GREAT AMC weekend in Charlotte, NC & old Pikeville AMC dealership...

[Gremlingts@xxxx]

 Well, it was a super weekend for me and my buddy Tim who accompanied me 
on a mid-night to 7 AM all-morning drive from northern Virginia down to 
Charlotte NC area on Saturday to the big Autofair at the speedway. We got 
there about 8 am after a quick breakfast, and proceeded to ogle some show 
cars for an hour, had about 5 AMCs on the showfield , two Javelins, a 
Barcalona Matador, a Rebel Machine, and an AMX. After that, inspected some 
Tri-Chevies of 55-56-57 vintage, then we split and started looking for parts 
and stuff. I found on like the first rows I went down, two people who had 
Gremlins for sale! One a fallen-tree-damaged '72 with 6-cylinder, the other a 
'72 with 304 and a 4-speed, had front end damage from a collision with a 
tree. The 6-cylinder car the guy wanted $300 for it. The V-8 car, the old 
gentleman wanted $1,500 for it. I got the number of the V-8 Gremlin, the 
other guy is supposed to call me with details. Anyone interested, email me, I 
have too many Gremlins already!!! ( Eight IS enough! LOL ) 
After that, it was mucking around for 2 hours between 10 and 12 with rain 
falling, sometimes heavy. I found 6 volcano center caps, a 1-bbl Carter carb, 
and not much else before noon. One set of AMC Pacer-style full turbine 
hubcaps with center caps, guy wanted $75 for the set, I walked away. Didn't 
really like the style. Center caps weren't bad, the plastic hubcaps needed a 
repaint. 
Met my bud for lunchtime, then we split again, I hit another part of the 
field for 2 more hours, started REALLY buying then! :D Got some 1918 
Jeffery's truck ads from a REALLY old magazine for $4 each, two of them! Got 
two more volcano caps, a couple Desoto full-size hubcaps, some sets of VA 
license plates, then to cap it off, found a magazine dealer, she had hundreds 
of old mags, I got 18 of them with AMC content, INCLUDING some of the 
hard-to-find '71 issues of Super Stock racing with the Gremlin in it! I got 
TWO of those. Found a few magazines I'd never heard of, one had an article on 
the "new" Javelins. SHould be interesting week of reading coming up! 
I topped off with two AMC postcards from a discount box at another lit 
dealer, then headed back to meet my buddy Tim. We sat awhile, he went off 
while I rested, then we hit the racetrack to see the cars for sale while 
heading towards the exit. Saw several nice Ramblers there, including a rodded 
old '50's Rambler wagon, then we headed out and stayed overnight with some of 
Tim's relatives. 
In the morning, Tim and I drove up to visit an ORIGINAL and supposedly 
STILL OPERATIONAL AMC dealership in Pikeville, NC today. Along the way we saw 
a '72 or '73 Gremlin at an old Trailer park, green, on I-70 near Smithfield I 
think, looked to be in good shape. We also stopped at a flea market near 
Raleigh, and got some custom show " license plates " made, I had the AMC flag 
logo on mine, Tim had a black plate with a " Hornet" on it , both from books 
they had of different logos. We're ready for the show-car circuit now! ( uh, 
wait...mine still aren't good enough, and neither is Tim's Hornet...oh well! 
) 
We finally found the old AMC dealership on Rt. 117 ; it has probably over 
100 cars, over half are AMC's from Pacers, to Marlins to Gremlins to Matador 
coupes and sedans. ALL over the place. MANY Matadors and Ambassadors. It's on 
Rt. 117, east ,about 1 hour, of Raleigh, NC. Apparently the old man there 
bought the old inventory from Chrysler when the place shut down in '87, and 
has sold a "few" cars...I think I remember hearing he wants alot of bucks for 
them, though! He does have many cool ones - Red/White/Blue Javelin, '70 Ram 
Air Javelin, 390 '69 Javelin, etc. Only open Monday thru Friday, according to 
a local guy we flagged down to ask questions of . Just wild seeing all those 
AMC cars in an overgrown, weedy lot, but sad too, they're just going to 
waste. 
Tim and I left around 4 pm, made it back to my house by 8, it was about 
233 miles from Woodbridge, VA to Pikeville, NC. Not too bad! We may have to 
go back during the week, when this guy apparently has it open. It was a 
THRILL to see an actual former AMC dealership , even if the cars are 
degrading and decaying. Still an awesome sight! :) Not quite as good as the 
visit to Kenosha, but still an AMC " Mecca " in a small fashion. I'm bushed, 
but still happy as it was a great stress-reliever to see so many old cars, 
and old AMCs as well. 
Guess that's all, I'll be needing some rest before work tomorrow. AMC 
ya'll!

Jerry in Virginia