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For 1977, the Gremlin
received its first major restyling. The front end of the car was shortened
by four inches with all new sheet metal, grille and bumper. The rear of the
car was also completely restyled with a new, larger glass hatch and enlarged
taillights. The gas filler cap was moved behind the rear license plate,
eliminating the exposed gas cap.
(The exposed gas caps, with their embossed Gremlin character, was a favorite
target of vandals. Back when Gremlins were a common sight on the roadways,
it seemed like every other one was missing its gas cap, which was generally
replaced with a rag stuffed into the filler neck!).
At the beginning of the year, Gremlins were limited to six-cylinder
motivation, including the standard 232 and an optional 258 with revised
valve timing and two-barrel carburetor. At mid-year, a 2.0 liter, 4-cylinder
engine designed by Porsche/Audi was made available. This engine featured an
overhead camshaft and an aluminum cross-flow head. Also optional was a new
Borg-Warner 4-speed manual transmission for both four- and six-cylinder
cars.
The "X" package received a
new striping treatment, where the side stripes appeared to split into two
upswept segments near the rear of the car. Gremlins equipped with the Custom
trim package gained side stripes that looked a lot like the old "hockey
stick" stripes on previous "X" models. |
