LS-Swapped AMC Gremlin May Be Ugly, but It Sure Is Quick: Track Time Tuesday
The AMC Gremlin won’t land on anyone’s list of the most beautiful cars, but it’s lightweight, at least.
Throughout the course of automotive history, we’ve seen our fair share of hits and misses, but few have collectively caused enthusiasts (and car shoppers alike) to turn their nose up quite like the AMC Gremlin. Easily one of the ugliest cars ever produced by most people’s standards, the Gremlin was actually a pretty solid salesroom success, as AMC sold over 670,000 of them, but today, the tiny subcompact car isn’t a very common sight. That, plus the work that’s been done to this particular AMC Gremlin, makes it special for that very reason, even if it is a rather large eyesore.
As we can see in this video from YouTuber Drag Racing and Car Stuff, this rather short machine has ditched its original and very meager fuel-sipping powerplant for something a bit more appropriate – a turbocharged LS V8 of some origin, though sadly, the video doesn’t provide any details as to what that engine is, nor what’s been done to it. Regardless, the results speak for themselves across a series of drag races captured in the short clip.
First up, the Gremlin lines up against a Fox Body Ford Mustang, which it makes quick work of by running an 11.64-second pass at 121 mph versus the Mustang’s 13.48-second run at 103 mph. It then takes on a purple Dodge Dakota, which launches hard before stumbling and losing to the Gremlin, which runs an 11.28 at 124 mph versus the truck’s 15.57 at 85 mph.
Lining up against a fourth-gen Camaro SS gives the Gremlin a bit more competition, at least theoretically, but it whoops that silver coupe as well – not just once or twice, but three times, though it gets tree’d by a Firebird in between those slayings. Regardless, it’s pretty clear that with the right powerplant, the horrifically ugly yet lightweight AMC Gremlin is a true force to be reckoned with on the drag strip, and that makes it a suitable target for anyone looking to build such a machine.
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