August 1972, Super Stock and Drag Illustrated AMC’s BIG THREE The Gremlin, Hornet, and Javelin represent the best-selling and most popular cars American Motors has ever produced. We picked up three loaded models to check on quality, size, and performance and we were surprised. by Jim McCraw WE THOUGHT IT APPROPRIATE to start our special issue coverage with a report on what’s happening with the standard 1972 AMC passenger cars that fall into the performance category. So we contacted the corporation’s offices in Detroit and set up a testing session to coincide with our visit to Wally Booth’s shop and his own testing session of his new racer at Milan Dragway. In seeking a representative cross-section of AMC cars, we asked for and got a Gremlin X 304 automatic, a Hornet X 360 automatic, and a Javelin AMX 401 4-speed. Three sizes, three price lines, three engines, and two different transmissions could then be tested and compared on the same day at the same drag strip. GREMLIN X 304 Our test Gremlin X was a honey, resplendent in white with blue side stripes and outfitted with everything but hot and cold running water. Big optional items were the "X" package itself, Torque Command automatic, air conditioning, manual sunroof, AM-FM radio, and the 304 V8 engine, but there was a lot more. The little car also had Twin-Grip, front power disc brakes, luggage rack, rear roof air deflector, tilt steering wheel, spoke-style wheels, visibility group, light group, bumper guards, locking gas cap, 070-14 RWL tires, bucket seats up front, and clear vinyl floor protection mats. But that’s not all. We still haven’t told you what's in the "X" package or the air conditioning group. The "X" package consists of the side stripe, painted grille, sports steering wheel, 14 x 6" wheels and the D70 tires, space-saver spare tire, outside decals, inside insulation package and custom bucket seat interior and interior trim. With air, the car gets tinted glass, power steering, and extra insulation and normally it would get larger tires if it didn't already have the D-series donuts on it. What started out as a $1999 economy runabout ended up with a sticker price of $3909. These options also pushed the weight of the car from a bare 2500 to almost 3150 pounds according to the AMA index of optional equipment weights. The 304 2-barrel engine in the test Gremlin is rated at 150 net hp at 4200 rpm, with 245 ft. lb. net torque at 2500 rpm. The somewhat beleaguered engine, stuck with propelling all of those accessories we mentioned, was teamed with the Torque Command transmission with ratios of 2.45, 1.45, and 1:1 and the optional 3.15:1 rear axle, which made it quiet and entirely tractable around town and on the highway, but not exactly a stump-puller on the drag strip, as we found out in the last phase of our testing. We must admit that it took over a year, but the Gremlin finally looks good to us visually. It’s short, boxy, and pretty wide for its length, but the styling is together and it has a flair of its own, especially when the car’s outfitted as ours was with the roof rack, deflector, and sunroof. From some angles, the roof looks cluttered and busy, from others, it’s just right. On skinny standard tires, it looks, like some of its minicar competition, kind of strange, but the D70-14 Goodyear Polyglass tires added bulk to the car’s appearance and surefoot- edness to its movements on the road. Inside, the dash layout is totally unlike any other other American car we’ve driven lately, with air conditioning outlets built into the full-width shelf across the bottom, the usual dials and gages in front of the driver in two pads, a massive center grouping of heater and radio control, and a glove-box atop an open parcel tray on the right. The carpets, seating, and mats in the test car were well put together and of a good grade material all around, and the sunroof installation was clean, tight, and very easy to operate. There’s not a whole lot of room on the inside of a Gremlin, but the sunroof, the rear window, and the generous use of glass gives the illusion of greater size from the driver's seat. It’s listed as a four-passenger car, but we never rode more than two up, and we found that the cargo area behind the rear seat is ideal for stashing suitcases and camera equipment, though they’re left out in plain sight. As it turned out, we had a perfect opportunity to put the Gremlin through its paces simply by driving from AMC headquarters to the drag strip at Milan, Michigan. In that relatively short stretch, we encountered stop-and-go driving, emergency braking situations, a traffic tie-up or two, and some unreal washboard sections on the approach road to the drag strip. The Gremlin liked them all. The engine was equipped with "engine mod" smog controls, but it was still plenty peppy and exhibited none of the bad habits normally associated with lean carburetion such as off-idle stumble and dieseling. The Chrysler Torque Command transmission was as smooth as a baby’s bottom, and at cruising speeds between 60 and 80 mph, the whole car was unusually quiet. It did have some extra insulation