We enjoy talking about the RPM (real project in the making) Potential of the renderings we cover and we have to admit this Hellcat-ized AMC Gremlin is a tough one: an unbiased score should sit at 7/10, but it’s difficult not to get carried away and bump that number.
For starters, somebody has already placed a Hellcat V8 inside the engine bay of an AMC Gremlin. The project surfaced two years ago on Facebook (you’ll find a post by John G’s Mopar Page below) and while the car wasn’t complete back then, the underbody photo shows this is more than a dummy engine fitment—even without some updates, it looks like this is a properly-sorted build as far as the tech goes, with the vehicle being stripped before hitting the paint booth.
Nevertheless, the rendering we have here, which comes from graphic designer Jim (aka jlord8) also involves fitting the front end of a Dodge Challenger Hellcat to the Gremlin.
Now, thanks to the long hood of the AMC and the retro design of the contemporary Dodge, the mix looks like something we’d want in our garage, but such a mashup obviously requires serious work, not that it would keep daring builders at bay, as this Subaru-Evo real-world mélange demonstrates.
The Gremlin got close to muscle glory back in the day, but it never quite achieved it
There’s no denying the fact that American Motors Corporation’s Gremlin subcompact, which rivaled domestic models like the Ford Pinto and the Chevy Vega and imports such as the VW Beetle and the Toyota Corolla between 1970 and 1978, offered a compelling package. This mixed a standout design with a generous interior (for its class) and reliability.
However, despite AMC being an important actor on the muscle car scene back in the day, the fact that the Gremlin was mostly a Malaise era offering meant that its maker could allow the machine to enjoy serious firepower.
Sure, the AMX-GT concept that previewed the Gremlin was based on the Javelin pony car, but that changed, with the production model using the Hornet compact as a starting point. The automaker did fit the subcompact with a 304 cu in (5.0 L) V8 in 1972, but this only made 150 hp and while the company backed up an Arizona dealer in the latter’s effort to offer a 401 cu in (6.6 L) V8, only twenty street cars (plus a race model) were built.
However, thanks to their strong build, modding friendliness, and affordable nature, Gremlins were quite popular among racing drivers back in the day, especially when it came to drag racing. The said assets are not unlike those of the Fox Body Mustang so perhaps once EVs take over and die-hard aficionados start digging deeper into the classic portfolio, these AMCs will enjoy the kind of attention Gen III Mustangs get nowadays.
