AMC toy cars

faustmb

I found some unique AMC diecast cars today at a Walmart in Ontario. The brand is Motor Max "Fresh Cherries", they had 78 Pacers and 74 Gremlins in a variety of colors. The detail is better than average, Matchbox size, less than $2 each.



My dreams have come true, I finally own a Pacer;)



Matt

[Deleted User]

Even more fun is the "Fresh Cherries" Pacer R/C car!!!! Less than $20 at Walmart.

Also, there was a nice Johnny Lightning 1973 AMC Gremlin X diecast that I found at Walgreen's the other day. The detail on this is fantastic. Diecast collecting is twice as much fun now that I have a toddler. She gives me an excuse to buy two of each model - one for her and one for me!!

the other Matt

hudsontech

faustmb wrote:

I found some unique AMC diecast cars today at a Walmart in Ontario. The brand is Motor Max "Fresh Cherries", they had 78 Pacers and 74 Gremlins in a variety of colors. The detail is better than average, Matchbox size, less than $2 each.



My dreams have come true, I finally own a Pacer;)



Matt

I had a Pacer a long time back - in the early 80's. Think it was a 78 or 79, can't remember now. Bought it from a friend of mine - he developed throat cancer (never smoked in his life). I went over to his place one day and found him sitting in the car practically in tears. He had gotten so weak he couldn't close the door on the car. They were big - and heavy. Found him a nice '72 Hornet with low miles - he was able to get around ok in that for the last 2, 3 years of his life.

Pacer wasn't a bad little car - the one I had was the station wagon, so all that glass wasn't to bad on a hot sunny day - not like the hatchback sedans



Hudsonly.

Alex B

Unknown

Oh, no! Once was more than enough and now you say that Pacers and Gremlins back. :eek:

Unknown

Dave53-7C wrote:

Oh, no! Once was more than enough and now you say that Pacers and Gremlins back. :eek:

my thoughts exactly. I can honestly say, that this is one car that I have never gave a curious glance towards.



Dave, I raise your :eek: with another :eek:

Unknown

hudsonkid wrote:

my thoughts exactly. I can honestly say, that this is one car that I have never gave a curious glance towards.



Dave, I raise your :eek: with another :eek:

In defense of the AMC design staff, many people in the 70's were in a drug induced stupor and/or dazzled by disco balls. Maybe AMC knew this and thought they would appeal to that segment of the market. :rolleyes:



Hudsonkid,



I see you and raise you :eek: x 3

Unknown

Be nice guys! I have owned three Pacers over the years, two wagons and one coupe, along with a 54 Jet and a 49 Super Six Stepdown. Today I still own the 49 Super Six Sedan and a brite yellow 76 Pacer Coupe. Both are great fun and draw lots of attention at local car shows and show and shines.

Remember Hudsons and Pacers are family and both are mis-understood by many.



Fred

[Deleted User]

royer wrote:

Even more fun is the "Fresh Cherries" Pacer R/C car!!!! Less than $20 at Walmart.

Also, there was a nice Johnny Lightning 1973 AMC Gremlin X diecast that I found at Walgreen's the other day. The detail on this is fantastic. Diecast collecting is twice as much fun now that I have a toddler. She gives me an excuse to buy two of each model - one for her and one for me!!

the other Matt

I know exactly what you mean Matt! My boy will be 4 this coming Feb. and he already has more cars and truck toys then I ever had growing up. Most "Doc" toys I bought in two's, one for play and one to save. I buy him many of those $15-20 metal ones with the openng doors, hood, trunks, etc. and he knows most of the years and models by heart now. He knows "engine", "trunk", "door", "wheels", etc. They usually end up with a broken off side mirror or bumper (some are very fragile, though he does play very nice with them), but thats okay, since he already has a great love for cars (and trains too), but I don't care. Mama thinks I spend way too much money on these, but since I grew up very poor, I guess I tend to spoil him a bit! It also means he is learning to help Dad on the Hudson, if you ask him to pass you the screwdriver or pliers, he knows exactly what you want!

Aren't kids great!

Jay

Unknown

Fred Connors wrote:

Be nice guys! I have owned three Pacers over the years, two wagons and one coupe, along with a 54 Jet and a 49 Super Six Stepdown. Today I still own the 49 Super Six Sedan and a brite yellow 76 Pacer Coupe. Both are great fun and draw lots of attention at local car shows and show and shines.

