Son of a Gremlin

We met the original owner who ordered this 1979 AMC Spirit DL from the factory! The AMC Spirit was largely a restyled Gremlin, which had been manufactured from 1970 through 1978. Engineering and equipment upgrades introduced on the 1978 Concord carried over to the subcompact Spirit.
Full episode of the Bellefonte Cruise in Pennsylvania coming soon!

[@The_R-n-I_Guy]

I love these old AMCs. It's a shame there aren't more left

[@heavyearly2232]

They seem very common on marketplace.

[@scottkessler9881]

I really like the looks of this car! And a 304 V8 and 4 speed to boot!

[@hansgruber1946]

I can't recall the last time I ever saw an AMC Spirit. I'm sure I had to at some point decades ago. What a cool car in immaculate condition. Love your videos! Keep 'em coming!

[@leegoddard2618]

WoW, rare car, in an even rarer state, mint from the factory. Weird piece of gold right there.

[@dukeallen432]

Nice clean design and great color. Good choice Dennis.

[@TheREALOC1972]

I love these old AMC's, My grand owned a Plymouth only Dealership from 1947 to 1987 when my Grandpa passed, from 78 through the early 80's they sold AMC's too, when Chrysler forced the dealerships to sell all three brands, Chrysler/Dodge/Plymouth they grandfathered certain older dealerships in where they could remain a 1 brand only dealership if they agreed to sell AMC's also and my grandparents and the Dodge only Dealership in the next town over jumped on that. My next door neighbors son is rebuilding a 81 Spirit for his first car that was originally sold at my grandparents dealership, I told him I still had a few of the vinyl dealership decals and when it done I would give him one of them as ling as he would put it on.

[@eddierools]

I recently bought myself a 1966 AMC Rambler Ambassador 990, so seeing you cover this Spirit really made my day! Hope to see you at a show one day if you ever come around the Detroit area Dennis! I hope you keep doing what you're doing for many years to come!

[@Rick-S-6063]

From 1979 through 1988 I drove a '66 Ambassador 880. That was one of the most comfortable and enjoyable cars I ever owned.

[@davemckee4907]

Great car and a great story!

[@johnglenf8611]

I live in the south and I remember seeing these growing up. Every one I saw was rusted out, and we don’t have salt on our roads. This car is definitely a unicorn.

[@bryduhbikeguy]

Sir ; Your car is Awesome ! When I saw the snapshot, I thought "Eagle". This is way beyond 'better'. All your options and Care make this beyond unique. Well Done !!

[@jimmagnus1200]

I had one of these. 4 cylinder, 5 speed. It was a great car and got great gas mileage.

[@82lube]

ABSOLUTLY BEAUTIFULL, brings back lots of memories.

[@lycancatt4248]

an absolutely beautiful timepiece wow!

[@ronhanna9329]

I had a '79 Spirit with the straight 6 in it with an automatic tyranny. Same color. Loved it, very economical and looked great. Hated when insurance wrote it off from an accident. Still miss it.

[@toddclark332]

Thanks Dennis have a great weekend everyone

[@morphman21]

Very sad TO HEAR that dennis is retiring next year after filming his final season. ☹️☹️☹️☹️😥😥😥😥😥

[@brianhumphrey6791]

He’s awesome

[@Hoosier_leclere]

Retiring from going to car shows 😂

[@danam0228]

Aww

[@dukeallen432]

@Hoosier: Hotels, airports, mediocre unhealthy food.

[@All2Meme]

We all have to retire and relax sometime. Dennis will be missed, though.

[@bennyboogenheimer4553]

WOW Doc! What a Beauty!!

[@FrankBullitt390]

Always liked the spirits, there use to be one at our track, black, no front bumper, SBC swap and ran 10's on motor

[@johndee5973]

The cool thing about having the 304. The 360/390/401 are the same size and an easy swap. But the 304 and four speed is pretty quick anyways. I had a 304 auto sportabout.

[@joeseeking3572]

There was a Spirit based AMX - stickered considerably higher than this D/L (even had it been spec'd with the GT package); but you still only got the 258 six and couldn't not better than this 304 4 speed. Certainly not the AMX of old.

[@Petequinn741]

Loved my eagle sedan ... little tanks

[@d.powers3428]

The little gremlin with the v8 was a blast to drive. It had 4 on the floor. Thet was one fun summer.

[@rebelbatdave5993]

BEAUTIFUL! THANKS!

[@kennethanway7979]

My mom had a 70 hornet sedan, then a 74 hatchback with a cool blue color! RIP mom!

[@louisbabycos106]

Looks very sporty even by todays standards.

[@csumme7]

I had a 79 AMC Spirit in light blue similar to that except it had the straight 6. The thing was like a Jeep and would go anywhere.

[@heavyearly2232]

I didn't realize a 304 WAS optional. How cool.

[@timsimmons2134]

I've owned 2 of these.2 best cars i ever owned.

[@mikeyurek9960]

I had one of those bought it from my mother in law great car iron duke in it standard trany ran forever

[@louislepage5111]

This thing is mint !!!!!!!!, not many left , saw at least a100 meet thier demise at the Pontiac Silverdome before the monster truck shows in Demolition Derby's. Then they were the weapon of choice for pizza delivery 😊.

