shot and posted at the Cohort by canadiancatgreen
As the decades roll by and the automotive landscape slowly but surely evolves and we become acculturated to the contemporary forms and sizes, there are moments when I see something like this and I ask myself: Was this really made? In the US? In mass-production? Unlike the deeply ingrained more common vintage shapes, this gen2 Javelin, which was of course never very common from the get-go, it just looks so alien (Australian?)
OK; I’m back in the real world, and yes, these were made and sold here; even to the Alabama Department of Public Safety (highway patrol) that bought no less than 132 of them. Seriously. The first pony car bought as a highway patrol car.
Here’s the proof. In 1971, the Alabama Department of Public Safety (ADPS) was in a budget crunch and was willing to entertain something smaller and cheaper than the usual big 4-door sedans. A local AMC dealer lent them a demonstrator, but when its 304 V8 was deemed a bit weak-chested, AMC ponied up a 401 equipped Javelin AMX with all the goodies. The test driver loved it, and an order for 132 more ’71 and ’72 base Javelins outfitted similarly was made.
The patrol officers claimed they could outrun anything, including 440 Mopar cop cars. Top speed was right around 140, and one was modified and went 153. Full story here.
In 1971-1972, I lived in Iowa, and gen2 javelins were a pretty rare sighting, although the Iowa City police did order and buy a slew of Matadors in 1973. Oddly, they came in a variety of pastel colors, and everyone soon took them to calling them the rainbow patrol. Of course “rainbow” hadn’t yet taken on the connotation it did some years later.
If I’d lived in Alabama at the time I probably wouldn’t feel like these Javelins are so alien.
I looked in one of my coffee-table books about AMC, and sure enough it’s there. They only sold 2000 of the Javelin/AMX. The book often mentions special fleet sales but doesn’t mention this one.
The 1971 AMX production was indeed just over 2,000, but the second generation Javelin sold over 25,000 units in each model year.
I always thought these were the closest anything in America came to Mad Max’s car.
My best friend growing up drove this generation of Javelin. Mad Max was his favorite movie franchise. Partly due to the car. For the longest time, I/we thought that Mel Gibson’s character drove a modified Javelin in that movie until I learned later on this very website that the hero car was some sort of Australian Ford product… Flacon maybe? Anyway, thanks for triggering those fond memories!
When my friend Tim’s parents replaced his mom’s 60 Lark with a new 72 Javelin AMX, I had no idea how rare that car was! It was the one everyone (at least AMC guys) wants now – bright red, a 360, with the gold hood stripes, cool wheels, bucket seats, console and air conditioning. Of course, their other car was a 64 Avanti, so I guess they had a thing for uncommon cars.
Maybe it was my adolescent immersion in that car, but I always found it as good looking as anything in its class. I can now see how the proportions are a bit off and how those front fender bulges are perhaps a little much, but in the right color and trim level, I still like them.
This is as close a picture as I have ever seen.
I’ve never seen a hood stripe like this one and it looks great. It reminds me of a bird or airplane in flight with contrail. That’s coming from someone who detests all but a few racing stripes.
I don’t know that I’d ever heard about these, Paul—fun!
Here in SE Wisconsin, a town outside Milwaukee—mid-1972—gets the AMXs upon learning of Alabama’s success with them (bonus Alabama Javelin-crash story):
You can make out the 401 engine callout in certain scenes with Malloy & Reed’s AMC Matador (Anbassador?) in the Adam-12 TV series.
These cars (especially with the four segmented taillights) always reminded me of the kiddie amusement park rides with the heavy sparkle paint.
The “humpy” Javelin is one car I’ve admired from afar, for a very long time. One of my brothers went shopping with his then girlfriend back in the day. They stopped at the local AMC dealer, ostensibly to look at a Gremlin, but somehow got talked into an overnight test drive of a Pierre Cardin Javelin instead. My brother brought it home to show my family, I was blown away by the radical styling of the car in general and the interior in particular. Please note, I was nine years old at the time. The price of the Javelin was way more than she wanted to spend, so she bought the Gremlin instead.
Fast forward 22 years later, I found a very nice 1971 Javelin AMX for sale in the outer suburbs of Atlanta. The car was well maintained and a very reasonable price, too. I made a deal with the owner and went home to tell my wife. However, she had a surprise for me. Our second child was on the way and I thought it made more sense to use that money for the upcoming expenses that would occur. So, no humpy Javelin for me.
Maybe some other time.
I took an early interest in pop culture, forecasting a future in advertising and design. And as a little kid, I thought the marketing, and branding, with these was spot on. This imagery and concept, are early ’70’s icons. Along with the McGuire twins on their mini motorbikes. lol Great publicity for AMC, and the new Javelin. Plus, it promoted Alabama internationally.
I thought the livery on these was excellent, very tasteful and modern, for police cars. And I thought the styling made a nice break, from the 1960’s. AMC should have played up this purchase more, in their marketing. As most references were in media. The rear spoiler was as well integrated on these, as on any muscle car. Nice, childhood memory.
Proud to be an ‘alien! 🙂
As a teen, I thought they looked amazing, though I think I only ever saw them in magazines. AMI assembled the first gen ones (a good question would be ‘Why?), not sure they did these.
The second generation Javelin styling always reminded me of the 1971-1973 Mustang coupe. The tail lights on the 73-74 Javelin were a nice look.
Pretty amazing car, I never knew until this article .
-Nate
I always thought that the fender “humps” and the rest of the styling made the Javelin one of the most MUSCULAR looking muscle cars! Alas, I never owned one however! 🙂
So in the past I’ve wondered: if the body had just been sit a lot further forward on the chassis, would that have solved the problem of the awkward proportions? Here’s my before and after Photoshop attempt—I simply moved the fender wells and wheels a good 6 or 8 inches forward. I think that would have helped!