Interesting things happen when worlds collide. Like when a perpetually struggling automaker enters a hot and competitive market segment… or when a company associated with fuddy-duddy conservatism hires an unconventional firm to promote its products. Both of these things transpired when American Motors entered the pony car segment with its Javelin.
Like any entrant into a competitive market, American Motors tried to differentiate its offering from the competition. Board Chairman Roy Chapin used bold language regarding the car, saying before its introduction that the upcoming model would have “different” and “non-average” styling. “We expect,” said Chapin, “to appeal to a type of buyer who is also ‘non-average’ – whose most important characteristic is the desire to be different, who does not respond to conventional products or to conventional marketing appeals.” Strong words from the leader of a struggling company – let’s see how that worked out.
Ever since its creation in 1954 from the merger of Hudson and Nash, American Motors led a perilous existence. Innumerable articles about “troubled American Motors” predicted imminent doom for the company, though salvation always came just in time. The company turned its first profit in 1958 due to strong sales from compact Ramblers, but by the mid 1960s those fortunes had faded. Sales lagged, and worse, the company had developed a stodgy image. One analyst described American’s product line as having “as much flair as corrective shoes”
While American Motors executives mulled how to best steer their company out of the doldrums, the answer appeared like wild horses. When Ford launched its Mustang in 1964, few could have predicted that about half a million examples would be produced for each of the following three years. Mustang’s success launched a storm of catch-up among competitors – AMC being no exception. The allure was obvious: The newly-foaled pony car segment was hot, and attracted coveted young, trendy and well-off customers.
William Luneberg and Roy Chapin with an AMX model.
American Motors and other manufacturers hurried to get their Mustang challengers to market as quickly as possible. In American’s case, it couldn’t come soon enough, as the company lost $12.6 million in fiscal year 1966. To reverse its fortunes, in early 1967, AMC’s Board of Directors forced out both Chairman Robert B. Evans and President Roy Abernathy, replacing them with Roy Chapin and William Luneberg – both elevated from vice president positions. The new leaders quickly replaced many managers, cut operating expenses, and then set their focus on how to build interesting cars as quickly as possible. A Mustang challenger was high on their list.
Planning for this new car was well underway when Chapin and Luneberg took over. Back in the summer of 1966, Evans, Chapin’s predecessor, noted that American Motors was working on a sports-type car that would be “better, more exciting, and different” from Mustang or GM’s soon-to-be-released challengers. The company was already toying with sports car designs, unveiling the AMX (American Motors eXperimental) show car to enthusiastic reviews that year. This provided a basis for the Javelin’s (and later the production AMX’s) styling.
The following year, more details emerged. AMC’s answer to the Mustang would be roomier (addressing complaints about the Mustang’s limited passenger and cargo capacity) and would have more modern styling – hinting that despite its popularity, the Mustang had become overly familiar. It was in mid 1967 that Chapin remarked about the upcoming car being “non-average.” American Motors wanted to convince industry observers that it was on the verge of something more interesting than a Rambler.
The design itself was more of an evolution, rather than a complete rethinking of pony car design. It’s an uncluttered look representative of late 1960s designs, with clean lines, a long hood and short rear deck.
A desire to have roomier rear seat and cargo space than the Mustang drove Javelin’s proportions. Some Mustang owners voiced complaints about their cars’ tight accommodations, so American Motors saw a potential niche in offering a “grown up” sporty car with ample room for four adults and their gear. Javelin dimensions bear this out – at 189” long, it was 5” longer than a ’67 Mustang, and in fact had more passenger room (including 3.5” more rear headroom). Unfortunately, this roominess may not have been the boon AMC expected, since buyers seeking large sporty two-doors began gravitating to the emerging personal luxury coupe segment instead of smaller pony cars.
Another element to Javelin’s marketplace strategy was that AMC tried to position it as the lowest-priced “personal car.” A low price and modern styling were considered important to attract young customers and to counter the outdated, “granny” image of AMC’s products. The projected low price, attractive styling and strong pony car market prompted Chapin to predict 50,000 Javelin sales in its first year. Now came the hard part – convincing the public.