[@philberto78]

Yes it's so funny how cars seem disposable but then years later when there aren't any left people miss them and are willing to pay big bucks to drive them again!

[@PaulLeMay3218]

My dad owned a AMC Hornet when we were kids. 👍🇨🇦 It was a rust bucket for sure.

[@StickCannon]

Amazing Spirit im jealous

[@hughjass1044]

Very nice!

[@cgatz4917]

I had a brown one with 3 speed on the floor, great little car!!

[@tertommy]

I hate new cars, even the humblest AMC was so cool.

[@ticnatz]

Interesting car indeed...

[@danam0228]

AMC was pretty bold to make cars with AWD. Always thought these were cool

[@davidcrawford219]

🎉

[@THROTTLEPOWER]

Nice!!!!

[@All2Meme]

My parents had an AMC Eagle SX/4, which was a 4WD based on the Spirit with an inline 6. The engine was pretty bulletproof (apart from some valve cover issues), but the CV joints were a bit fussy on the front end.

[@bigsarge2085]

😎

[@rickmiller1649]

My mom had a green 79 with a 232 straight 6 auto, cloth interior, deluxe hubcaps that looked like mags. It was that or a Chevette at the time because they were the same price. I told her to get the Spirit. It was okay but the tops of the front fenders were gone within five years and the six developed a blockage within the block limiting oil circulation. My sister bought an 81 with a 258 straight six and auto. It was a better car and had no rust at all after 10 years. It was a much better car.

[@thephranc]

They didnt rust terribly.... they were galvanized from the factory. Dipped half way up the pillars. The chassis is the same as all small body cars back of t he doors forward are all the same. Remove the headlights and the stampings are there to do single round lights.

[@frankjones4094]

"Chassis". I thought they were unibody?

[@thephranc]

@@frankjones4094 A unibody chassis, also known as a unibody frame, is a vehicle design where the body, floorboards, and structural elements are combined into a single unit, rather than two separate pieces.

[@HOGSIDESJTV14BOSSHOGRECORDS]

Some don't realize the bumpers are polished aluminum not chrome steel

[@shanepowers7566]

I had a Spirit GT.

[@danmar007]

It looks brand new. I wish I could get my Civic looking brand new, but it's an expensive proposition. Yes, I could get a brand new one, but mine doesn't have all the spying gadgets as standard equipment. And it's easier to wash and wax because of its pure lines. It's a 2005 coupe with only 52K km. 🙂

[@heavyearly2232]

More Hornet DNA than Gremlin. The Hornet gave and gave.

[@BubbaSmurft]

Of course. The Gremlin was a Hornet with the trunk chopped off.

[@jamesziegler2763]

Interesting

[@Acejustforalaugh]

I got the Sunroof, but I don't use it. I don't want it to wear out. 😂😂😂

[@csinalabama73]

my memories of my 1980 AMC Spirit are not so fond. The doors leaked and let rain in, something broke on it every week, it would frequently not start. I remember driving down the road one day and the cruise control box just fell out of the dash. It was a piece of poorly assembled junk.

[@1perveysage]

Drive the damn car for gods sake. We have an 1985 AMC eagle 4 wheel drive and we drive it all the time and it does great in the Wyoming winters.

[@FYMASMD]

MYOB!! His car. Not yours. Stfu.

[@johnforrester9120]

Oh no

[@MrCunningham4]

People like to point out things as when "the down fall of America" started. I think the real downfall can be marked with AMC started really struggling and finally went out of business. I think we really lost something meaningful when we lost the underdog.

[@MrTurboRotary]

Was this model also an AWD???

[@fallon55]

The AWD versions were sold as an Eagle. Same body, but different floor pan and frame pieces to allow for the transfer case and other stuff. This Spirit body was also available as an AMX, but by then it was mostly an option package. Very similar to the way this car was optioned.

[@MrTurboRotary]

@@fallon55 Thanks 👍🏼

[@frankjgornickjr3676]

You know this guy is mocking this guy and does not realize it! What is wrong with people today? I had a neighbor had the exact same one and they got over 200,000 mi on the vehicle! AMC was one of the best and they built the Jeep!

[@MyClassicCarTV]

Not sure who you are referring to, but this is an awesome car and a proud owner. AMC was also a great car company. So…🤔

[@OrbitalTrails-x5s]

Dennis, how's Jay leno doing? he doesn't look well.

[@kennethwise7108]

AMC = Almost Made Correctly

[@buzza9563]

Yea. Bodies were not made great. Looked good though. Their engines on the other hand are great. I had a 258 IL6 with over 300K. close to 30 mpg (1 BBL)

[@Rick-S-6063]

AMC = America's Mightiest Cars.

[@kennethwise7108]

​@@Rick-S-6063😂

[@Rick-S-6063]

@@kennethwise7108 Got to say that the three AMCs I owned were considerably more reliable and gave more owner satisfaction that those from the mainstream Big Three.

[@kennethwise7108]

@@Rick-S-6063 plenty of em still out there running 1/4 miles

[@brucemitchell5637]

A friend of mine used to be a salesman for the local AMC dealership and he said they were always known as a two year car. Meaning you buy it new and get rid of it after two years because it's a POS! 😂