The Top 40

I had one and wish I still did. Bought it brand new in the summer of 1972 for $3495 cash. I was working in concrete construction so I had money to burn. It was a rarity, only a few made, a Gremlin X with the 401 engine and a detroit locker close ratio 4 spd., Hurst shifter of course, that I flipped out for the Hurst Ram Rod shifter. And, are you ready for this? It had a Levi interior. woo-hoo! Them copper buttons were murder in the florida sun. White with dark blue accents. Got into a lot of trouble with that vehicle, even went to jail twice because of it.

Few years later I dated a gurl with a Pacer, now that was a weerd ride. The car, not the gurl. She eventually dumped my ass and moved back to Calif. I cried for about 2 seconds then went out and got a new one. They kept getting better with each trade up. The cars and the gurlz. Same with the jobs and the gunz and the guitarz.

That should be in lime green...a thing of beauty.

Weeeellllll eff-you too, Gerard!

I guess you really don't know @#$% about cool, do you? You just thought you did.

Gremlins and Pacers ... the most overpowered POS' E.V.U.H!!!! You could get 'em with V8's. The subcompact with a 6.7L engine. That's like a Chevy 3500 series Pickup. You know, the one's pulling bulldozers and horse trailers down the interstate. Oh, yeah ... all of that in a 1980 "sub-compact."

Yeah, that's when America knew how to design a subcompact, even if it was as ugly as Chelsea Clinton.

Looks better than the current crop, most of which look like some hunch back rodent with a big, toothless mouth.

Mostly a piece of junk. Almost everything on it fell apart. EXCEPT the engine. Couldn't kill the thing. After I drove it into the ground my brother drove it for another couple of years. It wouldn't die. He sold it for some cash and it kept going a couple more years. Don't know what it was about that engine. I know that it went over 200,000 and that was a lot back then.

Larry - Unlike the Vega which was a pretty good build for the time, except for the engine which would overheat and warp the head if the coolant got 1 oz. low. I bought them dirt cheap with bad engines, rebuilt the engines to last, and put five kids through college and one through court reporter school driving Vegas. Must have owned eight or ten of them over a decade or so. Kids totaled three of them, and traded the rest in for better cars when they finished school and went to work.

It was supposed to look futuristic. A co-worker owned one. The electrical system truly was beset by Gremlins, and she paid twice to have it replaced. One day on the freeway it caught fire and burned up. She cried great tears of joy and relief (and because it was still insured).

Mine burned off a couple sets of Mickeys in the back and rounded over a couple sets of Tiger Paws in the front. I learned how to replace main bearings while laying on my back in the screamin hot sugar sand of southwest FL (30 thousands over please) and that no matter how much and yellin and cussin you do while holding that transmission up with your knees and your arms wrapped around that bell housing those clutch splines only line up properly if Sagitarius is aligned with mars. New Holley rebuild kit, new Caterpilar 7 point bolts in that ring gear, and a thousand other things....I got my moneys worth out of that car.

And the nights.

When that 1/2 mile between Jerry's drive-in and the only McDonalds in the county was littered bumper to bumper with every muscle car ever born. A constant stream rolling slowly back and forth and the sound was similar to a flight deck some where. George Odell's blue 66 goat with the 389 tri-power and a 3/4 cam, Poncho's bumble bee yellow 1970 Cougar Eliminator with the 429, Roger Hess and his red 70 chevelle SS and a blown, yes fully blown 454 w/ 2 fat Holley 1350's on top sounding like an F14 at take off. Nikki Swartz's orange 69 Camaro SS that said "Hooker Headers" across the rear spoiler, and on an on. My "X" fit right in there with Paranoid blowing out the 4 Jensen tri-axles and Patty Borden as my co-pilot. 97 octane was 33 cents and plenty to burn from the Shell 2 blocks away. Those 10" wide Mickey 14's were $29.95 so what the hell, light em up anytime you feel like it. The drinking age had dropped to 18 and a 6pak of anything cost $2, usually Mik in a bottle ($3) and warm was as good as cold because the warm smell of collita's and sens was everywhere ($90/qtr). 12 hour days and 12 hour nights and nothing in between. Wow!

Ghost,
That was a fun read. I don't go quite back as far as you, but in 1982 I had a '72 GTO that would pass anything but a gas pump. I wrestled with the Rochester spreadbore occasionally and once spent all day replacing the fly wheel. Grocery store beer could legally be bought at 18. Usually three guys could find enough change from their back seats to get the $2.89 required to buy and share a 12 pack of Schaefer's. America's oldest lager beer, since 1842, so the can says.

Always liked Gas Tires & Oil. BIG road animals, with giant trunks that could hold 4 people going into the drive-in movie and still have room for that full size spare, bumper jack, and cables.

He said Schaefer's. LOL Oh man, I've been there a few times. Pabst, Old Milk, etc., etc. The shit we do when we're young and dumb.

My 1970 Camaro was the first vehicle I ever owned that did NOT have "wing windows". Didn't have a *gutter* over the side windows either so when it rained you either dealt with fogged windows or a wet armrest or both. That shitty *Astro Ventilation* wasn't worth a dam unless you were going 80+mph. In SW FL all it did was blast you with hot air.