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Old 10-16-2018, 07:35 AM   #1
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Remember the Gremlin?

This one reminded me of the Gremlin. A Hornet with the butt cut off.
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Old 10-16-2018, 07:44 AM   #2
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At 1,500 lb tow and 170 lb tongue, totally empty, it puts you right at the limit of a Subaru Forester. Given the floor plan, curved nose and rooftop A/C, I'm not sure where they measured the 6' 4" interior height. Wait, it's A/C/ "ready" so that is probably 6' 4" without bumping your head on the A/C.
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Old 10-16-2018, 08:08 AM   #3
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Hi: wetzk... "Gremlins"... even with the cut off look they were the "Butt" of a lot of jokes.
Here's another Canadian Mfg. trailer. Taylor Coach - Welcome The 8'er looks like a phone booth on wheels!!! Alf
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Old 10-16-2018, 08:15 AM   #4
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.... Here's another Canadian Mfg. trailer. Taylor Coach - Welcome The 8'er looks like a phone booth on wheels!!! Alf
And they say it sleeps 4! They must be standing while sleeping!
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Old 10-16-2018, 01:50 PM   #5
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I first drove in a 1973 AMC Gremlin. A strange thing, and largely a pile of junk, but at least it didn't rust as badly as most cars of its time. With the back cut off it lost the spare tire space, so the spare just sat in the cargo space like luggage.

The trailer is an example of a design which seems to be driven entirely by weight and cost minimization, without a reasonable balance of other attributes. A longer trailer of the same width and height and with the same equipment inside would have lower aero drag and much more usable space, without enough extra weight to be a problem for most tow vehicles.

It is about the same length and height as an Escape 13', but the sloped-front shape makes the proportions look worse.
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Old 10-16-2018, 02:07 PM   #6
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It is about the same length and height as an Escape 13', but the sloped-front shape makes the proportions look worse.

It's pointy at the wrong end to reduce drag.
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Old 10-16-2018, 02:25 PM   #7
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It's pointy at the wrong end to reduce drag.
I think it's probably rounded at the correct end. If you think a tapering tail would be good for drag you're right, but the tail would need to be much longer to be effective. Airflow would not be able to follow this shape going backwards so it would have extremely high drag; going forward air flow must break away at the back, a design called a Kamm tail. This is why teardrop trailers look good for drag, but don't work well, and why trailers that are rounded over on both ends are just wrong (aerodynamically).

For instance, a half-sphere with the round side facing forward and a flat back has a drag coefficient (CD) of only 0.42, but turn it around to have a flat front and rounded back and the CD goes way up to 1.17 (almost as bad as a flat plate). That's why a traditional anemometer spins in the wind.

Another example would be a (subsonic) bullet: they're rounded in front and flat on the back, and certainly have less drag when pointing the right way.
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Old 10-16-2018, 02:39 PM   #8
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I have lots more popcorn.
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Old 10-16-2018, 03:42 PM   #9
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Hey! my mother drove a Gremlin for many years. Talking about AMC, there is an AMC Eagle 4WD running around town here that is in excellent shape. I'm wondering if the Eagle was ahead of it's time and wonder if it could be considered the first SUV of the day.
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Old 10-16-2018, 09:17 PM   #10
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... I'm wondering if the Eagle was ahead of it's time and wonder if it could be considered the first SUV of the day.
Or just another station wagon of the day. When we bought a new Toyota 4Runner back in 1988, the Alabama Department of Motor Vehicles didn't even list "SUV" as a vehicle type yet. It had a body on frame construction, so they decided to call it a truck on our registration and licensing paperwork. My how things have changed....
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Old 10-16-2018, 09:25 PM   #11
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Back in the mid-1970's, my cousin's best friend and maid of honor at her wedding drove a metal-flake dark purple 1970 Javelin. She and her purple Javelin were both real head-turners!
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Old 10-16-2018, 09:27 PM   #12
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I'm wondering if the Eagle was ahead of it's time and wonder if it could be considered the first SUV of the day.
Well, AMC owned Jeep for a while, so they had a source for 4WD tech.
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Old 10-16-2018, 10:57 PM   #13
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1949 was the first year Willy’s Jeep put 4 wheel drive into their wagon. It could seat 6 people with the optional single rear jump seat and the front passenger seat could fold and tumble to allow people into the rear seat. There were very few 4 wheel drive vehicles in the day and nothing like it that could seat 6. I would consider this to be one of the first SUVs.
I guess it has a chopped rear end as well. We just accept it more on wagons than cars.
Here is a picture of my 49.
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Old 10-16-2018, 11:53 PM   #14
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Talking about AMC, there is an AMC Eagle 4WD running around town here that is in excellent shape. I'm wondering if the Eagle was ahead of it's time and wonder if it could be considered the first SUV of the day.
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Or just another station wagon of the day. When we bought a new Toyota 4Runner back in 1988, the Alabama Department of Motor Vehicles didn't even list "SUV" as a vehicle type yet. It had a body on frame construction...
Now, a 4Runner is a "traditional" SUV, and most SUVs are much like the Eagle in shape and construction (unibody). The Eagle wasn't the first SUV, but I do think it was well ahead of its time.