built in, but this class of car isn't supposed to be that quiet. A nice surprise. The suspension on the Gremlin consisted of independent, twin-ball-joint coil springs up front, and 46" by 2.5" leaf springs in the back, with rear axle torque links a mandatory addition for V8 Gremlins. For a 96" wheelbase car with very little overhang, the ride was surprisingly smooth and quiet. Only on the most severe sections did the suspension and tires transmit objectionable noise to the cockpit. The steering wheel size, the steering gear ratio, and the tires were all matched to the size and weight of the car, since it would turn on a dime with very little effort, while still affording good wheel feel, and a lack of wander on straight high-speed roads. At Milan Dragway, the car gave every evidence that it could be made into a pretty trick street bomb with the right selection of options and aftermarket pieces. After the car had been sitting for nearly an hour, we fired it up on the first of thirteen runs, and simply drove it through the quarter, shifting automatically and starting at a dead idle. We got a 17.33 at 78.60 mph. Next time out, we torgued it slightly and shifted manually, and lost on both ends, with a 17.43 at 77.65 mph. After another short cooling period, we turned the car over to Gordy Foust, head flogger for Wally Booth’s Gremlin, and to Booth himself, to see what they could ao by sheer driving and no tricks to the car itself. After a couple of familiarization runs, Gordy began a string of 16.90 runs right around 79 mph and scored a best shot of 16.86 at 79.78 mph. Booth did likewise after the car had had some cool water run through its engine, and ultimately recorded an identical 16.86 at a slower 79.50 mph. When we saw the car going 17.0’s early in the game, we made one modification: 45 psi pressure in the rear tires. That alone increased the tail-light car's bite and accounted for the 16.80’s. When we tried running minus air cleaner, the car laid down, so we put it back and it went right back to 16.90’s again. In conversations with Booth, Foust, Dave Tratechaud, and Dick Gostenik, the "Frantic Four" of AMC Pro Stock racing, we extrapolated the 3150-pound car's performance capability without things like air conditioning, power steering, and some other items. Bob Swain, AMC’s Manager of Performance Activities, who was also along . on the test and photography session, pointed out that the pure-race E/SA Gremlin that Wally drove at the Pomona race is now running 14.30’s on the 14.20 class minimum at 2750 pounds. It's blueprinted, it has a trick BQM trans setup, and carries the full complement of drag racing trickery, but it's a good indicator of what could be done on the street with a modified 304, 360, or even a 401 engine, the drop-in 4-speed, which isn’t factory available, and one of the radical AMC dealer installed rears. Even though it was loaded down with options and accessories, we felt that our test Gremlin’s 16.80-80 mph performance was quite good considering the engine’s size and output. -------------------------------- LEFT-The little 304 engine is rated at 150 net hp, and in the case of our test Gremlin, it was loaded down with air conditioning and other power-robbing accessories, and hitched to the AMC version of Chrysler’s Torquef lite, but it still managed to put the Gremlin into the high 16’s. BELOW LEFT-The 360 engine is rated at 175 net hp and was similarly equipped with accessories, ran slower without air cleaner. It’s the basis for AMC Pro Stock engines. LEFT-The biggest engine ever produced for AMC passenger cars is the 401, and it's got big valves, forged crank and rods, high-flowing ports, and the Ford Autolit 4300 air valve secondary carburetor. Though rated at a mere 255 net hp, the engine carried our 4-speed test AMX to easy 14-second times at over 95 mph. Though there are many AMC combinations for Stock and SS that look good on paper, the Javelin 401 has the most potential with the added bonus of being the best looking car in the lineup from AMC. ------------------------------- Interior of the Gremlin X 304 was the most spartan of the three, with twin gage pads, central radio and air contra/s, and lots of storage space on the shelf under the main panel. Seats were all-vinyl. Distinctive AMX interior featured a grey corduroy fabric combined with black vinyl on seats, the caved dash with its huge gage faces and toggles switches, and plenty of legroom for the shotgun rider. This car, too, was almost rattle-free. Hornet interior was of same basic style as the Gremlin, but there were more gages available to the driver and a whole lot more luxurious fabric on door panels and seats. The fabric and pattern used here was green and white, and the books listed it as "Scorpio". Comfort was superior. -------------------------------- HORNET X 360 Here is a car that's a whole lot more conventional than the boxy, three-door Gremlin, with a great deal more eye appeal to most people, and a higher line of trim and options than those available on the Gremmy. Our test vehicle was loaded almost as heavily as the Gremlin, though, and