Tom Jennings on History channel

[Tom Jennings]

On Sat, 11 Jun 2005, jim stephens wrote:

> Gremlin collector on Heavy Metal show about building up an AMC Pacer nd
> AMC Gremlin.
>
> The show missed it though, since the MC Pacer was originally a possible
> candidate
> for a rotary engine that was replaced by a 6 cylinder for road.  If they
> had refitted
> the Pacer with a triced out 13B they would hav ehad a better show if
> they had\
> been racing Pacer vs something with 300 hp.

Well it's is wildly off-topic, but I'll say this much then shut up:

An "AMC expert" was needed on short (next-day) notice. I took a
few hous off from work to get to the studio, hilariously (to me)
with my ancient Rambler wagon (300K miles) barely visible in the
background.

The show is total crap. They "pit two teams" against each other.
The younger pair were idiots of such a nature that, if I were to
meet them face to face, I probably would barely be polite.

They ruined both cars. That they could not get better than 18
second 1/4th mile out of the Gremlin exposes their extreme
stupidity (not ignorance), it's a 4.2 litre motor of substantial
lineage (and the basis for the Chrysler 4.0; the 4.0 EFI head
*bolts onto* the 1970 version of that motor in my Rambler). Decent
induction on that motor makes easy 200 hp in a weekend, the
know-nothing buffoons. Never mind that straight-line performance
is a dumb measure anyways (that's TV for you).

Gremlins are wonderfully engineered cars. If you laugh at them you
merely point out your ignorance. Ask me off-list, but in summary
it's the same chassis as their Trans-Am-winning AMX,
interchangable parts over a 20+ year period, any engine made from
121 ci 4-cyl to the 401 ci V8 all fit, dozens of transmissions
fit, etc. Those that appreciate well-designed architectures with
interchangability will appreciate this...

My current car project, a 1970 Hornet, is the chassis that the
Gremlin is based upon:

http://wps.com/AMC/1970-AMC-Hornet/index.html

OO