by cammerjeff » Fri Aug 15, 2014 9:23 am
No argument about the Gremlins I-6 being a more long lasting engine than either the Vega or Pinto I-4's, but all that heavy cast Iron up front, and the short wheel base made there handling terrible. I owned a 74 Gremlin X, 304 V-8, 4-speed, Non posi 3.5? rear gear, it would do dognuts for hours on dry pavement. It even had the Levi Interior option. Nice car, but I do not know if it handled better or worse than the 73 Ventura We stuck the 455 Pontiac in. And that Ventura was a bit of a death trap, I never wrecked it, but came close several times. And the poor kid I sold it to put it side ways into a tree the 2nd week he owned it! He was OK but the car was totaled.Even the steering was terrible on my Gremlin. I actually put its handling on par with a mid 70's 3/4 ton Pick up.
My Girlfriend at the time had a 79 Pinto Pony (the Model with the Trunk, not a hatch back) It handles better than my Pinto, the rack and pinion steering helped, but it was slow, economical transportation. It got 35+mpg with its automatic trans. But fun to drive, no way.
I will say that the Vega handles better, stops better than a Gremlin, on par with a Pinto, but the real differance to me is the driving position, if you put the Delux Interior in them, the seating position is the same as a Firebird or Camaro. Very comfortable to drive even long distances.
Now the original drive train is a different story, and the fact that they rust worse than the US competition, (but the same as the Japanese Imports of the day)
Jeff R
1971 Catalina Freeway Enforcer
77 Astre Formula, some day soon powered by a 215 Buick V-8
1973 4-speed Lemans Safari STOCK!!!!! 1978 Catalina Safari
2006 Mallet Solstice, 6.0 LS2, 6-speed manual
2009 Solstice Coupe, 2.4, 5-speed Manual