we’ll run down that list of goodies right away to set the tone of the car’s appeal for us. Base price for the Hornet SST 2-door sedan was $2285. Then the car had Hunter Green metallic paint (a dynamite color) with a contrasting gold "X" stripe at no charge. The super trick "Scorpio" upholstery on the individual-cushion front bench seats was almost $100 and well worth it. It's some of the nicest fabric we’ve seen used to upholster any recent car we’ve tested. And it went on from there including air conditioning, AM-FM radio, power disc brakes, power steering, tinted glass, insulation group, visibility group, opening rear windows, tilt steering wheel, light group, the "X" package, the 360 V8 engine, Twin-Grip rear, with 3.31:1 ratio, bumper guards, handling package, D78-14 tires, column-mount Torque Command transmission, and a few other miscellaneous items, bringing the sticker price to $3955.40. Yes, Virginia, it is possible to spend $4000 on an urban transportation grocery getter. But the important thing is that it’s not necessary in the case of the Hornet, since you can build a comfortable performer for a lot less. Of the three cars tested, we’d have to say that the Hornet caught our fancy the most. The paint scheme, upholstery design and quality, quiet operation, and drag strip performance all added up to a very pleasing car. To many enthusiasts, the body lines seem to be either undersated or oversimplified, or both, but we see the Hornet X as a car that was designed along the lines of a European sedan, with just enough stripes and bulges to appeal to the American compact buyer. It all hangs together very well. The interior got a lot of points from us, as we’ve said already. But in addition to being covered with some really neat materials, the seats were thick, well padded, and firm enough for long-ride comfort. The basic dash layout of the Hornet X is similar to the Gremlin’s but uses three around dials instead of two, with more complete information available, and a clock. From the Center to the extreme right, the panels are practically identical, including the low-mounted air conditioning outlet ports along the package tray. Everything worked, all of the controls were within easy reach with belts on, and, hosannah! there were no invisible dash rattles (with over 8000 miles on the odometer). With 12 inches longer wheelbase, 18 inches longer overall, and the combination of 56 cubic inches and 25 net horsepower over the Gremlin, the Hornet was quite a bit more car overall. Using the same basic suspension, brakes, and steering as the Gremlin V8, the car felt quieter, more solid, a little slower reacting to steering commands, and about equal in braking (we thrashed all three cars in brake tests at Milan one right after another with positive results and one incident of getting out of shape, in the Gremlin, after four hard panic stops). On the round trip between AMC headquarters and the drag strip, the three cars got involved in the same jams, rough roads, and unexpected maneuvers, and the Hornet did very well through ]he trouble spots. It tended to get a little more sideways on the washboard sections than did the other two, though we don’t know why (unless we were going faster through. them), and in stalled traffic, the temperature gage got close to the big "H" in a fairly short time, though it didn’t boil over. In cruising, with the radio and air conditioning dialed in for maximum driver pleasure, we felt pretty confident in a strange car; all it lacked at that point was enough headroom to make us feel really comfortable, and a little better grade of trim on the roof side pillars and headliner (the only evidence of low-grade materials we found on any of the cars was the Gremlin and Hornet interior roof trim, with neither car carrying color-matched materials in these areas). The 3.31 optional gear was letting the engine loaf along quietly, and the steering left just enough feel in the wheel to let the driver know who was in control. At Milan Dragway, the Hornet was second in line for acceleration testing, and we had pretty high expectations for it, seeing as how the Gremlin X 304 had already run a best of 16.86 at 79.78 mph with a lot less muscle available. The first run down the strip, with a cold engine, no tire-warming ceremonies, and fully automatic shifting, produced a 16.64 at 82.19 mph, two tenths and 3 mph better than the Gremlin. Shifting manually, by ear, at what we would judge as 5200 rpm, we picked up some, running 16.45 at 83.79 mph. We then turned the car over to the Wally Booth crew, and the times and speeds varied all over the map according to the driver and has own technique. Holding first and second too long netted Dick Gostenik at 17.03 at 78 mph. Dave Price, SS&DI’s photo editor, jumped right in behind Dick and ran a 16.53 at 82.72 mph, followed by a 16.68 at 83.48. Then Booth wrench Gordy Foust put us all to shame with a 16.17 run at 84.19 mph and backed it up with a 16.19 at 83.87 mph to score the two best runs of the day for the 360-engined Hornet. We tried removing the air cleaner element, then the whole thing, and