The new shape from the AMC Advanced Styling Studio
A new image that was aimed at growing youth market
Needed to do something with their limited resources
1967 was a scary time in and around Kenosha, Wisconsin, home of American Motors Corporation. The company was not doing well, sales were down and the finances were in dire straights, they were running out of cash. AMC was dead last in the domestic auto manufacturing business, positioned in a distant fourth place, and always struggling to stay alive. For the company it was a huge risk to try anything new, however, at this time, they needed to do something even with their limited resources.
Their full-sized Marlin fastback model totally missed the mark and was a feeble attempt to counter the Mustang, and sales were beyond dismal. What they needed was a miracle of sorts, something to get things looking better and improve sales on the dealership showroom floors. Unfortunately, over the past years, the company had been branded as the maker of "granny cars" for old people, and their engines had become outdated, the product line offered zero in the way of anything to do with high performance.
With great anticipation, the new experimental AMC show car was photographed for the cover of the May 1966 edition of Motor Trend Magazine. The future of the company depended on getting new products that appealed to the American buying public. Inside the pages, the question was asked: "Will AMC pass its 15th birthday?"
A wild new shape
The answer turned out to be a new car called Javelin. How the Javelin came into the picture goes back to early 1964 when a wild new shape was penned in the AMC Advanced Styling Studio 1965 when American Motors built an experimental car, a concept called "AMX" which was a styling exercise, a racy custom 2-door Vignale body crafted in Italy. The design featured extra long doors with a short rear overhang. It was very pleasing to the eye and for a little throw-back to automotive history, a unique "ramble seat "that mirrored the old-fashioned rumble seat was fitted to the rear deck.
The styling studio at AMC took a daring chance by building a one-off Project IV Vignale AMX, for which the letters stood for American Motors eXpermental. The body was built by Bertone in Italy and it rode on a 98-inch wheelbase and sat 48 inches high. Also part of the design was the hidden A-pillars feature and the roof was built to be self-supporting, and had a built-in roll bar which permitted an unobstructed panoramic field of vision plus provided a cleaner-looking greenhouse section when viewed from the front. Power came from the newly-released "Typhoon V8" engine which was completely new and displaced 290-cid.
JAVELIN introduced
It was August 31, 1967, when the car was first introduced to the AMC dealers. This was a game-changer, a vehicle to put the company on the road to recovery. Those dealers needed to be trained on how to sell the Javelin, which was aimed at a younger market than what they were normally used to selling Ramblers.
This "youth market" was a different scene altogether and the advertising agency came up with some creative magazine ads and television commercials that helped get out the message that AMC had begun to reverse its staid image.
This red, white and blue logo was introduced in 1969 and was called the A-mark.
What this new Javelin did immediately was to show the buying public that AMC was creating a great-looking contemporary vehicle, a pony car, and one that looked cool.
They toyed with the idea of a 4-door hardtop, and luckily it never came to be. The last thing needed, was turning a hot new and exciting pony car into a family car.
Painted in "Big Bad Orange" hue, in 1969 AMC offered up a Big Bad Javelin package that came in special colors plus could be fitted with an optional spoiler attached to the railing edge of the roof, simulated extruded aluminum exhaust rocker moldings, blacked out simulated hood scoops, color-keyed bumpers, adorned with side C-stripe graphics. Red-stripe rubber and mag-styled steel wheels helped set it off with the performance look.
For the line of 1970 production Javelins, there were 100 street replicas built in the AMC racing three-segment paint. These specially-built cars came with the 390-cid engine with ram-air hood, front spoiler, rear wing, 3.91 ratio Twin-Grip differential, 4-speed close-ratio gearbox with Hurst shifter, heavy-duty front and rear springs, and shocks, power front disc brakes, F70x14 raised white letter tires, 14 x 6 mag-type steel wheels, and a 140-mph speedometer.
Besides a new grille and front bumper, the changes on the Javelin for 1970 also included a freshened dashboard, new high-back bucket seats and the replacement of the 290- and 343-cid engines with new, larger 304- and 360-cid powerplants as well as the 390 engine getting redesigned cylinder heads with 51cc combustion chambers, raising the power output to 325hp. Cars equipped with the "Go Package" came with Power Blister scooped hoods, dual-exhausts, included heavy-duty suspension upgrades, front power disc brakes, 3.54 rear gears and steel-styled wheels with Goodyear raised-white letter tires.
