The 1968 - 1974 AMC Javelin was the creation of Richard A. Teague , foreman designer for the company since 1960 . Teague left his occupation at Chrysler and sign on as main hairdresser for American Motors . There he remained until his retreat , which he took shortly after the French buy - in and restructuring of the company around Renault ( and soon - to - be Chrysler ) model .
AMC wait like a good choice for a talented designer in those days . It had been form out of Hudson and Nash in 1954 by George Mason , whose unseasonable death after that year prompted George Romney ’s promotional material into the President of the United States ’s chair .
Like Mason , Romney believe in littler , more efficient " compendious " cars , and so American Motors shift most of its emphasis to the Rambler American – just in the nick of time for the 1958 recessional .
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Thus , in a yr when sale of most Detroit product plummeted , Rambler roll to a record 200,000 units . A year after Teague had total aboard , AMC found itself third in volume behind Chevy and Ford , an awe-inspiring showing for an free lance .
Teague could n’t have minded , after what he ’d been through . California - wear , a testicle for railroad car and woodworking plane , he had joined General Motors in 1948 but was underwhelmed by the bureaucratism there . Switching to Packard , he became managing director of styling in 1953 , only to play centerstage during the death throes of the marque in the mid-1950s .
Teague preside over AMC Styling through those thriving years when the firm – the leading purveyor of car Romney called " alternatives to the Detroit dinosaur " – could do no damage .
Teague ’s eye for styling integrity bend the overstyled Rambler into a swimmingly skin design by 1963 , while the American " artillery vehicle " blossomed into a graceful compact by 1964 , the same yr AMC embark on its ponycar undertaking .
While the AMC Javelin was very definitely a competitive reaction to the wildly successful Ford Mustang , other complex change occurring at American Motors at that time also affected its creation .
When Romney resign to enter political relation in February 1962 , his replenishment as president was Roy Abernathy , a sale executive with the dubitable prior scope of Kaiser and Packard .
Almost simultaneously , AMC switched roles . From an exclusive supplier of true - but - dull compact , the house moved toward a broad product lineage run into the Big Three across the display panel .
During this full point , AMC make sumptuosity Ambassadors , fastback Marlins , Rebel muscle cars , the refreshing two - seater AMX , and the handsome Javelin .
The AMC Javelin was not Roy Abernathy ’s variety of car , and by the time it arrived , he ’d get going . He had been blamed for setting AMC on an in the end fatal grade , first because his board involve for it , second because there were few alternatives .
They ’d been first out with a compact , but once the Big Three record that marketplace , Rambler sale fail . you may have a practiced idea , even if you ’re small . But , as Rich Taylor once remark , " you ’ll have elephant footprint all over you " before you know it .
But Abernathy ’s replacement , Roy Dikeman Chapin , Jr. , welcomed such new mathematical product thrusts as the Javelin , which improved morale among AMC stylists . The enthusiasm was not hard to understand , Motor Trendremarked , after you ’d met Teague himself : " He posture at his desk , surrounded by models of definitive railway car , lam his branch and cry with enthusiasm when talk about even fairly exciting ones . "
Go to the next page to discover about 1968 - 1974 AMC Javelin plan .
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1968-1974 AMC Javelin Design
John A. Conde , former AMC public relations manager , retrieve that the 1968 - 1974 AMC Javelin design origins came with Dick Teague ’s challenging " Project Four " estimation railway car , introduced in 1966 . Two of these , the AMX and AMX II , influenced the exciting production AMX two - seater .
A third , the Vixen , was a close - couple on coupe with a landau - type cap . All three bore note that clearly mold the production Javelin . ( The fourth , the challenging Cavalier , featured front / rear diagonally interchangeable doors . )
Although obviously a response to the marketplace and not a new musical theme , the Javelin received gamey ratings from the automotive printing press . AMC bill it as a " full 4 - passenger sporty car , " and it did indeed have more interior space than any competitor – save the Mercury Cougar , which it equaled .
The purpose was beautifully sportsmanlike and uncluttered in the foresightful - hood / poor - pack of cards ponycar idiom , its blandness accentuated by flush threshold handle , ventless side windows , and sweeping " blow " pillars .
