While AMC’s version of the Mustang may not exactly resemble a flying, pointed, aerodynamic projectile, some of them could accelerate rapidly and look pretty sporting to boot. Unlike the Mustang and its many iterations, there were only two basic Javelin styles.
The first-generation Javelin spanned the 1968-1970 model years, and could be awfully patriotic. Of course, the AMX rode the Javelin platform, with a healthy notch cut from the middle. Being the first, is this Javelin the purest form of the design?
Or is the second generation more seductive? Dick Teague, AMC’s well-known design chief, obviously admired the C3 Corvettes of the era, and wanted one he could call AMC’s own. Although the Javelin’s platform remained roughly the same, the look was completely different, and lasted from 1971-1974, when the Javelin was canceled.
So which Javelin do you prefer?
The first generation was clean and simple, the second was kind of disco nastiness.
I like the proportions of the second generation – but not the bloated puffiness. The car was too big to do those fenders. The first generation is just off a bit proportionally. The hind quarters just don’t work, especially with that rear end design.
So, if I overlook the bloat and visual heft from the second generation – that one.
Today i prefer the first generation. I grew up not far from Kenosha and both were plentiful. I recall the ’71 and up had a huge space between the radiator and fan that was filled with a plastic snorkel. Seemed like 2 feet long.
Still love the first gen AMX although the wheelbase seems stubbier today.
I am the opposite, when I was a teenager the first generation looked lighter, sportier and more fun. Now that I have gained a few years (about 40) the second generation has begun to grow on me. As much as I don’t want to admit it even the fender bulges over the front wheels might actually help. When I was younger I thought they were over done and looked like the car was saying, HEY, LOOK AT ME! But now with age they don’t look so bad. As far as impractical cars there was a time in my life when the owner of the company I worked for (I was best man ay his wedding) decided to let the 6 people who helped him start the company could lease a company car. The only stipulation was it had to be the most impractical car available in 1991. Since I already had a Miata and a 1989 factory Dodge Dakota convertible, after much thought I leased a mew Acura NSX. I didn’t win. I thought have 3 two seaters 2 of which were convertibles I had to win. The winner had a Lotus Esprit 4 cylinder turbo and leased a Subaru SVX. The Miata and NSX were two of the best cars I have owned, and I have been through a bunch of them
First generation for sure. There is one a street over from my house. I’m not much of an AMC fan, but I could see myself in one of those any day.
Chalk me up for the clean & simple lines of the G1. Also, even as a 10 year old I knew that dropping the 2-seat AMX and making it an option package on the regular Javelin was a shark jump.
I thought the first generation Javelin was really attractive, the shape was clean and simple, the second generation looked bloated and over cooked.
First-gen only for me. No stripes except a tasteful pinstripe along the sides, in white or light gray. The car has to be red, of course.
The top photo floats my boat.
First-gen only for me. No stripes except a tasteful pinstripe along the sides, in white or light gray. The car has to be red, of course.
One red stripeless gen 1 Javelin…you didn’t mention half vinyl roof or spoiler as a disqualifier
The First Generation in my opinion does not even resembled any of its competitors like the Chevrolet Camaro/Pontiac Firebird, Ford Mustang/Mercury Cougar or even the Plymouth Barracuda. In fact the First Generation Javelin even has a much more closer resemblance to the 1968-72 Chevrolet Nova 2 Door Coupe if these Novas were to have a Hardtop version which it never had from 1968-72.
Unabashed 2nd gen fan here. I like the earlier ones, but in my eyes, the lines are like so many AMC cars of the period – close but not quite right.
The 2nd gen is certainly not for everyone, but it is certainly cohesive. From front to back, it is completely over the top in that early 1970s way. These made everything else look conservative, and I would happily park one of these in my fantasy garage.
I will admit that part of my opinion may have been formed at a young age when neighbors owned one, but even trying to discount for that, one of these in AMX trim is still a cool car in JPC’s (sometimes strange) world.
After the Pierre Cardin Javelin, I figured that would be your choice!
I almost didn’t run this today (too much Javelin this month?), but what the heck. 🙂
I’m actually not clamoring for either one, but I saw a really cool yellow 2nd gen in a car chase on Adam-12, so I’ll go with that one. I really like the AMX grille on Gen 2, as well…
“too much Javelin ”
Pretty sure that’s impossible 😉
Early Javelin,no contest.I had a 69 secretary’s special which became my brother’s first American car then my sisters..I remember being shocked the first time I saw a 71 Javelin.I’ve warmed a bit more to the 71 /74 Javelins but it’s the same story,an American car maker builds a beauty first time and the later models don’t look as good.Javelin,Cougar,Roadrunner,Torino and Cyclone are just a few examples.
I’ll take one with the red white and blue bands angled forward. Make it a second gen Javelin because I think it wears that paint job better.
Ahhh, yes . . . .
Can I like both? They are different enough that each stands on its own merits (relative to its own timeframe, of course). The b/w/r paint scheme still gets my blood pumping!