While “non-average” may have been an exaggeration for the overall car, Javelin’s marketing campaign was certainly unconventional. In June 1967, AMC hired Mary Wells, considered North America’s most innovative ad executive, and her company, Wells, Rich, Greene, Inc. Wells was one of the ad industry’s few female executives, and had made a name for herself earlier in the decade with numerous successful product promotions. Since Wells, Rich, Greene had no prior automotive experience, Mary Wells immediately hired a merchandising executive from Ford to head the AMC account. Together, they sought to reverse AMC’s stodgy image and spawn a new generation of customer, using the Javelin as a launchpad.
Hired just two months before the Javelin’s introduction, Wells, Rich, Greene immediately created buzz among the automotive press. For example, in July and August, an athletic, blond actress traversed the United States knocking on auto journalists’ doors. Dressed in a short golden track suit, wearing a “Javelin Girl” sash – and in many cases carrying an actual javelin (the spear, not the car) – her job was to stir up interest in the upcoming model introduction.
Once the late August press introduction showed journalists what the actual car looked like, it was time for Wells’ innovations to be put to the test. Her firm’s first major ad compared Javelin to its archrival. This was trailblazing because until this time, ad comparisons to rival cars had been taboo in the auto industry. Not everyone was a fan of this approach. Veteran ad executive Fairfax Cone spoke for most of his industry by saying that competitive ads were “bad manners.” Lee Iacocca predicted Wells’ failure by putting on a Mr. Nice Guy guise and saying “Any time people try to play dirty they will lose… the public is too smart for that kind of approach.” Iacocca was wrong; the public noticed these ads, and such an approach soon became commonplace.
AMC focused much of its Javelin promotion on TV commercials, a Wells specialty. Prior to airing, AMC Vice President for Marketing R.W. McNealy hinted that the Javelin’s initial ad campaign would be unusual… “in an aggressive but good-humored way.” The above commercial is representative: Actor Herb Edelman is challenged to drag race his Javelin by an odd assortment of other drivers. Wells also created tie-in promotions with other companies such as Montgomery Ward, Bristol-Myers, and BF Goodrich. For a while, the media seemed saturated with Javelin ads. These edgy promotions certainly provided AMC some much-needed attention.
Ads could get people’s attention, but the car itself had to finish the sale. To assist with this, AMC offered a wide variety of configurations. Powertrains ranged from mild to wild. Base Javelins came with six-cylinder engines and three-speed manual transmissions, while several V-8s (as well as four-speed and automatic transmissions) provided greater appeal. Throughout its first four years, Javelin was available in base or SST trim levels, with the SST adding reclining bucket seats and other interior and exterior trim upgrades.
Partway through 1968, AMC introduced the two-seater AMX, built on a shorter wheelbase and featuring a standard 290-cu. in. V-8. A genuine sports car, AMC styling chief Richard Teague called AMX the Javelin’s “hairy little brother.” The two-seater AMX lasted for three years, after which time the model was dropped and the AMX moniker was used for the Javelin’s highest trim level. During those three years, AMX accounted for about 13 percent of total Javelin/AMX sales.
With a combination of value, a good design, and clever promotions, early Javelin sales were robust. In a rare case of AMC exceeding expectations, Javelin surpassed Chapin’s estimate of 50,000 units for 1968 (61,849 were sold).
AMC product planners were even more pleased that many customers represented that elusive younger crowd who seemed repelled by American Motors products through most of the 1960s. First-year sales indicated an average age of 34 for Javelin buyers (AMC’s 1967 average was 45) and nearly a third of those buyers were single. Quite a change from the previous image of AMC buyers being old and stingy. Total AMC sales increased for 1968, the firm’s first increase in four years.
Source: Standard catalog of American cars, 1946-1975
Whatever elation Javelin’s introductory season caused at AMC headquarters tailed off in successive years. Overall Javelin/AMX sales dropped about 20 percent for 1969, and then another 34 percent for 1970 before settling into the high 20,000s for each of the Javelin’s final four years. This wasn’t entirely Javelin’s fault. Pony car sales in general fell as the Mustang’s original magic wore off. Plus, increased competition meant that each manufacturer was chasing a smaller slice of the pie.
Our featured car is from Javelin’s third year – representing the end of Javelin’s first generation. Annual changes over the first generation were modest. 1969 models received a revised grille, new instrument panel trim, and other minor updates. 1970 was also largely a carryover year, with the Javelin receiving yet another grille treatment, a slightly longer hood, and other minor changes. We can use our featured 1970 SST to give us a view first-generation Javelin highlights.
This is probably the Javelin’s best angle, where the assertive twin-venturi grille and contoured bumper, combined with the long hood, give the car a commanding presence. This grille design was used only for 1970 – earlier models had a body color separation between the headlights and grille.