The front bumper , an expensive piece of chrome - plated metal , combined to make the underpan . It create a nice effect back in the pre - Endura - olfactory organ 1960s , at the same clock time avoiding the tacked - on look of the Mustang bumper , for example .
The interior featured received front bucketful seats and deep recess full instrumentality in a cushioned ABS charge card jury . The latter looked a bit funereal on the standard Javelin , which was wind up in calamitous , but other colors were available on the upmarket SST .
All 1968 AMC Javelins sported thin - channel paint disinvest at the beltline , and an optional " wide stripe " come with the Rally - Pak , which before long became have it away as the " Go " software . It included road - going necessities such as king front - disc brakes , across-the-board ellipse tire , deal abeyance , and threefold exhaust .
Learn about the performance of the 1968 - 1974 AMC Javelin in the next part .
1968-1974 AMC Javelin Performance
The 1968 - 1974 AMC Javelin execution rate high , with excellent handling and velocity that could correspond the likes of Mustangs and Camaros .
The 343 V-8 lead off out as Javelin ’s declamatory engine , almost as light and compact as the workaday 290 , and therefore not heavy enough to adversely impress the car ’s weight bias .
Though it gave about 50 cubic in and 50 horse to the 390/396/400 - three-dimensional - inch Mustangs , Cougars , Camaros , and firebird , it equal their performance : 0 - 60 mph with the optional four - speed needed less than eight seconds .
Rival big - blocking would pull off finally , with their 125 - 135 miles per hour top speeds against Javelin ’s 105 , but in a area where top upper is consequent and acceleration a practical gauge of humanity , this was no financial obligation .
AMC achieve it , not by phrenetic over - gearing ( 3.15:1 axle ratio with the four stop number ) but by relative elation : A 343 test byCar Lifeweighed 3,461 pounding , several hundred less than rival self-aggrandising - in ponycars . ( The base six weighed in at 2,826 pounds . )
Javelin ’s suspension was conventional , with coil spring and wishing bone up front , semi - oviform foliage springs at the back .
The car needed options like quick - proportion steering and the treatment bundle ( front sway saloon , leaden - obligation spring and cushion ) , but these were useable on all good example , including the six . The latter , however , could not be had with the four - speed marijuana cigarette .
vocalise average ? Perhaps – but it worked . With the handling bundle , the Javelin was a handler : It stick like glue , and while it leaned and wave a little , this was n’t very apparent to the driver .
One Javelin route - examiner said , " If auto racing were relegated to stringently livestock railroad car , we ’d put our bet here . " patently a successful Javelin racing program would need an expert tweaker and a darn ripe driver .
moreover , Javelin was handicapped in Sports Car Club of America Trans - Am racing , where the ponycars competed , by the displacement point of accumulation of 305 cubic inches . Mustang and Camaro/ Firebird were ladder 302s , while AMC had to make do with the 290 , thus spotting the competition a 12 crucial cube .
AMC gamely entered the fray anyway . Hiring Jim Jeffords ( of Corvette celebrity ) to head the team , along with fling drivers Peter Revson and George Follmer , the Javelin proved itself subject of running with the hot Z/28s and Mustangs . Nonetheless , the 1968 time of year belonged to Penske Camaro and Mark Donohue . In 1969 , under Ron Kaplan , the Javelin squad was quit again .
The means to beat Penske , AMC conclude , was to grab his top driver , and so they punctually sign up Mark Donohue . He drive hard , and make headway several airstream , but not the backup .
The next yr , when Ford and Chrysler stopped backing their railway car and Penske did n’t try hard , Mark and the Javelin came home first – a famous achievement for a feisty sovereign that until late had been build Nash Ambassadors .
See the next section to ascertain about the success of the 1968 - 1970 AMC Javelin .
1968-1970 AMC Javelin
The 1968 - 1970 AMC Javelin came at the conclusion of the tip of the ponycar market , and the sale numbers show .
Roy Chapin had say he ’d be happy with " 35,000 - 40,000 sales " in 1968 , recognizing that his troupe had been the last to enter a crowded market against rival that had been around for up to three years .
So he cleverly priced the car under the rival ( the base mannequin started at only $ 2,482 versus $ 2,602 for a Mustang ) , and sold 70,000 Javelins over the calendar yr , 56,462 of them 1968 models .
