AMC Javelin: the pony car from American Motors, 1968 to 1974

The AMC Javelin is an American front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, two-door hardtop built by American Motors Corporation across two generations: the 1968 to 1970 and the 1971 to 1974 model years. It was positioned in the pony car segment and styled by Dick Teague, with trims from economical pony car to muscle car.

AMC Javelin at a glance

English Wikipedia is the only source used here, so the facts were not cross-checked against a second source; only its main sections were read, and the later model years are described in outline.

History of the AMC Javelin

A pony car for AMC

The Javelin was AMC’s entrant in the pony car market that the Ford Mustang had created. Its design evolved from two prototypes named AMX shown on the 1966 “Project IV” circuit, a fibreglass two-seater and the four-seat AMX II. As convertibles were selling less and AMC could not afford separate fastback and notchback bodies, the styling team under Dick Teague drew a single smooth semi-fastback hardtop on the compact Rambler American platform. Cars were assembled in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and under licence in Germany, Mexico, the Philippines, Venezuela and Australia.

First generation, 1968 to 1970

The Javelin debuted on 22 August 1967 for the 1968 model year, from $2,743, in base and SST trims. The standard engine was a 232 cu in six, with a 290 cu in V8 and a 343 cu in V8 optional. The Go Package added a four-barrel 343, power front discs, heavy-duty suspension, dual exhausts and red-line tyres on Magnum 500 wheels: a 343 Go Pac Javelin could do 0 to 60 mph in 8 seconds and the quarter mile in 15.4 seconds. In mid-1968 a 390 cu in V8 with 315 hp arrived in the Go Package, reaching 60 mph in the seven-second range. AMC backed the muscle versions with dealer-installed “Group 19” parts. The first 1,000 buyers averaged 29 years of age, ten years below AMC’s median, and the advertising, by Mary Wells Lawrence’s agency, compared the Javelin with the Mustang and showed the Mustang being beaten with sledgehammers. Production for 1968 was 55,125.

Second generation, 1971 to 1974

The 1971 redesign, led by Chuck Mashigan, followed the trend to bigger, beefier cars: a long sloping hood, raised blisters over the front wheels, flared rear fenders and “twin canopy” roof recesses, on a 110 in wheelbase and 3.31 in wider. The engines ran from the 232 cu in six up to a 401 cu in V8 with 330 bhp. The base Javelin, SST and AMX were available; from 1971 the AMX was no longer a separate two-seater but the premium high-performance edition of the Javelin, with a 360 cu in V8 as standard. The Javelin won the Trans-Am series in 1971, 1972 and 1976, and the second-generation AMX variant was the first pony car used as a standard vehicle for highway police duties by an American law enforcement agency.

Design and features

• Single body style: a smooth semi-fastback hardtop on the Rambler American platform.
• Safety: padded interior windshield posts, flush paddle door handles and three-point belts.
• Motorsport: Trans-Am champion in 1971, 1972 and 1976.

AMC Javelin versions

• Javelin and Javelin SST (1968–1974): the base and premium models.
• Go Package (1968): 343 or 390 V8 with discs and stripes.
• Javelin AMX (1971–1974): the high-performance edition.

More AMC cars are in our AMC collection, and other pony cars of the time are the Mustang, the Camaro and the Barracuda.

Sources

• AMC Javelin, English Wikipedia: development, generations, motorsport