American Motors lacked the funds to come up with a separate platform for a sub-compact car, so it did something different with an existing model, and "although car snobs make fun of the chop-tailed Gremlin, it was a huge sales hit." The authors of the book "365 Cars You Must Drive" "that any self-respecting auto enthusiast just has to know and experience from the driver's seat" describe that "driving a Gremlin isn't about the drive; it's about being seen in one, making a statement that you dig the mid-1970s, and also wouldn't be caught dead in something normal." An article published by "Time" in 2007 included the Gremlin as one of "The 50 Worst Cars of All Time", describing it as an AMC Hornet with the rear end whacked off, and criticizing its exterior proportions, with a long low snout, long front overhang, and a truncated tail, "like the tail snapped off a salamander".