bloating the tires, but we got negative results all around, running 16.40’s and worse at about 79 mph. Altogether, we put more than a dozen runs on the car, launched it about 40 times, and tried to burn the tires off it, and it took the abuse well, with only one cooling-down period during the whole process. At best, it was .70 seconds quicker and more than 4 mph faster than the Gremlin at a weight approaching 3300 pounds, with almost all of the extra-cost and extra-weight options, that the Gremlin had save roof rack, sun-roof, and air deflector. Here we were with a bone-stock Hornet 8000 miles old, almost getting into the 15’s in twelve tries with an automatic, 3.31 axle and no tricks to the engine, not to mention the extra weight we were hauling. A swap to the 4-barrel setup, a set of headers, a little more axle ratio, and the usual bag of bracket racers’ tricks should put the Hornet 360 into the low 15’s for a minimal cash outlay over the price of a well-equipped, but not loaded, car. When it comes to class racing, there is only one Hornet model that’s anywhere near competitive on paper, and that would be a 4-door 360 2-bbl., which breaks at 12.09 in the 12-pound D/S-D/SA class in NHRA's stock eliminator. But for brackets and the street, Hornet has a lot to offer for the money. JAVELIN AMX 401 Of the three cars we tested, the AMX was the least loaded, most comfortable, best looking, and most expensive besides being very quick and very fast. Our blue and white test car carried a base price of $3109, with the following extra-cost options: 4-speed manual transmission, corduroy-covered bucket seats, AM radio, power steering, console, light group, and, the most expensive single item, the 401 "Go" package, which includes the 255 hp 401 engine, dual exhausts, white hood T-stripe, blackout rear panel, rally instruments, fresh air through the cowl, handling package, heavy duty cooling system, Twin-Grip 3.91 rear, power disc brakes, E60-15 Polyglass RWL tires, styled steel wheels, and the same Space Saver spare that the other two cars had (none of the three was obviously overflowing with trunk space, and what little there was was augmented by the inclusion of the little tiny spare and its $7 air bottle). With all options included, the AMX price jumped up to $4109.90, making the AMX a solid price competitor in the luxury supercar class. The Javelin AMX has changed little since its major restyling job last year, and remains one of the sleekest designs AMC or anyone else has come up with for a production four- seater. It’s all built around a 110" wheelbase chassis, with an overall length of 192" and a loaded height of only 51". It's listed as a four-passenger car in the specs, but one glance at the rear compartment tells you that it’s better listed as a two-passenger car with extra room in the back seat for a miniature poodle, a small child, or small parcels, with the accent on small. But up front there’s plenty of room for the biggest driver or passenger, especially since the unique AMX instrument layout wraps around the driver and leaves the passenger with tons of room to stretch out. Our blue and white test car was upholstered in a soft grey wide-wale corduroy-like material on its buckets and benches, a material the like of which we’ve never seen installed in a production car before. Like the Hornet, the Javelin had a very soft, easy to look at, and comfortable interior up front, the corduroy being combined with flat-grain vinyl on all seats and molded door, side, and kick panels. The panoramic instrument layout, replete with engine-turned aluminum facings, remains one of the very best, most complete packages available anywhere in a stocker, with nothing left to idiot lights, huge numerals on the speedo, tach, and clock, and a selection of vertical toggles for lights, wipers and other items, while the radio and heater controls on the right are turned toward the driver and within easy reach. All the passenger gets to see are two glovebox and ash tray doors on the outside right wall of the panel, and that has its good points, too. -------------------------------------- ABOVE-Hornet 360 could well be a real street bomb if our test clockings are any indication of potential. RIGHT-Family portrait imparts an idea of the three sizes, price lines, and styles available in young people's cars. ABOVE RIGHT-The one drawback that affected all three cars was lack of trunk space. There’s a special esprit de corps among AMC factory personnel that amounts to pride in product, and fortunately it shows up in the cars themselves. -------------------------------------- We must admit,that we were spoiled by the two smaller cars involved in our test. Both were automatics, and both had air conditioning, but the AMX had the more difficult 4- speed and 4-65 cooling (four windows down, 65 mph). The transmission in the car was the Borg-Warner T-10 with 2.23, 1.77, 1.35, and 1:1 gearing, actuated by an OEM-style Hurst shifter that could have been a lot smoother. We got re-acquainted with 4-speed driving in short order after having flogged the other two cars, and found that the