In profile, we can see how AMC prioritized the rear seating area. The wheelbase seems stretched in this angle, almost like someone photoshopped an extended-wheelbase Mustang. For folks who like bigger cars, this creates an appealing design, but one can easily see how this shape would lose out when squeezed in the marketplace between smaller sporty cars and the increasingly popular personal luxury coupes. Personally, I like it, and this car would win a 1970 pony car appearance contest if I were the judge – but then again I’ve always had a soft spot for big coupes.
From the rear angle, things get a bit chunkier, yet clean lines still predominate. Flush-mounted door handles – a novelty at the time – blended well with Javelin’s overall design. The optional Landau-style vinyl roof was a new touch for 1970, replacing a more conventional pattern used in the previous years.
The semi-fastback rear end presents a Space Age type of appearance. Swoopy C pillars meld into raised edges on the back panel, and with a concave-shaped rear window, this all provides an interesting set of contours. For 1970, AMC redesigned the tail light panel, separating the light bar into five sections, with the back-up light in the middle.
One of the Javelin’s changes for 1970 was invisible. An advanced safety windshield glass called Chemcor, developed by Corning Glass Works, came standard on Javelins and AMXs. Chemically-strengthened glass that Corning billed as being stronger and safer than regular laminated glass, Chemcor’s main benefit was promoted as reducing severe lacerations in accidents. That seemed like a good fit for an era when auto safety became a viable selling point, and Corning hoped that Chemcor would be as revolutionary for automotive glass as Pyrex was for cookware. Despite its innovation however, Chemcor never caught on with automakers, and Corning discontinued the product after just a few years.
This particular car is an SST – a step above the base model. Adding just $128 to Javelin’s $2,720 base price, the SST provided some upgraded interior and exterior trim, and most buyers judged the modest price bump to be worthwhile. Although during the Javelin’s first model year, base cars and SSTs sold in almost equal numbers, SSTs quickly took over the sales lead. By 1970, the SST outsold its cheaper companion by more than two-to-one. This may have come as a surprise to AMC, since one of Javelin’s original priorities was to be a price leader. Said Chapin upon the car’s introduction: “Our approach is to concentrate on the lower end of the market. We know how to sell there.” Turns out most customers preferred relatively well-equipped cars instead. After the ’71 model year, the base Javelin was dropped completely.
I wasn’t able to get good interior pictures of our featured car, so Internet finds will suffice. This interior is similar to that of our featured car, with black vinyl seats and automatic transmission. Dashboards were redesigned for 1970, now featuring a full-span instrument panel with “eyebrow” crash padding along the top. This shows the SST’s woodgrain trim, sports steering wheel, and the deeply recessed gauges shared with all Javelins. Also, seen here is Javelin’s signature bullseye logo on the glovebox door and steering wheel hub – somewhat ironic since the sport of javelin is a distance sport, not a target sport. The dashboard’s center portion looks rather plain because Javelin’s HVAC controls and clock sit to the driver’s left.
This image of a fabric seat-equipped Javelin shows the view through the hardtop’s windows. Rear seat room was, indeed, generous for pony cars.
Badging here indicates that this car came equipped with American Motors’ 304-cu. in. Typhoon V-8, one of five Javelin engines for 1970. Standard for both base and SST Javelins was the 232-cu. in. Torque-Command six that was also standard on the Rebel. That 1-bbl. six produced just 145 hp, and didn’t exactly cause a sensation. The 304 cost about $100 extra, but produced a respectable 210 hp. Genuine performance credibility could be achieved by ordering one of the two available variations of AMC’s 360, or the 325-hp 390.
Our featured car, a V-8 SST with automatic transmission, air conditioning and several other popular options, would have likely listed for slightly above $4,000. While not cheap for the times, it would have been a perfectly reasonable choice for someone looking for a practical, sporty car, and particularly for someone eager to deviate a bit from the more popular Mustangs and Camaros.
1970 marked the end of Javelin’s first generation, and with it the smooth and lithe 1960s-era lines. For 1971, Javelin (like the Mustang during the same year) became bulkier – 3” wider and a bit longer. Characterized by raised fenders, a prominent snout, a smaller greenhouse, and oversized sail panels, the car looks like it was designed by a committee of bull terriers.