I agree! I always thought that the 2nd generation was one of the most “muscular” looking of the muscle cars with those bulging fenders!! 🙂
The first-gen Javelin, IMO, is a beautiful car. It is, however, sensitive to the way it is spec’d out. Low trim level cars, which were everywhere in Kenosha (232, 3 speed, dog dish hubcaps and skinny whitewalls, no stripes to break up the lines) kind of turned me off to them. One of the families we carpooled with in junior high bought a new early ’68 strippo. It was pale yellow with a black interior. I remember the first time I got in the back seat; it felt like I had fallen in a dark hole.
When my father brought home a new bright red ’71 SST with a 401, I was pretty much sold on the new body style (I thought my mother was going to kill him- she HATED that car). Plus there was the bonus of me just having gotten my license.
I later owned a very nice ’74 that I just never quite warmed up to. So a nicely optioned ’70 SST or Donohue would be my choice.
71-4. They’re obviously muscle cars, but clearly not from the big three.
I also like AMCs because they used bits from the Big Three; Chrysler transmissions, Ford steering boxes, etc.
I like Javelin and AMX before 1971. I like the divided grille of the pre-71 Javelin. I also like the two seater of the AMX.
Ist gen for me please.
The second generation because a bigger car is always a better car.
Door #1 here. I certainly don’t dislike the 2nd gen cars (and I agree that they do wear the RWB paint scheme better) but they seem a little too snouty up front, and a little too hippy out back. Like a C3 ‘Vette in a funhouse mirror.
If I could have My Javelin in that way over the top RWB paint scheme, that! And normally I’m not a huge fan of patriotiotic livery on cars(like spirit of America), but the Javelin always looked natural to me like the one featured. I also much prefer the slight front and rear restyle for the 1970 models to the 68/69.
On any given day however, make mine a second gen.
I prefer the 2nd-generation with the quad taillights instead of the light bar.
absolutely the first generation is by far nicer than than gen2,…..
Generation 1 1/2 here. Gen 1 1/2??? Yup. In 70 they put a new dash in the gen 1 car, which I prefer. Cleaner, more upscale look. This is the dash of the red one I posted above….and I would have left off the spoiler that car has.
Earlier Gen 1 dash: cheap and busy. Bleh!
Agreed. But I want the 68 grille and bumper
over the ’70 for your very reasons. 70 is cheap and busy. Bleh!
70 is cheap and busy. Bleh!
The hood with the nostrils was an option, as was the spoiler. i’d leave both.
Actually, I’d like the Javelin better with the AMX front end, but they didn’t ask me when they were putting them together.
See, I’m completely opposite, I like the 68-69 Dash better than the 70 and I like the continuous grille/headlights of the 1970 better than the 68-69. The 70 taillights look better to me than the wraparounds of the 68-69 as well.
“… the second [gen] was kind of disco nastiness…”
To be historically accurate, when the 1971 Javelin debuted, it was fall 1970, and Disco music was still about 7 years away from radio popularity, and Studio 54 was not even open yet! LOL
Just kidding, but so many people assign the entire decade of 1970-79 as “disco”, when it was really about 1/2. Just like saying “all of the 60’s was hippies and Woodstock”.
The 1971 was used for the first “Astro-Spiral” jump, recreated in the 007 movie with a Hornet. The first gens look too ‘Rambler-Hornet-ish’, too.
1st gen no real contest.
Back in the day as a young man when the second generation AMX came out me and the guys dismissed them as crap cars. We did however have a lot of respect for The first generation AMX and early seventies Matador police cars. The Matadors handled well and those equipped with the 360 V8 engines were very fast for those times. There were a few cars AMC did right.
How about a 401 Matador like in Adam-12??? 🙂
Yeah I bet those moved out pretty quick. The city I lived in used the 307 V8 (?) in the 71 marked Matadors then had a small fleet of ghost cars with the 360 V8s.
Whats my preference? Any Javelin or AMX as opposed to NOT having one! I actually like the sawed off AMX the least of the 3, either Jav looks much better from a proportion standpoint. I go back and forth on 1st vs 2nd gen. BUT, since we’re in fantasy land…
How about a Big Bad Orange ’74 (year I was born and last for the Jav) with AMX/Go-Pak…401 and 4 in the floor with a California rake, Cragar SS mags and big-n-little tires? That would be parked next to a Big Bad Blue Scrambler in my dream garage.
Early second-gen for me, say a ’71. I prefer the SST’s cleaner front end rather than the AMX, and I’ll have mine with the full length side stripes, thank you. Or maybe a ’72 with the C-stripes. And the contrasting roof panels, too. Like this, but perhaps in green.
Here’s a better pic of what I have in mind!
When I was a little boy, my automotive world revolved around two cars: The first gen Mercury Cougar and the first gen AMC Javelin and AMX. My very first 20″ bike had an AMC licensed copy of the Javelin logo on it. 45 year later, I still have fond memories of that bike. There’s something about the simple lines of the first gen that get in your head and help you become a designer later in life. I blame all of this on Richard Teague. Thank you Mr. Teague, for helping to foster this obsession.
