Competition
The AMC Gremlin saw action on numerous auto racing venues, including endurance, as well as oval and road racing. Due to their inherent inexpensiveness, strength, and the ease with which they could be modified for higher performance, many AMC Gremlins were used in drag racing.
During the 1970s road courses such as the Virginia International Raceway, a challenging course with many turns, straightaways, as well as over 100 feet of elevation change, hosted numerous racing events with smaller American cars, such as the Ford Pinto and AMC Gremlin, became the norm on the track.
Lenny Podbielski was "a major player in late 1970s Speedbowl action" and the Gremlin-bodied machines he raced were "some of the prettiest cars of the era."
Heading AMC's Pro Stock drag racing efforts starting in 1970 was Wally Booth. He and other drivers campaigned Gremlins painted in the hash red, white, and blue pattern that AMC had adopted as its corporate race livery. Dick Arons built the engines. The team "transformed the brand’s staid grocery-getter reputation from the ground up into that of a genuine performance powerhouse." Wally Booth "was one of the Edelbrock crew's favorite racers."
Three factory Pro-Stock 1972 Gremlin drag racers were campaigned around the nation. One was driven by Rich LaMont and sponsored by radio station 99 WIBG in Philadelphia, PA. This car has been restored with a 401 cu in (6.6 L) AMC V8 with 4-speed manual transmission and it still runs the quarter-mile at around 8.75 seconds achieving over 150 mph (240 km/h).
At the 2006 World Power Wheelstanding Championships (not a race, but a "wheelie" contest), Brian Ambrosini's specially modified 1974 Gremlin took second place.
Read more about this topic: AMC Gremlin
Famous quotes containing the word competition:
“The praise of ancient authors proceeds not from the reverence of the dead, but from the competition and mutual envy of the living.”
—Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679)
“So long as the system of competition in the production and exchange of the means of life goes on, the degradation of the arts will go on; and if that system is to last for ever, then art is doomed, and will surely die; that is to say, civilization will die.”
—William Morris (1834–1896)
“Mothers seem to be in subtle competition with teachers. There is always an underlying fear that teachers will do a better job than they have done with their child.... But mostly mothers feel that their areas of competence are very much similar to those of the teacher. In fact they feel they know their child better than anyone else and that the teacher doesn’t possess any special field of authority or expertise.”
—Sara Lawrence Lightfoot (20th century)