By this time, the pony car’s status as America’s hottest market segment had passed. While at its 1960s peak, the segment accounted for 11 percent of US auto sales, pony car sales plummeted to 5 percent for 1971. A combination of waning uniqueness, falling performance from emissions regulations, and high insurance rates took the luster off these cars, and buyers’ interest drifted elsewhere.
With sales slipping to less than half of its introductory year’s total, AMC executives indicated as early as 1972 that they might drop the Javelin due to its “fading market.” Ultimately, the model won a reprieve, and lasted through 1974, though for the last few years it was clear that this car had outlived its usefulness. After 1974, AMC returned to its roots to concentrate on the small car market, discontinuing both the Javelin and the full-size Ambassador.
Incidentally, those witty ads and brochures didn’t last long. In late 1972, AMC replaced Wells, Rich, Greene as its main ad agency with a more conventional firm. Demonstrating how much priorities had changed in a few years, AMC’s General Marketing Manager said his company wanted a firm that was “a little more nuts-and-boltsy” and less humor-filled or edgy.
The Javelin leaves a mixed legacy. It provided a spark of interest in American Motors at a crucial time, and the car itself – while not perfect – achieved its objective. On the other hand, that wasn’t quite enough to propel American Motors in the long term. Although the Javelin didn’t make much of a lasting imprint on the car market, it’s arc through the air was certainly an interesting one. And it’s tough to get more non-average than that.
Photographed in Fairfax, Virginia in September 2023.
Related Reading:
AMC Javelin: Some Like It For What It Can Be And Others Would Just Like To Find One by Paul Niedermeyer
ERIC703, Thanks for a well written and wonderfully informative article.
Eric: Very thorough and I learned something I didn’t know – Mary Wells’ involvement with AMC for the Javelin. She was famous in the ’60s and well known beyond the world of advertising. I was then (and now) interested in commercial aviation and especially US airlines and aircraft. Braniff was sort of an “also ran” in domestic competition until Mary Wells came up with the “Flying Colors” scheme to paint their fleet in bright and several different colors. So at a Braniff station one could see a yellow plane next to a red one next to a blue one next to a green one, etc. The Braniff fleet at the time included Lockheed Electra, BAC-111, Douglas DC-8 and Boeing 720 & 727.
The use of bold colors was comprehensive, including stewardess (sorry, but that is what they were in 1965) uniforms, ground equipment, advertising, signage, etc.
Mary Wells later married Braniff president Harding Lawrence.
As to the Javelin, you’re perfectly right about the bad image of AMC with the young. That included the teenaged me. AMC cars were stodgy and the owners were old and square. Their cars just were not liked among my cohort of teen boys. Some of the parents of my buddies did buy Mustangs; I remember three clearly. One guy’s dad, of course an insurance agent, was a regular Rambler purchaser. But when the Javelin was introduced he bought one of those. I remember the car. It was fairly plain with a tan/brown metallic paint and a brown vinyl interior. Don’t remember the engine but it was an automatic. The son, John my friend, drove it on weekends and I was an occasional passenger. It looked OK but in my heart I knew it was really a Rambler. Though he was happy to drive the Javelin, his friends never relented ribbing him about why his dad couldn’t have gotten a Mustang instead.
Thanks! Mary Wells was extremely interesting – in her business acumen, and also how she navigated so many different industries in unconventional ways. I think AMC looked to her turnaround of Braniff’s image as an inspiration.
And to accompany this discussion, here’s a picture of some mid-’60s Braniff stewardesses.
With over a million pony cars sold before getting into that market, it is understandable that AMC needed a competitor. No one knew how long that market would last. So AMC sunk their budget into a shrinking competitive market instead of sinking it back into their core markets. Imagine how well AMC could have done if they sunk the funds they put into the Javelin, AMX, Matador Coupe and Pacer, and instead sunk it into making the best compact and subcompact cars built in America. See, the growing market wasn’t the pony car – it was the SMALL car. The trend was where AMC was, and so it needed to focus on that.
AMC was filled with guys who mocked Romney’s vision. Once he left, AMC went back to building also-ran cars that had nothing but low price to recommend them. There was a reason AMC had a cheap image. There was a reason parents drove AMC cars.
Most successful car companies start off with a low price, but keep increasing the quality of their cars until they no longer have that cheap effect. Today, we no longer see KIA and Hyundai, let alone Honda, VW or Subaru as cheap rides. Their cars kept getting better, justifying their higher prices. AMC really didn’t do that. Under those slick cute bodies were old cars. Buyers knew that.