Alas , that was the good Javelin would ever do . The ponycar market was tight fragmenting now , and by 1969 it had already peaked . Sales of the 1969 model cut down to 40,000 , and good example year production after that never exceed 30,000 .
The 1969 Javelin changed only slightly , feature an altered grille and reshuffled trim . The " Go " package – " rather too cutely named,“Automobile Quarterlysniffed – now admit dummy hood scoops , while the SST gain a mid - year " Big Bad " trimness option that flaunt wild color and stripes , color - keyed urethane bumpers , and a roof - jump on spoiler .
There was also a giving - block V-8 now , 390 block with 315 gross HP , to help the Javelin vie more evenly with big - engined contender .
The 1970 model saw another mild facelift , highlighted by a " twinned - venturi " grille , revised hood , new wheel covers , and clip change . Donohue ’s Trans - Am effort that year stood to benefit by magnification of the 290 V-8 to 304 cid , but a rule change countenance challenger to de - stroke big blocks to 305 in neutralise this .
Striving to put Donohue ’s cause to undecomposed sales exercise , AMC offered two limited edition Javelins that are quite collectible today . The " Mark Donohue Special " carried a vast rear spoiler blazon with Mark ’s key signature , while a very low - volume SST Trans - Am sport the racing team ’s red , white , and blue paint schema with spoilers fore and aft .
yield of the 1970 Donohue Special hit 2,501 ; John Conde says they made " only about 50 " of the Trans - Am SSTs .
moderate out our final section for more on the 1971 - 1974 AMC Javelin .
1971-1974 AMC Javelin
The 1971 - 1974 AMC Javelin saw humble invention changes , and sales fail to increase .
The Javelin ’s biggest styling change came in 1971 , but as Dick Teague said , " It was just basically a heavy face - ski lift . . . we never had a lot of money to do really spectacular things . "
striking enough , though : The wheelbase , distance , and width increased , but the car ’s most striking lineament was the front wheel arches ( or humps ) , which gave the auto a busier , bulkier , more GM - similar facial expression than previously .
The Donohue Special was continued , but a novel Javelin - base AMX replaced the now - discontinued two - seater AMX .
Product planners evidently thought the name still put forward a public presentation image , however , so the " Javelin AMX " was outfitted with a standard 360 V-8 rated at 245 horsepower . It could also be ordered with AMC ’s new 401 - Criminal Investigation Command V-8 , an expansion of the 390 .
By now , emission controls were severely affecting operation , and so the 401 ’s 16 - 2nd quarter - sea mile and eight - arcsecond 0 - 60 prison term only matched what a good 343 could do back in 1968 . The 401 remain a Javelin option through the terminal of production in 1974 ; it was the largest powerplant in AMC history .
In the disappearing ponycar market of 1972 - 1974 , Javelin maintain a two - mannequin lineup . Sales continued at a pace of about 25,000 units per year , respectable for its builder . Changes were few , restricted mainly to crop shambling and front end face - lift .
For 1972 , the SST wore a bluff eggs - crateful grill to set it apart from AMX ’s mesh - character . The following twelvemonth , both the egg - crateful grill and the SST soubriquet disappeared , leave a base Javelin and Javelin AMX , the latter with its common deck of cards spoiler and V-8 .
Why was the Javelin drop ? You ’ve probably guess already : By the mid-1970s the bottom had dropped right out of the ponycar market place . And , as John Conde notice , a house with comparatively limited resource could not afford to tie up an entire production line with a low - volume product .
" The Javelin lasted until another all - new automobile amount out – the Pacer . We needed this manufacturing line to build Pacers on , so we decided to drop the Javelin . But of course , the market for those types of cars certainly was n’t going up . "
Neither , alas , was the grocery store for American Motors products of any verbal description . When the Javelin and two - prat AMX were at their height , railroad car collector nationwide were rooting the caller on .
" We ’ve noticed this at meets , tours , races , any bit of events , " wroteAutomobile Quarterlyin 1969 . " American Motors must endure , everyone says . [ But ] few of those espousing concern over the American Motors situation were driving the company ’s cars . "
