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Classic YouTube: Selling The AMC Gremlin Against The Volkswagen Beetle


Classic YouTube: Selling The AMC Gremlin Against The Volkswagen Beetle

By 1970, the competition for small, economical and cheap cars had finally become a pain in the ass of American automakers, one that was big enough to cause some discomfort. Japanese companies had started to creep into the market, but to the Big Four, there was one target, one that eclipsed everybody else without question: Volkswagen. The Beetle was the answer to a lot of buyer’s issues that involved cars being too long, too wide, and too thirsty. They were little runarounds that got the job done and didn’t need chrome everywhere, or the tons of additions that Detroit was slamming into cars to move them. Whereas Detroit had been running with the “long, low and wide” mentality for years, the Beetle was a cheap, frugal, basic little machine that just worked.

AMC had a reputation for building smaller, more economical vehicles themselves in the form of the Rambler American, but that car was not going to make it to 1970. Instead, the Hornet would come along and with it, the chop-back shape that today is an unmistakable figure, the AMC Gremlin. One of a wave of vehicles meant to compete with the Beetle, the Toyotas, and the Datsuns of the day, the Gremlin was only a shortened Hornet but you have to understand that AMC didn’t have the cash to do anything else…the company was always running on a shoestring budget.

This filmstrip from 1969 gives you a take on how AMC wanted to square-off against the Beetle, by being closely compared while seriously emphasizing the differences like the heavier weight and the six-cylinder engine. And if you listen closely, you’ll even get to hear the voice of the Gremlin itself as it makes a case for itself!


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