The AMC Javelin is an American front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, two-door hardtop automobile manufactured and marketed by American Motors Corporation (AMC) across two generations, 1968–70 and 1971–74.
Styled by Dick Teague, the Javelin was available in a range of trim and engine levels, from economical pony car to muscle car variants. In addition to manufacture in Kenosha, Wisconsin, Javelins were assembled under license in Germany, Mexico, Philippines, Venezuela, as well as Australia – and were marketed globally.
As the winner of Trans-Am race series in 1971, 1972, and 1976, the second-generation AMX variant was the first pony car to be used as a standard vehicle for highway police car duties by an American law enforcement agency.
American Motors' Javelin served as the company's entrant into the "pony car" market created by the Ford Mustang. The design evolved from two AMX prototypes shown in AMC's "Project IV" concept cars during 1966. One was a fiberglass two-seat "AMX", and the other was a four-seat "AMX II". Both of these offerings reflected the company's strategy to shed its "economy car" image and appeal to a more youthful, performance-oriented market.
Sales of convertibles were dropping and AMC did not have the resources to design separate fastback and notchback hardtops that were available on the Mustang and on the second-generation Plymouth Barracuda, so the AMC designer team under Richard A. Teague penned only one body style, "a smooth semi-fastback roofline that helped set Javelin apart from other pony cars."
The Javelin was built on AMC's "junior" (compact) Rambler American platform only as a two-door hardtop model to be a "hip", dashing, affordable pony car, as well as available in muscle car performance versions. "Despite management's insistence on things like good trunk space and rear-seat room, Teague managed to endow the Javelin with what he termed the wet T-shirt look: voluptuous curves with nary a hint of fat."
The Javelin debuted on August 22, 1967, for the 1968 model year, and the new models were offered for sale from September 26, 1967, with prices starting at $2,743.
The car incorporated several safety innovations including interior windshield posts that were "the first industry use of fiberglass safety padding", and the flush-mounted paddle-style door handles. To comply with National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) safety standards there were exterior side marker lights, and three-point seat belts and headrests for the front seats, while the interior was devoid of bright trim to help reduce glare.
AMC marketed the Javelin as offering "comfortable packaging with more interior and luggage space than most of its rivals" with adequate leg- and headroom in the back and a trunk capacity of 10.2 cubic feet (288.83 l). There were no side vent windows. Flow-through ventilation extracted interior air through apertures in the doors controlled by adjustable flap valves in the bottom of the door armrests. All Javelins came with thin-shell bucket seats and a fully carpeted interior, while the SST model had additional appearance and comfort items that included reclining front seat backs, simulated wood grained door panel trim, and a sports-style steering wheel. The Javelin's instruments and controls were set deep in a padded panel, with the rest of the dashboard was set well forward, away from the passenger.
The car's front end had what AMC called a "twin-venturi" look with recessed honeycomb grille and outboard-mounted headlamps, and matching turn signals were set into the bumper. There was a pair of simulated air scoops on the hood and the windshield was raked at 59 degrees for a "sporty overall appearance."
Road and Track magazine compared a Javelin favorably to its competitors on its introduction in 1968, describing its "big, heavy, super-powerful engine" as "an asset in such a small vehicle", and the styling as "pleasant".Motor Trend, putting the Javelin at the top of the "sports-personal" category in its annual "Car of the Year" issue, said it was "the most significant achievement for an all-new car" and "the most notable new entry in [its] class."
Available only in a two-door hardtop, body style, the Javelin came in base and more premium SST models. Standard engines were a 232 cu in (3.8 L) straight-6 or a 290 cu in (4.8 L) two-barrel carburetor V8. Optional was a 343 cu in (5.6 L) V8 in regular gasoline two-barrel, or high-compression, premium-fuel four-barrel versions. Racing driver Gordon Johncock said the Javelin had "a nice, all-round blend of features", that it "stacks up as a roomy, comfortable, peppy and handsome example of a so-called "pony car" and that after his road test he "wanted to take it home."
With the standard straight-six engine, the Javelin cruised at 80 miles per hour (129 km/h) when equipped with an automatic transmission, while those with the small 290 cu in (4.8 L) V8 had a top speed of 100 miles per hour (161 km/h). A three-speed "Shift-Command" automatic transmission was optional with a center console-mounted gear selector. Forward settings included "1", "2", and a "D" mode that was fully automatic, and the driver could choose to shift manually through all three gears.
The optional "Go Package" included a four-barrel carbureted 343 cu in (5.6 L) AMC V8, power front disc brakes, heavy-duty suspension, dual exhausts with chromed outlets, wide body-side stripes, and E70x14 red-line tires mounted on chrome-plated "Magnum 500" styled road wheels. A 343 Go Pac Javelin could accelerate from 0 to 60 miles per hour (97 km/h) in 8 seconds, had a top speed approaching 120 miles per hour (193 km/h), and could run a quarter-mile in 15.4 seconds. The largest engine in the first few months of 1968 production was "a 5.6 litre V-8 that delivered 284 SAE bhp, which made the car dangerously fast."
In mid-1968, the new AMX 390 cu in (6.4 L) engine was offered as a "Go-package" option with a floor-mounted automatic or manual four-speed transmission. "Its impressive 315 hp (235 kW; 319 PS) and 425 pound force-feet (576 N⋅m) of torque could send the Javelin from zero to 60 miles per hour (97 km/h) in the seven-second range."
American Motors supported the AMX and Javelin muscle-models with a range of factory-approved "Group 19" dealer-installed performance accessories. These included among others, dual four-barrel cross-ram intake manifolds, high-performance camshaft kits, needle-bearing roller rocker arms, and dual-point ignition.
The average age of the "first 1,000 Javelin buyers was 29 — a full ten years under the median for all AMC customers." The Javelin's marketing campaign, created by Mary Wells Lawrence of Wells, Rich, and Greene Inc, was innovative and daring in its approach. Print and TV advertisements broke with the traditional convention of not attacking the competition, and some compared the AMC Javelin to the Ford Mustang side by side, as well as showing the Mustang being beaten to pieces with sledgehammers.
The car was longer and roomier than the Ford Mustang, and Chevrolet Camaro, but not the Plymouth Barracuda, and its shape was described as "exciting and beautiful". Total production for the 1968 model year was 55,125.
Minor changes for the second model year included revised side striping, an altered grille with a bull's eye emblem, and trim upgrades. An optional side-stripe package consisted of a C-shaped graphic that started behind the front wheel openings. The optional (standard with the "Go-Package") five-spoke Magnum 500 steel road wheels now came with a stainless steel trim ring. The interior received new door panels and upgraded carpeting. Instrumentation featured a 0–8,000 rpm tachometer that now matched the speedometer in style. Late model-year production received a cowl over the instrument panel directly in front of the driver.
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