As I mentioned in my post on the purple Javelin last week, my impressions of the 2nd gen Javelin were shaped by my older brother’s adventure with one. He was shopping for a car with his then-girlfriend and brought home a loaded SST version which ultimately was too pricey for their combined pockets. They later came home with a strippo Gremlin.
But experiencing that 2nd gen Javelin was like no other car in my young life (I was all of 9 years old at the time). I carry that desire to own a 2nd gen to this day. In fact, the second picture in the post is the spitting image of the car I declined to buy in 1992, once I heard I had another child on the way. I still think about that missed opportunity, but can do nothing to change it. Such is life…
Put me down for all of the above, but especially a 1971 or later AMX with the Pierre Cardin interior package…
The 2G Javelin probably was design plagiarism from the 1971-73 Ford Mustang Grande and Mercury Cougar XR-7 from that era since their appearance mimics those of the Ford made Pony Cars rather closely. In the same token, the 1971-74 Plymouth Barracuda and Dodge Challenger had at least a close similarity in design with the 1967-69 Chevrolet Camaro and Pontiac Firebird.
Not sure how the 2G Javelin could have copied the 71 Mustang, as both were being developed at the same time, and both debuted as 1971 models.
First generation for me, my dad had a good job in 1968 working for a juice canning factory in Florida. He bought a brand new 1968 Javelin just to use as a drag car. He had it lettered in the early 70s as “Momma’s Complaint” and I have fond memories of that car.
I have always found the G1 first dash to be very original. But the car rags complained endlessly, so AMC changed to the bland, flat ’70 version. What really steals the show is the cockpit dash of G2. Cool as can be, complete with toggle switches, and a stirrup-grip on automatics. What a shame, after the Mustang went ll, Cougar went brougham, and the Barracuda/Challenger went to the boneyard. If only AMC had spent the Pacer tooling money on an updated Javelin, to do battle with the Camaros and Firebirds…l still miss my saphire blue 1973 Javelin 360. Don’t forget–Javelin and Mark Donohue won the Trans-Am 1971 and 1972
+1 I always wondered whether the Pacer hastened the demise of AMC or brought a stay of execution.I’d sooner have seen a 3rd generation Javelin than the strange Pacer
I wonder if those guys would have won if the competition had been the same as in ’70…If you read the Javelin chapter in “The Unfair Advantage,” you’ll find that Donohue and Penske had a tough time making the Javelin competitive. It would have been interesting had Ford and Chevy stayed in it to their full extent.
I agree on the dash of the G2. Especially in AMX trim with the engine-turned metal dash face. I also found it really cool how a portion of the dash was actually built into the driver’s door panel, much like the early 1960s Thunderbird.
1st gen, without stripes or vinyl roof. 2nd gen reminds me of the bloated 70- 73 Mustang and I don’t like the wheel humps. Extra points for no hood scoop or spoiler.
Gen 1 for me. Extra points if its factory RHD. They were assembled here in Aus in the late 60s- early 70s. By a mob called AMI who later evolved into Whitegoods (toyota) Australia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Motor_Industries
My preference would be for a non-striped Javelin — but then, my preference is generally for a non-striped anything. Also for a non-vinyl-roof anything, which I notice a few of these cars also have. I don’t categorically dismiss either stripes or vinyl roofs (except the padded ones), but I have a hard time thinking of any car that these options have ever improved.
As for G1 vs. G1 Javelin, I agree that the design of the G1 Jav — much like the G1 Mustang — had a purity and innocence that remains extremely appealing all these epochs later. But I also enjoy the G2 Javs. In the identical timeframe of 1971-74, by which time the Mustang’s looks had gone to hell, the G2 Jav (d)evolved into a similarly big beast that at least looked a lot better than the “Eleanor” Mustang did by that time. In fact, there are Shelby Mustangs of that gen that, at a glance, could be mistaken for G2 Javs (see attached). I’d compare both Fords and AMC’s G1 pony cars to the very young Pamela Anderson, circa 1990, before the breast augmentation and the tattooed eyebrows. With cars as with Pam, the earlier version is not necessarily superior to the later, but it does possess a certain je ne sais quoi that, once gone, will never return.
Much abuse gets dumped on the G2 “Humpsters” for their cartoonish front fenders and massive haunches, yet spotting one never fails to brighten my day. The wraparound dash is also a fun feature. Very much agreed with previous commenters posters that AMC’s overstretched resources would have been better spent on continuing the Javelin (esp. with Ford and Mopar now out of the muscle-car sweepstakes) rather than betting the farm on the non-competitive Matador Coupe and the preposterous Pacer.
Absent the Javelin/AMX, how much collector interest would the letters AMC still command in the year 2014? To me personally, without their Jav/AMX/Rebel Machine performance-car credentials, American Motors would just be another old, peculiar, D-list carmaker whose bankruptcy was probably deserved.
1st Gen, but wouldn’t kick a 2nd Gen out of the garage. Preferably without stripage.
Generation 1 for me. With a side of blue Corvette (see 1st pic)
Here is mine: 390 4sp Rally, Mod and Go packages wow!