AMC Gremlin Transformed Into Old-school Menace with 426 Hemi Swap
Hot Rod’s David Freiburger takes the unloved AMC Gremlin and transforms it into one heck of a cool street machine.
In the annals of automotive history, the AMC Gremlin ranks near the bottom of everyone’s list of the coolest cars ever. The strange-looking economy car built in the 1970s actually sold in decent quantities, however, and managed to stick around from 1970-1978. Quite a few people have hot-rodded the odd-looking Gremlin over the years, a popular practice with any old lightweight compact car, but Hot Rod‘s David Freiburger took that concept to the next level with this 426 Hemi-swapped 1975 AMC Gremlin.
Affectionally dubbed the “Hemi Gremi,” Freiburger purchased this Gremlin some time ago. It’s taken quite a while to put this machine together, because, as one might imagine, stuffing a Hemi into such a small car isn’t an easy task. That process involved tossing an entire Sam Strube Model A drag racing chassis underneath the Gremlin, which helps make room for the big engine and sorts out all of the related front suspension geometry issues involved with such a swap.
Meanwhile, the straight front axle gives the old AMC a classic drag racer appearance and stance, though none of this was exactly easy. Aside from shortening the chassis, Freiburger and his buddies had to figure out how to mate it to the Gremlin’s unibody, which required a fair amount of channeling and lots of cutting. Regardless, the results were certainly worth it, because this thing is going to turn heads wherever it goes.
That’s especially true of the engine that powers this beast, which is a second-gen 426 Hemi Freiburger has had sitting around since the 1990s. It’s a rather mild build, however, with a small cam and heads that help it make around 530 horsepower, but that’s more than enough to evaporate the Gremlin’s rear tires on demand. It certainly can’t be missed when this thing is driving down the road either, thanks to that tunnel ram intake and dual carbs towering over the hood.
Freiburger built this car to be a reliable and fun machine, but he still plans on adding forced induction to the Hemi powerplant at some point. The goal here isn’t to reset any drag racing records, but rather, to have a car that attracts attention, cements a smile on your face, and can be driven anywhere without worry. And to us, that’s one heck of an appealing formula.
Photos: Hot Rod
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