Growing up in the
Sixties, you were a Ford guy, a Chevy guy, or maybe—if you were a real
free thinker—a Chrysler guy. But nobody was an American Motors guy—or at
least would admit it very loudly.
The Javelin, America
Motors had hoped, would change that.
It should have. The
Javelin handled as well as the pony herd, had good brakes and a nifty
new thin-wall casting V8. And Javelin was the prettiest thing from
Wisconsin since the Cheese Queen.
Other
than Dodge’s 1970 Challenger, which was really a Barracuda that had
joined the Dodge rebellion, Javelin was the last of the pony cars to
arrive, debuting in September 1967 as a 1968 model. After the
ill-conceived Marlin, the Javelin scored a conceptual bull’s-eye. Like
the Mustang, it was based on the florrpan of a compact sedan, retuned
and recalibrated and enveloped in a sexy new skin.
Engine choices ran from
a secretarial six to a four-barrel carbureted, high-compression 290 cid
V8 that would make the live rear axle dance like St. Vitus himself. No,
it wasn’t sophisticated, but it was fun.
The shape, attributed
to Chuck Mashigan in Dick Teague’s ANC styling studio, was first shown
at the National SAE Convention in Detroit in January 1966, as a sporty
two-seater called the AMX. Shortly thereafter it was executed in metal
by the Italian coachbuilder Vignale.
With relatively modest
alterations, the show car/prototype became the production AMX introduced
in January 1968, and with a few more changes—including a stretch to add
a back seat—the Javelin of several months earlier.
The styling was
exceptionally clean, with smooth, flowing lines, body-contoured bumpers
below a simple grille and no fake scoops or gratuitous bulges. A pair of
black phony hood scoops was optional; otherwise the hood had
indentations with small chrome inserts. It was European enough that the
cars were shipped completely-knocked-down to Karmann in Germany who
assembled and sold them as Karmann Javelins.
The
dash looked more European as well, with round, deeply recessed gauges
that included a big—though not as large as the speedometer—tach. But the
vinyl-covered front bucket seats had minimal bolstering, and the
“sports” steering wheel had imitation holes in its spokes. The top sound
systems available were an AM/FM radio or AM/8-track stereo.
You could buy a base
Javelin for less than ,500, but this got you the 232 cid six with a
single-barrel carburetor and a column-shifted three-speed manual
transmission. The 290 cid “Typhoon” V8, American Motor’s new engine, was
the next step up, with either a two- or four-barrel carb and 9:1 or 10:1
compression, rated at 200 or 225 horsepower respectively.
Top of the line was a
343 cid Typhoon that made 280 hp. interestingly, a floor-shifted
four-speed was mandatory with the 22-horse engine, but a column- or
floor-shifted automatic was available on the 343 and the two smaller
engines. The new 315-horse “AMX 390” became available in mid-year. And
American Motors but its engine badges on the rear fender instead of the
front, like everyone else, which seemed odd rather than distinctive.
Nevertheless, the
Javelin was an immediate hit, with 55,124 sold the first year out. That
year, American Motors turned a profit for the first time since 1965. So
the Javelin returned with more of the same for ’69, mostly changing
stripes and trim. In mid-year the Big Bad Javelins had bright orange,
green or blue paint, even on the bumpers. Not as arresting but more
popular was the SST package, SST meaning Super Sports Touring but
primarily consisting of more trim and comfort items.
The 290 four-barrel,
though the base engine in the AMX, seems an anomaly in the Javelin,
costing 0 with the mandatory four-speed, while the “Go Pack” cost
only over that and included the 280-horse 343, front disc brakes,
E-70 tires and the handling package. There wasn’t even a weight penalty
with the 343, as it had the same block as the 290. The 290’s horses were
reputed to be underrated, however, making the engine an “insurance
special.”
A 1969 Javelin acquired
by Charles Gerancher Sr., of North Catasauqua, Pa., had one of the 290
four-barrels. Although fairly basic as ordered new, Gerancher added
options while restoring the car, including the side pipes, which were
originally available from the factory or dealer-installed. Though most
of the dealer literature doesn’t show this option, the Javelin was the
only car other than the AMX or Chevrolet’s Corvette available with side
pipes.
The pipes offer no
obstacle to entry, which is easy enough, but the steering wheel is too
close, something even the optional tilt doesn’t help. Also, the power
steering was too loose, but the alternative is the standard non-assisted
steering, or worse, the fast ratio non-assisted steering.
Its rear seat was the
largest in the class, which may not have helped the performance image,
at least in the conventional sense, as did the Hurst shifter—standard
with the four-speed box and working well with it.
We didn’t do
acceleration tests with the little—for its time—V8 and contemporary road
tests focused on the larger 343 (0-60 in 7.9 seconds, quarter mile in
15.5 at 90 mph). But cruising with the pillarless-hardtop’s side windows
down, the sidepipes advertising a slightly lumpy cam, maybe some
Lovin’ Spoonful on the 8-track, and suddenly it’s summer in the
Sixties. It may not have altered the allegiance of those Ford, Chevy and
Mopar guys, but it at least earned their respect.
Yet the Javelin magic
couldn’t last forever. Even by ’69, despite an increasingly successful
racing program, the sporty car’s sales were declining. But it had, along
with other performance models, changed the company’s image and, for a
time, saved the company. What more could one ask?
Family Car Parts Store
Other
than Dodge’s 1970 Challenger, which was really a Barracuda that had
joined the Dodge rebellion, Javelin was the last of the pony cars to
arrive, debuting in September 1967 as a 1968 model. After the
ill-conceived Marlin, the Javelin scored a conceptual bull’s-eye. Like
the Mustang, it was based on the florrpan of a compact sedan, retuned
and recalibrated and enveloped in a sexy new skin.
The
dash looked more European as well, with round, deeply recessed gauges
that included a big—though not as large as the speedometer—tach. But the
vinyl-covered front bucket seats had minimal bolstering, and the
“sports” steering wheel had imitation holes in its spokes. The top sound
systems available were an AM/FM radio or AM/8-track stereo.
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