My
Continental Airlines Gremlin Giveaway Car from the Movie
"The
Haunting"
By Eddie Stakes
I had a ad running in 1997/98 west of Houston looking for a new project and
had several leads. One of them was from a lady named Marlene Kelly in Bellville,
Texas. Marlene had a Gremlin. So I decided to go out and look at it, which it
was sitting up in the back yard, not being driven. She said it would run, but it
looked like it had not been driven for awhile either. I had brought a extra
battery and can of gas, and my tools, and proceeded to change the battery, which
was dead. A spray or two and it fired right up, smoked a little but then leveled
out and seemed to need some new gas as you could tell the gas was old. Digging
around in the car the first thing that caught my eyes was the strange interior.
It had the old 1970s style Continental Airlines "Meatball" logos all
over the seats. The car showed 45,000 miles, which was original. Nothing special
except it was a giveaway car. Engine was a little 232, 3speed on the floor, and
only options were Rally rims and power steering. No AC, radio, tint, nothing.
The side of the car had a weird triple stripe, red, yellow and orange, and on
each 1/4 panel was 'CONTINENTAL SPECIAL' in black letters.
I asked her about this and she said she had won the car in a contest in 1974.
When she had won the car, Continental Airlines, which is based here in Houston,
wanted to display it for several months at their sprawling headquarters
downtown, of which she said ok, and took delivery of it after a few months. I
didn't think about asking how she actually won it, whether a raffle, drawing,
bingo, or what.
We agreed on $600, as the car needed attention, brakes needed bleeding and it had a nasty dent in the lower passenger 1/4 which would have to be cut out, and there was a rust issue around both doors. Otherwise, it ran and drove like a Gremlin did, creaks, and klunks, and was difficult to keep straight at speeds above 60mph. I decided to put it in my warehouse and evaluate it in a week or so, as I had too many cars at that time.
After going over the car, I decided even though it was a one of a kind, I
would sell it, as I really didn't have enough time to concentrate on what all it
needed, and I had 16 cars, and this was low man on totem pole. I had it
advertised nationally in a number of auto rags and AMC clubs, for $1500, but no
bites. After 6 months of ads I got a strange call, it was from Gary Shepard, who
told me he was the Director of Transportation of DreamWorks in California. He
said that he found me on the web and that if I knew of any Gremlins for sale, as
they needed one or two for a movie. I told him my Gremlin was for sale, and
would take $1500 for it, the car ran, drove, and was basically solid.
I emailed him some photos and he called me back. I received the check The car
would be needed in a hurry for filming. Gary FedExed me the money from the DW/SKG
Releigh Studios, 1600 Rosecrans Ave, Bldg 2A, 2ND, in Manhattan Beach, CA,
90266. They would be picking up the car in less than 3 days, no time to wait for
a transport which would be 2-3 weeks, they wanted it NOW.
The Gremlin was quickly whisked off, I was assured that the car would not be destroyed in the movie, as many had found out about me selling it to a movie company for THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE, and expressed their concerns. But Gary told me it would get a bump or two but not be wrecked or destroyed. I told him otherwise I would not have even considered selling it.
The movie title would later be shortened to just THE HAUNTING, and did pretty good at the box office for a few weeks. I went to see it and didn't think it was as scary as the original it was modeled after in the early 1960s, it seemed to have the special effects of Casper (great special effects), and the who done it of Scooby Doo (I would have gotten away with it if not for you meddling teens!) and the fright factor of say, Carrie (Speilberg's first big hit in early 70s, it had about 3-5 really scary scenes). In the movie, Lili Taylor and Liam Neeson drive the car, and Catherine Zeta Jones also starred in this movie, but never got in the vehicle. Towards the end of the movie, the Gremlin hits a fence really hard and spikes go thru the roof, but that was special effects, the Gremlin was not harmed just the bruises Gary had mentioned before I sold it. You can buy the movie off ebay for about $8 or at Wal Mart for same and save shipping.
I took some heat from some AMCers who griped that I sacrificed a "one of
a kind" vehicle that would be destroyed or altered. But none of these
people even bothered to make me a offer on it in the many months I had it for
sale! I also think that the risk I took with it, was well worth it. How many
people can say that their car is immortalized forever on film? That is three of
my cars now that have been in film! My 78 Pacer custom woodie wagon was used for
a nationally televised commercial for a tax return chain, and I have a tape of
it. Here is it being filmed for that commercial, got paid $40 for the day's
work, but would have done it for free just because. My 68
Rebel convertible Machine (in center) was used in a music video for Linda
Gail Lewis, who is the 'killer' Jerry Lee Lewis' sister. This video was
filmed downtown at Houston Studios. And awesome video showing many close ups of
her sitting in the car, and the scoop of with 'THE MACHINE' decals on it, no
mistaking what the car is. So I believe I made the right decision with all
three. The Rebel is still in my collection. The Pacer was sold off for $600 2
months after filming. And the Gremlin, well, it's story is above.
78
Pacer Custom Woodie Wagon note I had to cover up my big logos on the
rear glass which says Planet Houston AMX. Would have liked the free publicity,
the commercial ran on English, and Spanish television west of the Mississippi! This
front shot shows my Pacer, which was chopped, lowered, limoed and
shaved. A rear angle with the car for sale shows the
big ass logo! A across
the street shot shows why this guy needs needs his tax return quickly,
as everything was going "wrong" for him. And here is a
close up of my Pacer
back home. And to those earthlings who
don't think Pacers are cool or that many modern vehicles like Infinity SUV or
Nissan Morono or Mercedes ES stole their lines from a Pacer, read this
from September
1998 Car Craft which is more than happy to show way Pacer was ahead of
it's time. And speaking of the future, legendary customizer Darryl Starbird in
OK is really fond of bubbletop cars, this is his creation
'Spacer Pacer'.
The Continental Airlines Gremlin Giveaway Car!!
Invoice from Steven Speilberg's DreamWorks LLC Studios in Universal City, CA
Paperwork and seat material I saved from Gremlin includes copy of original title, (the winner who won this in 1974 from continental Airlines!); several photos, and some seat material, also kept any records I found in glovebox or the original owner gave me, due to historical significance. Even kept the original AMC Owners Manual. That seat material is the same kind used on airline seats in the 1970s!!!!!!
If you ever come across this rare little Gremlin which was immortalized in a movie by one of the best known director's of our time, this is the information from the Gremlin. It was sold off in England at a auction for $100, as it would have been too expensive to ship it back to the US.
1974 American Motors CONTINENTAL AIRLINES SPECIAL Gremlin
VIN#A4E465E224668
Texas License #409-VRC
Vehicle Weight 2900
Body Style 2dr
Body Door Tag Info:
Body 063761
Paint 4080
Trim A1
Model 7446-5
Line #E0383687
Winners: (1974)
Marlene L. Kelly
425 Masonic
Bellville, Texas. 77418
Sold to: (1998)
Eddie Stakes
3400 Ocee #1601
Houston, Texas. 77063
Sold to: (1998)
The Haunting Of Hill House
Dreamworks Productions LLC
100 Universal City Plaza B-84
Universal City, CA. 91608
Sold to: (1999)
Unknown buyer/England
