The Blue Denim Gremlin – The Retroist

As a kid, I was fascinated by the cars in my neighborhood, especially the unusual ones. We had more than a few sports cars that turned heads, and plenty of high-end cars that owners would hand wash carefully. I admired them all, but what really caught my attention were older and what I thought of as unusual automobiles. A great example of this was parked down my street, an early 1970s AMC Gremlin. I was fascinated by its odd shape and by something that was less common in our area, a hatchback. At some point in the late eighties, that Gremlin was replaced by a Ford Taurus and our little part of the world was dimmer for it.

The Gremlin was made by American Motors Corporation, or AMC. This company got its start in 1954 after the merger of Nash and Hudson. AMC did its best to stay relevant in a world dominated by the Big Three automakers. How do you stand up to these Detroit powerhouses? You try to fill niches. That is why on April 1, 1970, they released the Gremlin, a subcompact car with an interesting body, based on the AMC AMX-GT concept car and built on a shortened version of their Hornet platform. This allowed for a mix of small car size and big car traits that people found compelling. Hatchbacks were already popular in Europe but were still seen as unusual in many parts of the United States, especially suburban neighborhoods like mine.

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They made the Gremlin until 1978 and built 671,475 of them. Eight years is not bad for a car, and it is not like it disappeared completely. In 1979, it was replaced by the AMC Spirit, which was essentially a restyled and updated version of the Gremlin built on the same platform.

I think this is all pretty interesting. Just using the name Gremlin, which was a small creature from folklore blamed for mechanical problems, made the vehicle bold enough to be remembered. Do not even get me started on the Gremlin mascot on the gas cap, which I would stare at on the car down the block every time I passed it. Those are both memorable details, but what I find most intriguing about this car happened in 1973, when AMC teamed up with Levi Strauss to release the Blue Denim Gremlin.

By the 1970s, blue jeans had become a staple of youth culture. Denim was the fashionable look that represented casual style and one of the biggest names in denim clothing was Levi Strauss. In 1969, Levi’s started to experiment with other uses for denim beyond their classic 501 jeans. A key part of those jeans was a red tab that said Levi’s on it. To separate their classic styles from new offerings, they began to introduce items with an orange tab. Jackets, new styles of pants, shirts, all now included this new orange marker. But what if you could push the Levi’s brand outside of clothing?

By 1973, Americans were familiar with trends and the appeal of novelty. Levi Strauss and its Orange Tab jeans seemed like a perfect match for AMC. The company was short on cash, but that made them more willing to try creative ways to sell cars. AMC faced ongoing financial struggles due to limited resources compared to the Big Three. That lack of funding often forced them to take risks others would not. They teamed up with Levi’s to offer a truly novel interior option: “seats of the pants.”

This offering, called the Levi’s Custom Interior, aimed to add fashion with a car industry twist. The seats and door trim looked like denim but were actually spun nylon cloth treated to resemble well-worn jeans. This allowed drivers to get the denim look with the added benefit of more durability and flame resistance. The design was led by AMC’s Vince Geraci, who spent time washing real denim from Levi’s to get the proper look. Once that was done, they worked to match the materials.

Extras included detachable map pockets, copper-colored rivets, signature orange stitching, and real Levi’s orange tabs on the seats just like the new jeans rolling off the shelves. The doors got denim panels and removable pockets. On the hood or fender, you could find a red Levi’s badge. That blue denim stood out in a sea of vinyl seats and earth-tone interiors that dominated the market. This interior was just the beginning. Additional trims followed the denim theme. Buyers could add 1971’s sporty X package, which brought bucket seats, bold striping, sport wheels, and a blackout grille to the denim interior.

I have always wondered about the rivets. You can see them on the seats in this image of the interior. In regions that high temperatures, did they get really hot? Did people burn themselves or were they made of a metal that didn’t overheat?

The base Gremlin’s list price was around $2,100, which is about $15,204 in 2025. The Levi’s interior added about $96. For under $100, buyers got a denim-styled cabin. Other options were already available on the Gremlin, including larger engines, automatic transmission, and the X package I mentioned, which cost about $300.

Feedback for the denim look was mixed. As you might guess, some auto reviewers saw it as a gimmick, but others embraced it. I fall into the group that asks, what is not to love? I like that every detail, from copper rivets to denim pockets, was deliberate. It made the interior feel hip, rugged, and casual. It stood out from the bland interiors of other similarly priced cars from that era. Choosing it made a statement about who you were. For a small upgrade, you got something unusual, less generic, and more individual. A fitting option for what would be called the Me Decade, a term coined in the 1970s, reflected a cultural shift toward self-expression and individuality, which the Levi’s Gremlin’s bold interior design fit perfectly.

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AMC offered the denim option from 1973 through the end of Gremlin production in 1978. It later extended to other models, including the Hornet, Pacer, AMX, and even Jeep CJ models in blue and tan denim. It is unclear how much the option contributed to sales, as AMC also made other improvements to the model in 1973 and had a good rating from Consumer Reports. Still, I imagine some of the car’s success that year came from the buzz around the Levi’s partnership. That year, sales went up nearly 30 percent and they sold 122,844 cars.

For AMC, the Levi’s interior did more than dress up a budget car. It reframed a compact hatchback as something with personality. It gave owners a reason to care and buyers a reason to pick an AMC over a Vega or Pinto. It showed that even struggling automakers like AMC could find ways to stand out by taking risks and helped secure the Gremlin’s place in automotive history. Despite jokes about Gremlins, the denim option added cultural value. These cars are rare today, but many collectors recognize their worth and they can bring a premium. A hatchback wrapped in blue jeans may have sounded strange, but it was embracing a symbol of individuality and creativity. It reminded people that cars could have personality, even on a tight budget, and it left a mark that collectors still appreciate today.