The seller of today’s AMC Spirit says he’s putting it on the market because his wife thinks it’s U.G.L.Y.. Aesthetically challenged or not, we still need to take a look at this rare ‘70s muscle car’s price.

Yesterday’s is part of a unique cadre of vehicles named after forces of nature. Others include the Mercury Cyclone, Ford Lightning, and the little known 1955 Hudson Jane Mansfield’s Rack.

That Avalanche wasn’t much of a force when it came to its asking price, and it fell in a solid 80% Crack Pipe loss. That was despite rocking a versatile back door and an engine with more cubes than a Rubik’s factory. Que sera, sera.

Hey, did you know that the ‘70s song Spirit in the Sky, which contains the lyric “gotta’ have a friend in Jesus” was written and performed by a guy named Norman Greenbaum, who is Jewish? It’s true!

Another kind of Spirit is today’s , and that’s one that’s emblematic of the ghost of Gremlins past. AMC had a penchant for working with what they had, and so the Spirit, which was introduced in 1979, traced its roots back to the Gremlin, which itself was a derivation of the Hornet, first released in 1969.

The Spirit was hella better looking than the Gremlin, and had better sight lines to boot, owing to AMC finally discovering something called windows. The Spirit came in two flavors too, a sedan which was basically a Gremlin with its side glass pulled back a few inches, and the sportier lift back, which is what we have here.

This Spirit is also an example of the resurrected AMX nameplate, here applied as a trim package and not as a stand-alone model. The previous year that package had been used on the larger Concord hatch.

The AMX package added unique graphics - including a hood decal that looked like the world’s most expressive tramp stamp, spoilers front and back, Turbocast alloy wheels, and a set of fiberglass wheel arch extensions.

It also brought the option of a 304-cid V8 (1979-only) which could be mated to a 4-speed manual to make the most of its - now don’t laugh - 125 bhp. hey, I said don’t laugh!

This one is said to benefit from an aftermarket cam and intake, as well as a promotion to 4 barrels from the factory 2. The exhaust is also upgraded, literally from head to tail.

Hopefully that all conspires to bump the ponies up a notch or two. That massaged mill is claimed in the ad to have been rebuilt 30K ago and to presently “run great.” It also looks pretty great although you’ll notice something that’s conspicuous by their absence, that being the expected black plastic fender flares. The seller says that the car was tagged by a motorcycle a while back which cracked one of the caps. The metalwork has apparently been repaired, but the caps have all been removed until a replacement for the broken one can be found.

The car is said to be rust-free and looks just as decent on the inside as on the outside. Yeah there’s some scruffiness here and there but nothing to warrant calling the car ugly. In fact, I find the rear window louvers to be pretty foxy.

What we need to decide is whether the price is equally good looking. The seller is asking $8,000, and wife or no wife he’s not all that interested in haggling. What do you think, is that $8,000 a non-haggle price? Or, is this an AMX priced to make even the Spirit unwilling?

You decide!

Kansas City , or go if the ad disappears.

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