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In 1972 Randall AMC of Mesa Arizona was already know as a
Performance AMC Dealer when they sought endorsement of a 401
Gremlin project from American Motors Corporation. AMC gave their
"unofficial" approval and shipped Randall AMC 30 complete 401
engines. This was the beginning of the "Baddest" Gremlin ever. The
Randall 401-XR Gremlin was born.
It was an idea that
was sure to happen with the introduction of the 304 V8 Gremlin in
1972. The external dimensions of the 304 are identical to the 401,
so that made the swap a breeze. Randall began with a 304 equipped
Gremlin as a basis for the 401-XR. The main reason is for the
heavier suspension and larger brakes, but the cross-member and motor
mounts being for a V8 made this almost too easy.
You could call Grant Randall or Mike
Randall at Randall American, place a order and pickup up your new
car in a couple of weeks. They offered many different options, from
basically a stock car with only the engine switch for $2995 to what
ever you could dream up. Options include but are not limited to, 4
speed, Automatic, Headers, Twin Grip Rear, Handling Package, Disc
Brakes, Cam Kits, High Rise Manifolds with the carburetor of your
choice. The rear end ratio could be ordered with anything from a
2.87:1 to a 5.58:1. You could get a completely new gauge package
which included a 160 mph speedometer.
Randall American promised a pure stock 401-XR Gremlin will run
13.90's at 103-106 mph all for $2995. If you decked your car with
all the performance goodies the numbers would improve to the 12.30's
at 114-117 mph.
Mike Randall has
provided some of the information and photos for this article. Mike
says they only built 20 of the cars for the street and 1 for the
strip. They were built in 1972, 1973 and in 1974. All of the cars
started out as 304 V8 cars.
Today Mike is in the boat business, but he still will build a AMC
engine with all the tricks he learned in his years of AMC
performance. He has just located one of the
original 401-XR Gremlins which he plans to restore. He would like to have
it complete and on display at the 2005 AMO Nationals which will be
held in Atlanta, GA.. Below you will find copies of two different
magazine articles on this car, take the time to read them, you will
find them very interesting.
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