combination of the 401 engine, the trans, and the 3.91 Twin-Grip rear, lowest ratio of the lot, made heavy traffic situations a lot more bearable, since there was plenty of torque in either first or second gear to let the car crawl smoothly without shuddering or stalling. These same factors made the car noisier on the highway at cruising speeds because the engine was running at higher rpm through dual exhausts and 2" tailpipes, but we’ve been in many louder cars. Naturally, the 401, rated at 255 net horsepower, made passing and cruising easier than the two smaller engines, but it was thirsty and more temperamental in off-idle and low-speed situations. And, of the three, the AMX had the best combination of spring rates, suspension equipment and tires, enough so that it would run away and hide from the little guys on a ride and handling course, keeping more of its tire contact pattern on the ground more of the time through rough sections of the road, and able to absorb quick changes in direction without a wobble. The price you pay for the better high speed handling is more low speed chop, and quite a bit more noise and harshness transmission through the body and the steering wheel, even going over tar strips in the roadway. We could tell you an amusing story about an American Motors employee who got the AMX off the Milan strip, into the dirt, wet grass, and mud, and spun out with nary a problem or scary moment, to demonstrate the car's handling ability, but we won't. And, speaking of Milan, we come to the best and most surprising part of the AMX test. With two cars down and one to go, we looked at previous results and figured the hydraulic lifter 401, with its Ford Autolite 4-barrel, for low-to-middle 15’s at 90-91 mph. We were told beforehand that the lifters get a little tired at about 4800 rpm and won’t have any of engine speeds over 5500, so that we were restricted to shifting right at 5000 rpm to keep things together and performing properly. We knew that the four-speed, the E-series tires, and the soft B&B 12-spring clutch were going to present problems of consistency, and we knew that 5000 r’s was the practical limit, so we staged light and eased her out, shifting conservatively but deliberately at 5000. We spun the AMX around, returned to the tower area at Milan Dragway, and learned that we had run a 15.15 at 94.43. We tried a couple more passes and each time it got worse, since we missed the 1-2 shift and then the 2-3, so we let Gordy Foust have the car for the rest of the day (he’d turned in the best times with the other two cars, so why not?). Gordy registered a 15.05 at 95.10 mph and then got serious, shifting like a pro and turning a whole series of 14.90’s, then 14.80’s at 95.40 mph, before shutting the car down for a cooling period. About half an hour later, with a fresh batch of Michigan spring water in its radiator, the car was ready and Gordy gave it all he had, running three 14.70’s in a row and speeds of 95.5 mph, with the last run of the day a 14.68 at 95.24. If you have any doubt about the AMX's performance capability stacked up against some other so-called supercars, go back and read the tests in this and other magazines, and you’ll be as surprised as we were. The only complaint we had was the combination of clutch and shifter getting in the way of consistent launching and shifting. The Javelin AMX 401 as tested came in at about 3550 lb. and would break two ways for NHRA Stock competition. As a plain Javelin SST, the car breaks at 10.07 in the 10-pound B/S-B/SA class, but as an AMX it goes down deeper, breaking at 10.17. The current minimum record for the class is 12.80, and since our car ran easy 14.60’s at over 95 mph, we wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it for that particular racing application. In Super Stock, the same car would fall into SS/I or SS/IA, where the records are middle 11’s and many cars are running below, but even here an adventurous builder might have some success on a local racing level. As for street and bracket action, the Javelin has the most powerful, best-built engine of any car in the AMC line, with lots of forged pieces and a good overall combination to work with, so that additional items like tires, headers, gearing, and ignition should put the car solidly into the low 13’s. There, in a few thousand words, are our impressions of the three big guns from AMC for 1972, with facts, figures, prices, dimensions all gleaned from an admittedly short one-day test period. They are all solidly built, quiet, relatively fast cars, and all three are high- priced versions of the basic type. Certainly there are places in each where higher quality materials might have been used; there is a lot of plastic in almost any American cars these days, and there is possibly too much used in AMC cars. But be assured that quality control in these cars is at an all-time high. American Motors' new guarantee policy of fixing anything that goes wrong with the car could kill all of the dealers and the corporation itself if the cars weren't up to snuff, so they made sure this year that the cars are ready.