So chasing after the pony car market is understandable. AMC needed anything to get out of the damage caused by the Abernathy era of fielding an AMC something in every Detroit niche, spreading itself too thin by 1966. AMC failed to see that the market George Romney showed them they could succeed in, was a growing market. Indeed the only period of post-Romney AMC was during the First Oil Crisis, when USA wanted a new small car. They thought of AMC. Yet, it was still the same old outdated compact American that was renamed and rebodied as the Hornet that awaited 1973 shoppers. If you wanted only 2/3 of a Hornet, you could buy a Gremlin. Unimpressive.
George Romney was right. AMC needed to have the best small car in the world and for the years between 1958-1964, they did. They turned away from that and missed out when domestic buyers flocked to small cars within the decade.
George Romney’s smartest move was going into politics right as the house of cards Rambler was was to be inevitably toppled by the big three and imports.
Nothing Abernathy did as far as the lineup was anything that didn’t happen under Romney. The small Rambler was replaced by the larger Six and V8(later Classic), which was really an intermediate car, and the Ambassador was a six/V8/Classic with an elongated nose, same as the Rebel and Matador/Ambassador to the very end. The old small Rambler, now christened “American” was only revived and introduced to the lineup as a recession buster, creating their “lineup”. The only car actually added to the line was the Marlin but it was just a classic with a fastback, and approved development of the Javelin which replaced the Marlin outright.
And DID Rambler have the best small car in the world in 60-64? Are you saying ancient American was better better than the Corvair, Falcon, Valiant and Chevy II? the one pictured is a 1964 with an all new body in the Abernathy era. Sure Rambler had a relative monopoly in the market in the 50s,and Romney wisely exploited it, but there’s nothing about Rambler in 1962 at the end of Romney’s tenure that seems set up for anything other than what Abernathy did.
Most successful car companies start off with a low price, but keep increasing the quality of their cars until they no longer have that cheap effect. Today, we no longer see KIA and Hyundai, let alone Honda, VW or Subaru as cheap rides. Their cars kept getting better, justifying their higher prices. AMC really didn’t do that. Under those slick cute bodies were old cars. Buyers knew that.
The Rambler didn’t start that way when it was first introduced though, it was a premium small car, the anthesis to penalty box compacts like the Henry J other independents attempted to break into the untapped segment with, and Rambler wasn’t a new car company either, as it was spun off from long established Nash. If anything it was closer to Tesla in exploiting the new niche, first bringing the EV concept as expensive premium cars in roadster and model S, earning a status, and today now offering the 3 and Y at lower prices.
And the flaw in the Kia, Hyundai, Honda, VW et al analogy is those brands all now have broad model lineups, more than AMC ever had at any one time, and ironically featuring quite large heavy vehicles if you haven’t noticed. Compact cars really tend to be something of a fad with American buyers, a trend that did its best in recessions and crisis’s but as powertrains became ever more efficient their selling points diminish.
Excellent writeup. Growing up, I always had an open door for AMC cars due to their shameless promotion of their cars’ own assets over the competition.
Regarding comparison advertising said to be supposedly taboo, from the late 1950’s up to the late 1960’s American Motors had available at their dealers their “X-RAY” brochures in which, directly and without shame, AMC cars were compared to all their competition from the big Three. Side to side comparisons, charts comparing weights, measurements, standard vs. optional features.
As a car crazy kid growing up, I collected these brochures on an annual basis and give them credit for a depth of comparative knowledge of things that seem mundane – wheelbases, interior headrooms, coil vs. zig-zag seat springs, etc. Those brochures gave this kid a knowledgable sense of appreciation for cars that went deeper than the visual.
Media comparisons between automobiles had existed back then and throughout time, although far less directly than the X-Ray brochures did. VW for years had used humor and self-deprecation in their advertising to indirectly promote their own stability and value in the ever-changing world.
I love the X-ray brochures – they actually extend back to the 1930s. The image below is a page from a 1939 Nash X-ray brochure (the whole brochure is about 50 pages long).
I think there was a difference between how the auto industry viewed brochures vs. advertisements in this regard. I suppose the difference was that once customers was in a showroom, they were fair game for a hard sell, but it was considered poor manners to extend that to the general public. Based on some of the quotes I came across, it appeared that was really controversial in the industry at the time. Hard to believe today.
