[BaadAssGremlins] Re: kammback

[<eddiestakes@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Ohh, pick me pick me! Ok, here goes.................see below.
Eddie Stakes'
Planet Houston AMX
713.464.8825
eddiestakes@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
www.planethoustonamx.com

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "John W Rosa" <JohnRosa@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <BaadAssGremlins@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, January 27, 2006 10:00 PM
Subject: RE: [BaadAssGremlins] Re: kammback


>
> Nah. AMC wouldn't build THAT far ahead, even of something new and
> hot-selling.
I missed this, but AMC unfortunately thought too damned far ahead. Many of 
thier designs are copied to this day, from the Marlin/Crossfire to the 
Chrysler 300/Ambassador to pick any SUV on the road and compare to Pacer 
lines or cars that got 'cut off' like Gremlin butt, many Tercel's, Honda CRX 
and hell, i just rented a Ford Focus that looks like modern Gremlin.
>
> The truth is likely more like this.
>
> At the end of 78, the big cars were cancelled, the Concord selling well,
> the Pacer was struggling and Gremlin needed a makeover.

Big cars from many automakers had been on a downwards slide due to OPEC oil 
embargo from years earlier, and car lots were filled with them. Sound 
familiar? Fast forward to 2006 and GM and Ford's troubles, while they are 
still stuck making big guzzler SUV's Toyota will be the largest automaker in 
the world, and passing GM like it was standing still.
 http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2005/11/23/149102.html
and get this, Toyota is even considering RAISING it's prices to help GM and 
Ford, how screwed up is that that your biggest competitor is trying to 
'help' you out? Sounds a lot like 1977 all over again, but with AMC.

>So, to the
> Gremlin was 'replaced' by the Spirit for '79, but since the tooling was
> there and AMC rarely wasted anything, they kept the Gremlin on as the
> 'new' Spirit kammback....to help fill out the more line even more.
AMC spent precious millions retolling for the 'new' Spirit. Not easy for 
little AMC.
AMC saw profitsd up 29% in 1978....despite the bullshit like strikes, and 
bad press. And they had 1846 AMC dealers and 1999 Jeep dealers pushing those 
vehicles.

But the Spirit came about because of a few reasons. "Passenger car 
operations were strenghtened through new product emphasis and major 
manufacturing changes to reduce costs." Note that sentence. $50+ million 
dollars.
(see 79 spirit press release photo here from 1978!)
>
> When Eagle debuted in 1980, only the Concord bodys got the 4WD
> treatment,
The Eagles started out as a full line. See the photos 1462, 1463, 1464 here. 
The line was introduced as a full line, not one body.


> And when they were a big hit with the press and public alike, AMC added
> the Spirit bodies to that line up for 1981.
The Eagles got favorable reviews from a lot of skeptical press I may add! 
The SX/4 came about (my guess) simple because AMC figured they could easily 
do it, hell, they had a four wheel drive four door sedan and wagon, why not 
make a mini too.

 But the kammback, despite
> being the cheapest form, looked it's age...Gremlin's age...and wasn't
> popular.
This is correct and I may add that you can only use one mold so many times! 
The Gremlin wore it's welcome out in roughly 76, while the Pacer wore it's 
welcome out the year after it's introduction in 75 and same for the Matador 
coupe. I just wrote something about this in a Hemmings Muscle Machines 
article scheduled for release later this year. But yes, it was "dated" and 
in a ever changing fickle car buying public.

So it died in mid-1982
the Kammback hybrid looking thing did go quietly.

and the SX/4 died a year after that with
> the end of the Concord and Spirit. Only the Eagle sedans and wagons
> continued, with the 2-door dying first (1985?), then the 4-door in 1987.
In 83 AMC offered six vehicles: under the Eagle Concord and Spirit lines. 
That four door Eagle saw 4241 sold in 84, and only 2655 for 85, and 1274 for 
86. I do not have the figures for 87, but do for 88 when only wagons were 
offered and only 2306 made; Paige owns #100 and is driven daily.
>
> Only the wagons were built as early '88s (by Chrysler).
Yes, and shoved out the door uncermonously by Mopar and many are commonly 
called 'continuation cars' and were not cheap new, about $15K. And no one 
wanted them. But the writing was on the wall from years before. Off my site:
http://www.planethoustonamx.com/just%20stuff/last_amc_built.htm

Anyone wanting Eagle production figures I can go dig those back out also. 
Hope some of this helps and hope someone saves it as one day I will be 
damned if someone be asking again!


 
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