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Well, AMC owned Jeep for a while, so they had a source for 4WD tech.
With a centre differential controlled by a viscous coupling, the Eagle's AWD system (the transfer case) was ahead of the traditional 4WD system of the Jeep products. It was built by New Process - as were all of the Jeep transfer cases and transfer cases for Dodge, GM, and Ford - but Jeep experience apparently wasn't sufficient for this and AMC went to Ferguson (best known among auto enthusiasts for its contribution to the Jensen FF many years earlier) for development expertise specific to the Eagle. The actual transfer case design was essentially the same as used by full-time 4WD capable units used by all of the manufacturers supplied by New Process.
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Old 10-17-2018, 12:15 AM   #15
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Back to the Gremlin...

The Gremlin has always been described as a "chopped off" Hornet, and it is the same body as the Hornet ahead of the rear seat, but there have been lots of hatchbacks similarly related to sedans. A Golf and Jetta were (for generations) identical ahead of the rear axle, and even had the same wheelbase - usually that was described as the Jetta being a Golf with an added trunk. The Gremlin is actually less Hornet-like than usual for these hatchback/sedan pairs, because the Gremlin is substantially shorter in wheelbase. It's the one-slope rear end that makes it look "cut off", but it is not simply a cut-off Hornet.

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Talking about AMC, there is an AMC Eagle 4WD running around town here that is in excellent shape.
The regular Eagle was based on (had the same body as) the Concorde; there was also an Eagle SX/4, which had the Spirit body. The Spirit was the restyled update of the Gremlin, losing the "chopped" off look that inspired this discussion, although with the same wheelbase and length. The Spirit was probably even less functional than the Gremlin, due to the fastback shape.
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Old 10-17-2018, 06:01 AM   #16
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1949 was the first year Willy’s Jeep put 4 wheel drive into their wagon. It could seat 6 people with the optional single rear jump seat and the front passenger seat could fold and tumble to allow people into the rear seat. There were very few 4 wheel drive vehicles in the day and nothing like it that could seat 6. I would consider this to be one of the first SUVs.
I guess it has a chopped rear end as well. We just accept it more on wagons than cars.
Here is a picture of my 49.
Wow....that's a show piece.
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Old 10-17-2018, 07:32 AM   #17
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Originally Posted by Eggscape View Post
1949 was the first year Willy’s Jeep put 4 wheel drive into their wagon. It could seat 6 people with the optional single rear jump seat and the front passenger seat could fold and tumble to allow people into the rear seat. There were very few 4 wheel drive vehicles in the day and nothing like it that could seat 6. I would consider this to be one of the first SUVs.
I guess it has a chopped rear end as well. We just accept it more on wagons than cars.
Here is a picture of my 49.
Beautiful! Thanks for sharing. I'm guessing from its looks that it hasn't gone on too many off-road, deep-woods moose hunting excursions.
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Old 10-17-2018, 07:40 AM   #18
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Hi: Eggscape... Nice shot!!! 49er's are some of the best around. Now you can dust her off and put her away...Thanks for the peek! Alf
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Old 10-17-2018, 08:10 AM   #19
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Originally Posted by Eggscape View Post
1949 was the first year Willy’s Jeep put 4 wheel drive into their wagon. It could seat 6 people with the optional single rear jump seat and the front passenger seat could fold and tumble to allow people into the rear seat. There were very few 4 wheel drive vehicles in the day and nothing like it that could seat 6. I would consider this to be one of the first SUVs.
I guess it has a chopped rear end as well. We just accept it more on wagons than cars.
Here is a picture of my 49.
I would consider it part tractor and part SUV. A buddy had one which was not a very nice ride, but man that thing could crawl over just about anything at a low speed. Nice looking Willy's there, Ed.
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Old 10-17-2018, 10:31 AM   #20
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Hi: All... Seems we have a "Gremlin" on the forum!!! Alf
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