Right about the limited lifespan of cars back in the day. In 1965 my dad had a 57 Chevy (the sort of car collectors fight over nowadays). These days 8 years for a car is no big deal; back then it was different. One day in ‘65 I stepped out of that car (pink and white, cool colors), and stepped on the rocker panel. Car was so eaten by rust that entire rocker panel came right off (and I weighed all of 60 lbs or so back then). Remember my dad saying once car hit 100K miles, it was no good. Gremlin was probably early ‘70s; AMC had the Pacer back then too, it looked like a greenhouse on wheels. You’re right about homes, they were crazy cheap back then.
Thanks is was a Pacer I had not a Gremlin...It had the best seat of any car. The front windshield seems to be part of the roof. It was like being in the womb again...but I loved it..