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AMC Spirit Liftback

The AMC Spirit is a subcompact car sold by American Motors Corporation (AMC) from 1979 through 1983. Replacing the AMC Gremlin, the Spirit was available in two different body styles, both were two-door hatchbacks – but neither was marketed as such. Instead, AMC offered a restyled Gremlin either as a "Spirit Kammback" or "sedan", while an additional model with a more gently sloping rear was introduced as the "Spirit Liftback" or "coupe". Due to budget constraints, the Spirit shared the Gremlin's platform – its floorpan, powertrains, and many other parts were carried over.

 

As a restyled variant of the previous Gremlin, the Spirit featured distinctly larger rear quarter windows while retaining the instrument panel introduced on the 1978 Gremlin, with a wood grain overlay on DL and Limited models.

 

The standard engine on all models except the AMX was a 121 cu in (2.0 L) EA831 inline-four supplied by Audi. Optional were AMC's 232 cu in (3.8 L) and 258 cu in (4.2 L) inline-sixes (the latter standard on the AMX). The 304 cu in (5.0 L) AMC V8 engine was offered as an option only on the liftback.

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Uploaded on September 21, 2025