AMC Spirit Engines by Year

The Spirit replaced the Gremlin for 1979 and ran through 1983. It used a 2.0 four in its first year, AMC's sixes, the 304 V8 for 1979, and GM's 151 four for 1980–1982. The Gremlin has its own page.

Pick a year to see every engine offered that model year, with its code, rated horsepower and the trims it came in. Each engine links to its full specs.

Jump to a year

Spirit (1979–1983): 1979 · 1980 · 1981 · 1982 · 1983

Spirit (1979–1983)

AMC sixes and V8s.

1979 Spirit engines

Engine	Rated	Offered in
2.0L / 121 inline-four	—	Spirit sedan, Spirit liftback, DL, Limited
3.8L / 232 inline-six	—	Spirit sedan, Spirit liftback
4.2L / 258 inline-six	110 hp net	Spirit sedan, Spirit liftback, GT, AMX
5.0L / 304 V8	—	Spirit liftback, GT, AMX

1980 Spirit engines

Engine	Rated	Offered in
2.5L / 151 inline-four Iron Duke	—	Spirit sedan, Spirit liftback, DL, GT
4.2L / 258 inline-six	110 hp net	Spirit sedan, Spirit liftback, DL, GT, AMX

1981 Spirit engines

Engine	Rated	Offered in
2.5L / 151 inline-four Iron Duke	—	Spirit sedan, Spirit liftback, DL, GT
4.2L / 258 inline-six	—	Spirit sedan, Spirit liftback, DL, GT

1982 Spirit engines

Engine	Rated	Offered in
2.5L / 151 inline-four Iron Duke	—	Spirit sedan, Spirit liftback, DL, GT
4.2L / 258 inline-six	—	Spirit sedan, Spirit liftback, DL, GT

1983 Spirit engines

Engine	Rated	Offered in
4.2L / 258 inline-six	—	Spirit liftback DL, GT

Working on one of these engines?

• Engine displacement from bore and stroke
• Static and dynamic compression ratio
• Which camshaft for your build
• What size carburetor
• Horsepower to torque at any RPM
• Torque converter stall speed

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