It’s a 426 (2nd gen) Hemi with a tunnel ram (don’t remember the details as it was used in multiple vehicles over time), it might even be a stroker, but don’t quote me on that…
Remember riding in not big hills in my buds 70’ era corolla, had to fllor it down hills to make it up the next one. Maybe it just needed a tuneup
The gremlin was a fine automobile, a classic long hood short deck design, from a thifty six to a ripping 340, it was all things to all people
Of these models, only the Pinto still existed when I started driving in the mid-1990s. Even to this day, I still see one on the road every now and then. In fact, I have a customer who owns two Pinto’s, a 2-door compact hatchback and a 2-door extended wheelbase wagon.
Even here in Arizona, where cars don’t rust, I haven’t seen a Vega which runs, though I did see one parked in front of a house, which obviously hadn’t moved in 20+ years. I have never seen any of these other models, even in junkyards.
Yeah, I wouldn’t buy anything with a non-sleeved aluminum engine block, and my preference would be to buy something with a cast iron engine block. The long-term durability is so much better with cast iron, and when it’s time to take the engine apart for repairs, a closed-deck cast iron block is a lot more forgiving.
Most other people don’t speak of the Gremlin so positively
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You guys are a hoot. I rented a gremlin once. All they had at ft. Hood. Drove it in the hot Texas sun and melted the side of my samsonite suitcase it got so hot from the back window. I remember it took us a while trying to figure out how to get the key out. Don’t remember what year, maybe 72 or 73. That’s what makes the world great though. Always someone that thinks they are cute.
Please show me the “short deck”. They basically took a sawzall to a Hornet, stuck in a tiny rear seat, called it ‘good’. It wasn’t.
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The Ford 5.0 has a spray in liner and much like the Vega they drink oil. That combined with the whiz bang 20 speed transmission or whatever it has makes it an unreliable pig.
The rear seat was actually an extra-cost option.
Such is the nature of true “classic” cars like the beautifully-styled Gremlin.
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Yes, they have a spray-in iron liner and no, not all of them drink oil. Mine doesn’t.
The 10 speed (not 20) seems to be a pretty good transmission based on my and friends experiences with them.
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304ci not 340ci, the 340 was the LA340 Mopar engine… Sun and moon difference…
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The sad part is that a dropin visitor to this Forum might think Old outdated Rick might know what he is talking about.
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Here’s another “classic” with a long hood and a short rear deck. Unfortunately, the owner decided to add modern technology to his classic. 
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I rode my bike past the neighbor down the street. Hudson parked on the front lawn and he was painting it black-with a brush. 
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I remember one of those brush-jobs also, but I don’t think that it was a Hudson.
When I was a kid, our neighbors decided to drive from NJ to Florida in their 6 year old Hudson. Altogether, there were 7 people in the car, but they made it to Florida–and almost all of the way back home–okay. On our hilly street, the manual trans self-destructed, a few feet from their home. The next week, they had a brand-new Chevy.
Cars used to be painted with a brush…
My great-grandfather, a professional painter, painted his black 51 Chevy with a brush every 3 years or so, with no brush marks!
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Vehicles with a long hood, short deck design have always been known to be classy, basically any vehicle where you sit right in front of the rear wheels is classy, Corvettes, monte carlos, eldorados, even jeeps are classy.
The old monte carlos had so much added on in front of the engine it necessitated a comically long fan shroud. That put more protection in front of the driver and made the car have a classy stance.
I have to admit that I’ve never driven a vehicle where one didn’t sit forward of the rear wheels. Can you point us toward any cars whose driver didn’t sit forward of the rear wheels? The only examples that I can find are vehicles that predate the era of the automobile.