Promoted as more of a family car than a high-performance vehicle in this 1972 Javelin advertisement.
"People should feel like they're sitting in a living room instead of sitting in a machine" was how the advertising introduced the "Pierre Cardin" 1972 Javelin, an elegant upholstery option for SST models that included unique designs on the seats, door panels and headliner. So "chic" all for an extra $84.95, and 4,152 orders were taken for the unique red, white, silver, blue, and purple, over black interior optioned cars.
The aerodynamics greatly improved racing applications for 1971, and the new shape of the Javelin showed that it was slipperier than the previous body shape.
The State of Alabama liked the Javelin SST model for State Police Trooper car duty, and they placed in order with the factory for a total of 133 of them and they were fitted with 401-cid engines, Torque-Command automatic transmissions, which were Chrysler-sourced A727 three-speed units, with 3.54:1 rear gearing in the Twin-Grip differential. These special law enforcement cars ran the eight-slot steel Rally wheels with Goodyear Polyglas F60-15 rubber. The factory removal of the back seat provided room for storage of police flak jackets, first aid kits, mace and road flares.
There was a new "broad-shouldered" look for the Javelin body, and the bulkier, heavier-appearing car was completely restyled from the top down. Starting at the top it received a small lip spoiler built into the sheet metal, as to suggest a twin canopy roof design. The front fenders received a racy styling cue of highly sculptured blisters over the wheel openings, and on the back bulged rear quarter panels. The car was given a one-inch longer wheelbase, and while the front track width remained the same, however on the rear the width of the axle was widened by three inches. Inside was a completely restyled interior, featuring a curved instrument panel in front of the driver. The AMX version, shown here, was a "2+2" design and was based on the Javelin body skin, had a cowl induction raised hood design, and the grille was made flush for improved airflow for racing purposes.
The last year of the Javelin AMX was 1974, and it was a carry-over from the 1973 model, and that included the revised four-pod large taillight treatment. The federally-mandated 5-mph bumper regulations were matched with the fitting of large black rubber guards and shock-absorbing bumper mechanisms. The 401 engine did remain on the options list, down to a listed net horsepower rating of 235, compression ratio down to 8.25:1 and the functional cowl induction fresh air hood feature was gone.
AMX DEBUTS FEBRUARY 15, 1968
The AMX, a sporty new two-seater is aimed at the performance-minded car enthusiast. It features four-barrel V-8 power and a broad range of performance and handling items, including rear traction bars, a large-diameter front sway bar, heavy-duty springs and shocks, and wide profile fiberglass belted tires. Three V-8 engine choices are available, all with four-barrel carburetion. They include the standard 290 inch V-8 and optional 343 and 390 cubic inch V-8s.
AMX Advertising
An AMX model car kit and three Walter Gotschke posters: Today these beautiful posters are in high demand for avid American Motors aficionados.
The AMX made the rounds for advertising from outside manufacturers, a Goodyear two-page ad with a trio of silver AMXs mounted with Cragar S/S wheels with Goodyear Wide Boot GT tires, which featured 7 riding ribs in the tread using 6 grooves, all good for 130 mph. This was the pre-radial era and white lettering was a new thing.
In 1970 the 360 engine was standard on the AMX, new front-end treatment and redesigned instrument panel, and high-back bucket seats with integral headrests. The 390-cid engine now with a functional Ram-Air hood scoop. The base price was $3395 and that included a Hurst shifter for the 4-speed, tachometer, Goodyear Polyglas tires with mag-style steel wheels.
Basically, the AMX was a Javelin that was vertically sectioned with 12-inches of floor and body removed between the doors and rear axle. Added in with the elimination of the back seat, it became a two-seater, which by some definitions means it's a true sports car.
Promoting Prototypes
On the "Baracek" television show George Barris came up with this chop-top "AMX-400" that had a reduction of 4.5-inches in height and it received a 15-inch extension up front, incorporating a peaked louvered grille and a pair of scoops added to the hood, along with the elimination of the front bumper. The entire back of the car had a louvered theme and different shaped wheel openings were cut into the body, and fake side pipes were fitted to the sides. The promotional car was painted by a Tangerine Candy with Pearl White and Copper overtones, and the Cragar S/S wheels complete the period look.
