AMC Spirit

The new AMC Spirit was largely a restyled Gremlin that had been manufactured from 1970 to 1978.
  The suspension system was revised with "soft-ride" mountings for the coil springs over A-arms in the front and the rear live-axle with leaf springs to improve ride and handling. Attention was also focused on sound-deadening, corrosion protection, and other engineering features included among others, lightweight aluminum bumpers, lock-up automatic transmission converter, and higher-compression six-cylinder camshaft and pistons for economy, performance, and emissions. The body received new styling and a liftback model was added to the previous two-door sedan. Richard A. Teague’s "more-conventional" design of the new liftback coupe “had a particularly graceful superstructure for such a short car”.A road test by Popular Science described the transition as AMC having the "cleverest engineers in Detroit" cementing their reputation of "getting $200 worth of looks for $100"



Engine

•  122 cu in (2.0 L) Audi/VW EA827 I4
• 151 cu in (2.5 L) GM Iron Duke I4
• 232 cu in (3.8 L) I6
• 258 cu in (4.2 L) I6
• 282 cu in (4.6 L) I6 (Mexico)
• 304 cu in (5.0 L) V8

Building on the AMC Gremlin's ease with which they could be modified for higher street performance, as well as their inherent inexpensiveness and strength, AMC Spirits were used in drag racing. According to Hot Rod magazine, "these little cars are very cool, and while they're not traditional muscle cars, they're plenty strong in terms of performance."

Using mostly AMC hardware, the AMC Spirit can perform exceptionally well as a street car and in multiple racing arenas (including quarter-mile e.t. of 12.8 at 110 mph (180 km/h)), with the finished vehicle costing only about $10,000.[24] Some Spirits have been fitted with 360 cu in (5.9 L) AMC V8 engines and run the quarter-mile drag strip on an 11.88 dial. AMC Spirits in the Factory Street class have run e.t. of 10.62 at 126.27 mph.

AMC Spirits have also been heavily modified for pro class drag racing.