As to the red example, I really like how the options and subtle modifications (the wheels and tires, most prominently) are approximately period correct. T/A Radials came in a bit later…. I am not sure what is going on with the headlights, as they are something out of left field.
Sadly, something appears to have been dropped across the rear haunches of the car. It appears that the fender peaks on both sides, just aft of the rear pillars, have been squished a bit from above (a closing garage door, perhaps?). The evil rust appears to have gotten into the left side damage.
All that said, this red car is what the typical flashier examples of the brand actually looked like when new, without the more modern interpretations and deletions (restorers often jettison the landau-style vinyl roof treatment, for example, as it does not conform to current standards of “attractive”). Nice find!
It’s funny – I generally don’t like modifications, and I almost didn’t stop to photograph this car because of them. But then I pinched myself and realized that I may never see an early Javelin in this good shape again. And I agree the modifications are largely subtle and period-correct.
The rear dents look like a garage door to me – I figure someone had a very bad day at some point.
I’m still a bit stumped as to why they didn’t just build one car with a wheelbase halfway between the real one and the AMX; the result was that both cars have proportions that are off. And not many were fooled by AMC’s claim that the AMX was a real sports car.
The question that I haven’t answered properly for myself is what degree of commonality there was between the Javelin and the Hornet. They do share similar proportions, with that same set-back rear wheel look, which of course works better on the Hornet.
Yes, chasing the tail end of the pony car tsunami was a rather futile undertaking. One thing that wasn’t mentioned is that the Javelin actually outsold the Barracuda in 1968, IIRC.
The 1971 restyle was truly abysmal. I couldn’t believe it at the time, especially compared to the superb new 1970 Camaro. What a contrast!
“The question that I haven’t answered properly for myself is what degree of commonality there was between the Javelin and the Hornet.” A terrific question.
Then there is the oddity of the Ambassador-based Marlin as a second generation. Who were these guys? The Rebel-based Marlin didn’t sell, so they go larger? The supposed need for rear seat headroom comes up with Javelin and Marlin. Did these guys think that their buyers sat adults back there? I’d like to know if these Marlin losers were a part of the Javelin look.
If I could, I’d have taken a new Volvo 140 to Kenosha, drove it into the AMC lobby and tell them to figure out how to make an AMC version of it. That would have taken care of any new designs between 1966 to 1974.
The Javelin outsold the Barracuda every year except 1970.
That’s a fascinating tidbit and, although it seems odd at first glance, is actually not that difficult to explain.
1968 – Brand-new Javelin.
1969 – More effective AMC marketing.
1970 – Brand-new, 2nd gen Barracuda.
1971 – Brand-new, 2nd gen Javelin.
1972 to 1974 – ‘Brougham’-focused (Pierre Cardin) Javelin.
It also outsold Checker Marathon – so there’s that.
Yeah, probably lots of cross-shopping the Javelin with the Marathon.
Imagine the big celebration at AMC when those sales numbers came through.
Given the benefit of hindsight, it was perhaps unwise for AMC to dispense with the services of Wells, Rich, Greene. Their ads were unique and catchy, just what was needed for a perennial underdog. Even today, most car enthusiasts are at least somewhat familiar with the firm’s print and television ads for AMC
This has always been a maddening car to me – it always seemed that AMC came sooooo close to hitting the pony car target, but didn’t quite get there. The profile is the car’s worst angle – the wheelbase is far too long. The AMX got the looks and proportions right, but no 2-seater was going to generate volume numbers.
I think that the 1971 re-do actually worked better for the car’s basic proportions – although some of the bolder details are controversial. Also, maintaining a baseline of 20k+ units a year for the last several years was really pretty good for an AMC model.
This was a great find!
I actually don’t mind the long wheelbase, but as I alluded to in the article, I rarely meet a big coupe I don’t like, so perhaps I see things a bit differently that most people…
I’m surprised no one has mentioned the unusual factory side-pipe option on the feature car. While the C2-C3 Corvette had them as an RPO for most of those two model’s years, they weren’t offered on anything else from the factory for more than a year or two.
Yeah, you could get them on a Cobra, but that really doesn’t count as a regular production car. The first year Mustang GT-350 got side exhausts (as opposed to the full-length side pipes) and the second year was an option. Then there was the one-year-only E-body ‘Cuda AAR and Challenger T/A, that weren’t really side ‘pipes’ but just side ‘exhausts’.