This prototype AMX is from 1966, and this side shot shows the "ramble" seat opened up, and the rear backlight lifted via a top hinge to act as a windshield for the rear-most occupants. Amazingly, this exact car, an original fiberglass mock-up car was scheduled for destruction, and an assembly line worker heard about it and daringly approached the AMC president, and rather than getting rid of it, as another one was unceremoniously burned to the ground at the factory, that it be given to him as an enthusiast. Surprisingly a week later a phone call came in and the AMX prototype was available for purchase, complete with the 343-cid V8 engine, 4-speed manual transmission and dual exhaust, power brakes, all for the man who inquired about the car, the price was $50.00. He bought it and kept the car garaged all these years.
In March of 1968 the Chicago Auto Show was the first showing of the "AMX/2" concept car, a sleek 43-inch high exotic sports car that was mid-engine in layout, on a 105-inch wheelbase, and featured a body shape that was said to be a "significant exercise in styling ideas for the future." It was a non-operational fiberglass-bodied prototype that was designed in the AMC styling studio with the plans that it would be powered by the then-newly developed AMC 390 V8 with power put to the rear wheels via a transaxle. As this vehicle traveled around at major car show events, it was clear to anyone who saw it that American Motors was now changing its ways from the past.
Final Models
They meant well and the cars were flashier than the standard Hornet hatchback, but the 1977 "AMX" was certainly less than a glorious reprise of a great American sports car. A Targa band over the roof and body-color wheel flares, front spoiler, rear window louvers, interior upgrades and five-spoke premium wheels did provide some eye candy as a way of bringing back the AMX name.
While it looked racy, as compared to the originals, this Concord version of an AMX had a standard inline six-cylinder engine displacing 258-cid and came with a 4-speed manual transmission. If the 304-cid V8 was ordered, it was mandated to come with an automatic transmission.
For 1979 the factory offered an AMX package on their newly created "Spirit," which was a 96-inch wheelbase hatchback replacement for the Gremlin. While it certainly was no screamer as those no longer existed in the American car market, the marketing folks did at least make an effort to make the AMX option something that stood out from the regular models. Included in the package was a graphics package that included a large flaming AMX marking on the center of the hood. The body was enhanced with front and rear spoilers, fender flares, a black-out grille with black-out front and rear bumper treatment, and twin remote mirrors were blacked out. Turbo-Cast II aluminum wheels shod with 60-series Goodyear white lettered radial tires (ER60-14) were included and the suspension was upgraded from stock with front and rear sway bars, Gabriel "Strider" shock absorbers, and "high-control" rear leaf springs. Inside the bucket seat interior, a leather-wrapped steering wheel and brushed aluminum instrument panel inserts complete the package, A 304-cid V8 was available, and when ordered with manual shift, it came with what the factory called a performance-tuned exhaust sound and 125 horsepower was all it could muster. "Expect to be noticed" is how the advertising promoted the car.
Limited Production
Under the supervision of AMC, the voluptuous AMX/3 was built in Livorno, Italy, by Bizzarrini and the original plan for this machine was to be a low-production prestige "halo car" for American Motors, and that it would be priced at $10,000, which was a large figure in 1970. The car made all the magazines and there were high hopes that it would actually make production.
The AMX/3 lines were sleek and sexy and about the only thing that anyone would ever notice on the outside was that the flush-mount AMC door handles were used on it, same as all AMC cars of that era. The fiberglass body brought a positive response from the press when it was first shown at its world debut on March 23, 1970. The power came from amid-ship 390-cid V8 and it rode on a 105.3-inch wheelbase, with a weight 3,090 pounds. Only six total were built.
Short-lived all around contender
The original two-seaters will long be remembered as cool cars that were built by an underdog car manufacturer,
and the racing exploits are still seen as impressive accomplishments.
Javelins and AMXs remain interesting vehicles that are appreciated by serious AMC admirers and fans, and offer a great platform for builders who want something different.
