, all-around new. So, AMC chopped down the Hornet down to a more compact size and reworked it into a suave new wedge shape.
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In The Blue Corner: Ford Pinto
Now entering the ring on September 11, 1970: the Ford Pinto! Lee Iacocca wanted a car that could compete with all those damn economy cars rolling in from Japan and Germany, and he wanted it to cost under $2,000. And what Lee Iacocca wants, Lee Iacocca gets.
While the Pinto wasn’t the product of a chopping down of any of Ford’s other vehicles, it did fall victim to an expedited development cycle—what was typically 43 months was supposed to be completed in a mere 25 in order to have the car in showrooms by 1971, Hemmings reports. Not ideal!
More: https://jalopnik.com/amc-gremlin-vs-ford-pinto-who-ya-got-1835704813
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