Today’s visit to dealers of the past will be a very short one, but if you’re a fan of AMC’s pony-car contender, it might be just the ticket. The Javelin arrived fashionably late to an already crowded field in September 1967, but its distinctive styling and available performance helped it gain a good deal of attention. Today’s gallery takes us back to those days, with vintage photos of Javelins at AMC dealers being the center of attention.
Our opening shot comes from Ricker Motors, a long-running AMC/Rambler/Nash dealer in Whittier, California.
Short detour; as can be seen, Ricker Motors’ facade hadn’t changed a lot since their earlier Rambler days.
Back to today’s topic. A 1968 model at Peterson and Son Rambler, Lapeer, Michigan.
No location was given for this image, but it appears to show another, not particularly well-staged, key-delivery ceremony for a 1968-1969 Javelin.
A Javelin SST waiting sitting at an undisclosed location, and is that a 1970 Ambassador hardtop next to it? (Plus, a Plymouth-Chrysler dealer across the way).
1971 brought a dramatic restyling to the Javelin’s lines. Bob Bundy, of Bob Bundy American in Denver, Colorado, appears next to a well-sorted second-generation model.
Photo # 5: Javelin SST
Sure like the price of gasoline on the Gulf sign to the top left. Looks like you got trading stamps as well.
Today, there would be a 3% to 5% surcharge for using your credit card. I just got my Toyota back from the dealer yesterday and the bill contained a 3% surcharge for using a credit card. I used my debit card, but I guess it went thru as a credit card transaction.
Wow, didn’t know you paid a credit card surcharge. That was outlawed years ago in the UK.
I have never run into there being a surcharge for using my credit card, but I have seen signs at some stations with different prices for paying with a credit card and paying with cash (the cash price being lower). I have found a few stations (usually in small towns) that will offer me a discount for paying in cash.
Next time you go out to a sit down restaurant, double check your receipt. In my town, local restaurants are listing a 3% to 5% surcharge for using your credit card. It’s become the new norm!!
Encountered same surcharge with my oral surgeon for items not covered by insurance.
I think the buyer is supposed to be in the drivers seat and the salesman is supposed to hand him the key to his new ride.
There’s a damn blizzard outside! The snow is blowing into the garage and getting in our eyes! Come on, take the stupid picture already so we can get home before the roads are closed!
I confirm for the Ambassador who was besides the Javelin SST. It’s a 1970 model, the Ambassador along with the Rebel got the rooflines of their 4-door sedans and 2-door hardtop coupe retouched. I guess Dick Teague might have liked the 2-door “fastop” (or “fast-top”?) of the 1967-68 Chrysler/Dodge/Plymouth C-bodies 2-door coupe.
I was in my late teens, late in the 1960s. I would go to car dealers on Sundays when closed. Yes, I was spoiled and thought I would die if I didn’t get a 1969 Cougar XR7 convertible and I still want one. I remember going to a dealership and looking at a first generation Javelin’s. I thought these cars were very attractive, still do, but thought the interiors looked cheap.
I was still in my late teens at the end of the 1960s. Within a year my Dad crashed both my 1963 & 1966 T-Birds. I had only days to return to out-of-state college in Miami and Dad gave me a blank check to see his friend at a Chevy dealer. Do not give a pissed off teenager with instructions not to go crazy, meaning don’t buy a Camaro. So I bought a new 1970 Nova SS, 396 with just about every available option. Dad thought, I was being practical buying a Nova, until I was States away and he received the insurance bill. My Dad & I joked about that car purchase for many decades. My Dad had two sons and he put both of us in some really nice cars. Depression era Dad, growing up poor, he worked hard to give his sons the best.
Here are links to a couple of AMC Javelin commercials from YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1IAeQRiUZ8&t=2s
Well, I got one right. Here’s the other one I was trying to post:
They should have named the Javelin, the “Me Too!”, because by the time they arrived, the whole small sporty car was fading to the Personal Luxury car boom. AMC was really late for that party too and ended up with a dorky 1974 Matador coupe.
AMC. Sad.