End of the Parts Cars - (was ) - Looking at adopting my 3rd GremlinX

[HH-7X@xxxx]

Look at it this way :

The big "Crush Fest" on AMC began in - on - or there abouts 1994
according to a leading authority - who's heavy in the game with
AMC since birth - father owned a dealership .

In Pa. they were crushing Eagles 10 at a time this past year.
No parts were removed . Crushed whole .

Report from Texas is the AMC cars in PYP and scrappers has dried up.

None reported available. There is nothing left in New York to speak of.

What your experiencing is "The End of The Road" - in that
the 'cherry' cars have been bought either to store & show or 
wait until prices rise as an investment. Daily Drivers account for
a marginal few . Parts cars are held by aftermarket dealers to 
AMC owners - and even then they are mostly Javalins or AMX .

Daily drivers are near gone as seen in news paper ads.
These are now called 'Near Mint' vehicles.

Next offerings down one rung on the AMC ladder is the condition
you've discovered - and the attending price increase regardless
of that condition $500.00 to $1,200.00 .
Still saveable - but needs work .
These are really parts cars that are the last call for 
anyone interested in having a Gremlin.

Parts cars ? - the crusher has eaten them.

I own the 4x4 EAGLE version of the Gremlin / Spirit .
As far as I can discerne - there are 5 or so of us in
the EAGLE Kammback Registry.

If I had storage - I'd be chasing the two rumored Kammbacks in
a Pa. yard . All I can do is take care of the nice unit I lucked into.

Next offerings after this fixer you've found isn't going to be available
as they were historically - the car behind the barn - a klunker in
a junkyard that doesn't crush - something at the Gas Station -
those "found finders' out in the weeds.

The Crushers have changed what will be available and what won't.
Crushers around here are 'Good old boys' from North Carolina and
points there of - roaming New York in good weather.

They find fields of old cars - offer some cash to the owner - and crush
them all. Mobile Crushers with sleeper cabs.

I missed a mint - no rust - 1970 Blue - no rear hatch Gremlin - 
for $50.00 . Crusher . Car was mint everywhere .

Same row had a Tan Matador X .

So realize your in a Time Warp . It won't last.

As a kid I chased the 1955 - 56 PACKARDS around.
Family had land then. I stored three nice units - that disappeared
while I was away. I found PACKARDS behind old filling stations - 
next to garages - in rows at the junkyard . Easy finds.

Now ? Prices start at $5,000.00 for the lowest optioned car.

So enjoy Gremlin Chasing while this Time Warp exists..

One day soon.......you won't see the ads anymore. 
You won't find them as 'runners'.
They will exist only in those that were 'captured' 
before they went 'the last mile' - or as a memory 
of a field owner who sold them to the dirt track boys
to cut up and run as Saturday Nite Racers to poke
fun at the Chevy boys.

Art is that way as Art Always has been. Art is fleeting moments
where it suddenly makes sense - the representation of the human
soul ( or Spirit! ) in a work that has no rival and will never come
again.


The Gremlin sprang fourth on APRIL 1, 1970 ,
April Fools Day.


It is a product of the Hippies & the Media coverage effect
the Peace & Love Generation had on America and the World.
It is a kin to the 'Woodstock Generation' .


It was the All American Challange to the VW Bug.


The Hippie Generation are in their 50s' now ,
Not quite at the last mile status - just waiting
out the next 'Reveloution' - Genetics.

AMC is now owned by Chrysler who is now
owned by the GERMANS. They will soon be
shutting down USA / Canadian / Mexican
Production Plants - in total .

All parts of All Chrysler Products are soon to be made
by Mercedes / Hyundai / Mitsubishi .

This includes "The All AMerican Jeep" .
Hitler would roll over in his grave laughing -
...........................if he had one .


If you have the space available to store AMCs' -
save all that you can . 

Even if you don't do the restoration , &
YOu'll Only make a couple of bucks 
later if / when you sell to someone who
will take the Time and Steps necessary
in a Restoration ,

for each one lost - they will never come again.

Peace!baby -circa1971 kojak .

Brien.

1981 EAGLEseries50 4X4	
"The Spirit of Gremlin"
Eagle Registry #501
New York
N.Y.
1


-------------------------------------------
A note from amc-lists very own John Mahoney - New York :
-------- ..

Finally, Chrysler will now use Daimler engines, transmissions,
suspensions,
axles, brakes, steering columns, seat frames and electronics; not to
mention
Daimler information systems for dealer service, sales logistics and
disbursement of pay. As will Mitsubishi. Most new fwd Chrysler products
will be developed with/by Hyundai which will also design, build or
license
most new Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Mitsubishi small engines. Daimler
staff
now heads both Mitsubishi Motors and the Chrysler Group. Daimler now
owns
37% of Mitsubishi and 10.5% of Hyundai. Daimler has cut over 26,000 jobs
in
North America and will ultimately close numerous US, Canadian and Mexican
plants. Daimler has recently returned Auburn Hills to profitability and
has
seen US market share increase to nearly 15%, but where is the Chrysler in
DaimlerChrysler? Where is the third component of America's Big-3? Same
place as the AMC in 1988 Jeep/Eagle division of Mopar? You decide. You
watch and see.

Were my 1998-up Chrysler comments here inappropriate to AMC historical
context or did they recall killings in Kenosha (American Motors, Hudson
and
more), slaughter in South Bend (Studebaker), death in Detroit (Packard)
and
bloodshed in Buffalo? You decide. Maybe both?

64 years ago last week (on May 13 - a Friday!), what had been America's
finest independent automaker was sold at public auction. Body dies for
scrap metal and kiln-dried hardwoods for kitchen chairs. Company
archives,
sales records and design drawings became pulp for newsprint or fodder for
what pre-landfill times simply called dumps. Pierce once was driven as
fine
conveyance; Ambassador once looked like fine Duesenberg; Rambler once
took
infinite families Cross Country and AMX once engendered fine chills and
thrills. Plymouth has sailed off already but others still dream of new
conquests: of once-again having luxury status, of selling Rams like F-150
trucks, of winning NASCAR trophies and of regaining 4WD cachet. Will
Daimler's Chrysler make more Mopar memories or slowly slip and slide?
Management will build what it chooses (or can afford to) but only the
retail
market will decide. As it did for Pierce and AMC.

Everything has a beginning; everything an end. From this:

http://bfn.org/preservationworks/bam/forest/pierce/pierce/source/2.html

to this:

http://www.autocollections.com/moreinfo.cfm?key=192

Via this:

http://www.hearse.com/images/to_file/p-a0001.jpg

to this:

http://bfn.org/preservationworks/bam/forest/pierce/pierce/source/23.html

RIP two (of so many) American independents: P-A and AMC.

As Memorial Day approaches, where are you going DaimlerChrysler, with
America's Mopar?

John <jmahoney@xxxx>