Autoblog http://www.autoblog.com Autoblog http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.autoblog.com/media/feedlogo.gif Autoblog http://www.autoblog.com en-us Copyright 2013 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[eBay Find of the Day: Hydrogen-powered 1972 AMC Gremlin by George Barris]]>http://www.autoblog.com/2010/05/27/ebay-find-of-the-day-hydrogen-powered-1972-amc-gremlin-by-georg/http://www.autoblog.com/2010/05/27/ebay-find-of-the-day-hydrogen-powered-1972-amc-gremlin-by-georg/http://www.autoblog.com/2010/05/27/ebay-find-of-the-day-hydrogen-powered-1972-amc-gremlin-by-georg/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

1972 hydrogen-powered AMC Gremlin - Click above for high-res image gallery

When one thinks of advanced technology, the AMC Gremlin rarely (if ever) pops to mind. In fact, these days, unless you happen to be watching re-runs of the first season of True Blood you likely wouldn't think of the Gremlin under any circumstances. Today's eBay Motors find is a very special hydrogen-powered Gremlin that we've never heard of before.

As the story goes, back in the early 1970s, 64 university teams built cars to compete in the Urban Vehicle Design Challenge, with this machine coming out of the labs at the University of California - Los Angeles. The Gremlin was donated to UCLA by American Motors and Ford provided a 351 Cleveland V8. The UCLA team worked with suppliers such as Hooker, Edelbrock, Union Carbide and none other than Kustom Kar King George Barris to get the supplies needed to convert the V8 to run on hydrogen and get the car competition ready. The Impco-provided hydrogen tanks in the back only gave the Gremlin a 68-mile range, but considering the lack of fuel injection and sophisticated electronics, that's not bad.

The wanton nostalgics among us aren't just drawn to the car's eccentric powertrain, but also to its period-appropriate mustard yellow paint, tire-tread bumpers, vintage Polyglas tires, and a couple of racing buckets that we'd like to mount on swivels and have in the Autoblog Living Room.

Incidentally, the Gremlin ultimately won the competition based on the fact that the steam emanating the from the tailpipe was cleaner than the air going into the carburetor. At this point, there are no bids on the car and it's not clear if it runs, but we'd stand we-hell back before firing it up for the first time.


Gallery: eBay find of the day: 1972 hydrogen AMC Gremlin


[Sources: eBay Motors, Wired]

eBay Find of the Day: Hydrogen-powered 1972 AMC Gremlin by George Barris originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 27 May 2010 18:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>351 cleveland351Clevelandamcamc gremlinAmcGremlinamerican motorsamerican motors corpAmericanMotorsAmericanMotorsCorpbarriseBayeBay auctionebay Find of the DayeBay MotorsEbayAuctionEbayFindOfTheDayEbayMotorsedelbrockford 351Ford351george barrisGeorgeBarrisgremlinhooker headersHookerHeadershydrogenhydrogen carhydrogen powerhydrogen poweredhydrogen powered amc gremlinHydrogenCarHydrogenPowerHydrogenPoweredHydrogenPoweredAmcGremlinimpcouclaunion carbideUnionCarbideurban vehicle design challengeUrbanVehicleDesignChallengeThu, 27 May 2010 18:29:00 EST http://www.autoblog.com/feed/19493694/article-comments.xml http://www.autoblog.com/feed/2010/05/27/ebay-find-of-the-day-hydrogen-powered-1972-amc-gremlin-by-georg/19493694/article-detail.xml 19493694 http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2010/05/frontleft-1274966425_thumbnail.jpg http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2010/05/frontleft-1274966425.jpg <![CDATA[Aftermarket auto parts now a $34B business in the US]]>http://www.autoblog.com/2006/06/09/aftermarket-auto-parts-now-a-34b-business-in-the-us/http://www.autoblog.com/2006/06/09/aftermarket-auto-parts-now-a-34b-business-in-the-us/http://www.autoblog.com/2006/06/09/aftermarket-auto-parts-now-a-34b-business-in-the-us/#commentsFiled under: ,

Showing yet another year of strong growth, the specialty-equipment aftermarket parts business grew by 9 percent in 2005 to end up at $34.3B. That's nearly double the size of the market ten years ago, and in each of those years, the auto aftermarket has grown at a faster rate than the US Gross Domestic Product.

As SEMA points out, the automotive aftermarket in the US now rivals book sales, the pet-care industry, and the coffee business, and is even larger than the global athletic-shoe market. Yeah, sure, everyone needs Starbucks and comfy shoes, but apparently there's just as much demand for mobile audio, nitrous systems, and big wheels.

[Source: SEMA]

Aftermarket auto parts now a $34B business in the US originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 09 Jun 2006 13:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>alpineclariondaytondubsedelbrockholleynitrous expressnitrous oxideNitrousOxidenosNXrockford fosgateFri, 09 Jun 2006 13:05:00 EST http://www.autoblog.com/feed/631177/article-comments.xml http://www.autoblog.com/feed/2006/06/09/aftermarket-auto-parts-now-a-34b-business-in-the-us/631177/article-detail.xml 631177 http://www.autoblog.com/media/2006/06/NOS_thumbnail.jpg http://www.autoblog.com/media/2006/06/NOS.jpg -1 2