Detroit Fights Back The AMC Gremlin 1970–1978 The AMC Gremlin is an American subcompact automobile introduced in 1970, manufactured and marketed in a single, two-door body style in America by American Motors Corporation (AMC) — as well as in Mexico (1974-1978) by AMC's Vehículos Automotores Mexicanos (VAM) subsidiary. The idea for the Gremlin began in 1966 when design chief at American Motors, Richard A. Teague, and stylist Bob Nixon discussed the possibility of a shortened version of AMC's comp