Remember Hudsons and Pacers are family and both are mis-understood by many.



Fred

Oh, all right. I'm sure your Pacers were and are still fun little machines. However, I have no love in my heart for a company (AMC) that bamboozled Hudson and brought an end to Hudson and Nash, each which were once great marques.

[Deleted User]

Dave53-7C wrote:

Oh, all right. I'm sure your Pacers were and are still fun little machines. However, I have no love in my heart for a company (AMC) that bamboozled Hudson and brought an end to Hudson and Nash, each which were once great marques.

Do you feel AMC bamboozled Kaiser also?

Unknown

royer wrote:

Do you feel AMC bamboozled Kaiser also?

No I don't. Do you? Kaiser was not part of the merger with Nash. Kaiser did themselves in. Mr. Kaiser should have taken his own advise and did as he said "Slap a Buick nameplate on them and they'll sell like hotcakes."

[Deleted User]

AMC aquired Kaiser's US automotive and defense operations in 1970. Today there are still Jeeps and Hummers, but no Hudsons, Nashes, Ramblers, Studebakers, Packards, Plymouths or Oldsmobiles.

I'd say Kaiser got bamboozled more than Hudson.

[Deleted User]

Dave53-7C wrote:

Oh, all right. I'm sure your Pacers were and are still fun little machines. However, I have no love in my heart for a company (AMC) that bamboozled Hudson and brought an end to Hudson and Nash, each which were once great marques.

In case you didn't know, there was a Hudson guy at the wheel of the AMC ship during the Gremlin/Pacer years. Roy Chapin, Jr., Hudson employee since 1938 and son of you-know-who, was CEO from 1967 to 1978.

faustmb

I always thought a Gremlin X would be cool. A neighbor of mine had one when I was kid and I thought it was pretty nice. Supposedly pretty fast too, he outran my tricycle every time we raced:D



One time my dad considered buying a couple Pacers from another HET member. I remember hoping he changed his mind. Lucky for me he did. They were actually considered cool for about a year after Waynes World 1 came out, not bad for 30 years of existance.



Matt

Unknown

royer wrote:

AMC aquired Kaiser's US automotive and defense operations in 1970. Today there are still Jeeps and Hummers, but no Hudsons, Nashes, Ramblers, Studebakers, Packards, Plymouths or Oldsmobiles.



I'd say Kaiser got bamboozled more than Hudson.

Right, but that was 15 years after Kaiser went belly up in 1955. They had 10years in the American market and over 100 million dollars in losses.

Unknown

royer wrote:

In case you didn't know, there was a Hudson guy at the wheel of the AMC ship during the Gremlin/Pacer years. Roy Chapin, Jr., Hudson employee since 1938 and son of you-know-who, was CEO from 1967 to 1978.

Roy Chapin, Jr., was not part of the Hudson and Nash merger. So your point is?

[Deleted User]

Dave53-7C wrote:

Right, but that was 15 years after Kaiser went belly up in 1955. They had 10years in the American market and over 100 million dollars in losses.

Kaiser Motors never went belly up, they built Jeeps and defense contract stuff until AMC bought them in 1970.

Unknown

royer wrote:

Kaiser Motors never went belly up, they built Jeeps and defense contract stuff until AMC bought them in 1970.

Kaiser went under in 1955 and Jeeps were not called Kaisers.

54Hollywood

To try and clarify a couple of items...Kaiser Corporation bought out Willys-Overland around 1953 to get Jeep. Kaiser-Willys abandoned passenger car building in the U.S. around 1955 to concentrate on Jeeps and defense work. The name was changed to Kaiser-Jeep Corp. in the '60's. AMC bought Kaiser-Jeep in 1970 because Roy Chapin Jr. saw the future of four-wheel-drive vehicles.



The Gremlin was AMC's first sub-compact. Built on a shortened Hornet chassis with a 96" wheelbase, it debuted in 1970. Made a lot of sense and it came out before the Vega and Pinto.



Say what you want about the Pacer, and I'm not a big fan of it either, but it was new and radical in its design. Plus, in its first year, 1975, it sold like hotcakes...96,769. If only the Jet could have done so well....



Tim in WI.