(By Greg Rourke) – Back in the wild and wooly muscle car days, Chevrolet had Nickey, Baldwin, Dana and others. Dodge had Grand Spaulding Dodge. And the AMC faithful had Randall AMC in Mesa, Arizona.
After the first two years of inline six banger Gremlins, the boys in Kenosha decided a 304 option was a good idea. The folks at Randall decided to go one better and drop in a 401. Since AMC V8s are externally identical the mill practically installed itself. The swaps were all done on factory 304 cars which had the correct crossmembers, as well as larger brakes and stiffer springs. Admission fee was only $2995 for the most basic Gremlin 401-XR, which was guaranteed to run high13’s. Or you could order one miuch wilder that would click off 12.4 in the quarter mile. Randall was already known as a performance dealer, so they knew what they were doing. Somehow only 21 401-XR Gremlins were built from 1972 through 1974.
So here we have an auction for what is claimed to be the 22nd car built. It seems some of the guys from the old dealership built one about four years ago, using a 1974 Gremmie as the base. Now…is this to be considered a real deal Randall 401-XR? Or a recreation, tribute, or clone? As an AMC fan, Gremlins in particular I’m not sure how I feel about this. Opinions please?
Want to own a 1974 Gremlin 401-XR? High 13-second dealer built hot rod! Bash the photos to see more –
I nearly bought one of these when I was in the Air Force. As I recall, the dealer would fly you to Phoenix to close the deal and pick it up. I coulda sorta afforded the down payment and monthlies, just couldn’t swing the trip from Mesa back to Kincheloe AFB, Michigan.
It was built by Mike Randall the originator of the XR
Continuation car
Sold at 26.5 k. Seems like a good deal for a car that likely will not lose any value. I have always liked them, and this one is a screamer
Zero knowledge of this car until today when my brother called me and I researched it. Cool factor is there and they should probably get a spiff for not using an LS motor on the re-creation.