And I think that’s about it. The Camaro/Firebird always had exhausts that exited out the back on even their highest performance models.
Thanks for mentioning that – as far as I can tell, the side pipes appeared as an option during 1969 and were a $32 option on the SST.
They’re listed on the options list as “Simulated Exhaust Type Rocker Panel Moldings” so I assume the pipes don’t run the length of the visible side pipe, but rather exists at the end of the side pipe.
Those sidepipes are aftermarket or dealer installed. The “simulated exhaust rocker panels” became a trim option mid-’69 when the Big Bad colors were introduced. I personally think the sidepipes mess with the Javelin’s (and AMX’s) nice, clean lines.
Thanks for the clarification on that!
Oh, yeah, those ‘simulated exhaust rocker panels’ are definitely funky looking, whether they were installed by the dealer or at the factory. It’s another one of those AMC ‘trying too hard’ things that made it tougher to take their performance cars seriously.
I doubt there was a very high take-rate for them.
Superb, informative article. Have always been a first-Gen Javelin fan.
Thanks!
Thanks for writing a great article about AMC. AMC put out a few affordable muscle cars they were competitive on several types of tracks
I did like the look of the 70 model. The interior shown has a bit of the Cougar XR-7 in it. Someone up the street from my best friend in 1970 had a yellow Javelin with the 360. I believe it was his father’s but man oh man did he ever baby that car. Wonder what happened to it.
I was just told of a Javelin story by my friend who owns the 76 Celica. That funny story will have to wait as it is associated with the story on his 82 GLC.
Can’t wait to hear the Javelin story!
Seems it might take awhile as out of my control currently.
Thanks for a pretty good AMC and Javelin history! The AMX, was a 3-year only model, only. 19,134 of them were built in 68-70. In ’71 the “AMX” term became the highest trim level on the Javelin, hence the Javelin AMX, a 4-seater, in contrast to the 2-seaters.
The sticker price of this ’70 Javelin with AC would have been in the $4300 range, but as pony car sales were dropping (and the newly redesigned Firebirds and Camaros were on the horizon), these were a hard sell, and many sat on dealer lots or zone lots for too long.
The most desirable ’70 Javelins would be 1 of the 100 Trans Am replicas (red/white/blue), of which about 30 survive; and the Mark Donohue versions (2501 built), which were well equipped, 360 or 390 Go-Pack SST cars, with the Mark Donohue ducktail spoiler.
Thanks Paul – I updated the text to note that the % of AMX sales refers to those first three years, and not the whole seven-year run. And I changed the text on the sale amount too… I was a probably bit overzealous in estimating the amount of discounts provided in those days.
Paul Niedermeyer may not have been fooled by AMC’s claim that the AMX was a real Sports Car. But since the Sports Car Club of America classified it as one, that was good enough for me. After all, there was a reason they competed in the same class with the Corvettes on the tracks and not allowed to compete in the Trans Am Racing Series against all the “PONY CARS”. It’s because it was a REAL Sports Car. 1968 Corvette, wheel base, 98″, AMX 97″.
1968 Corvette, length, 182.1″, AMX 177.2″. 1968 Corvette, weight, 3210lbs. AMX 3221lbs.
Or maybe you just had to have owned one to know the truth.
I always liked the Javelin, the background with the ad agency was all new to me and very interesting! Count me in as one who prefers big coupes to traditional ponycars, so the Javelin does appeal to my styling sensibilities more.
The landau top fascinates me, I’ll just say outright that I don’t like it but the signifigance is hard to ignore. This was a staple of the PLC era, through the 70s and 80s and going into the 90s with conversions to Mercury Cougars but were there actually any PLCs that had one yet in 1970? Other related point is the Corvair fitch sprint has a buttressed roof cap that has a noticeable seam on the roof that in effect gives it an almost landau top like appearace, but the whole side profile of the Fitch Corvair is remarkably similar to the Javelin, ever since I saw this similarity I’ve wondered if AMC cribbed this
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Apparently, the Fitch Sprint roof treatment was called a ‘Ventop’ and it does, indeed, appear to be the inspiration for the Javelin’s canopy-style vinyl roof. The Ventop’s 1965 timeframe would certainly fit into that of the Javelin’s initial design phase.
In fact, absent the ‘tunnelback’ styling feature, the rear window of the Javelin actually has an overall remarkable similarity to the Fitch Sprint.
I really enjoyed this in depth article .
-Nate