1973 AMC Javelin

The birth of the Javelin was conceived in the desire to compete with the pony car scene and to appeal to a more youthful market. The first series, produced from 1968 to 1969, was penned by designer and then Vice President of Design at AMC, Richard Teague. It personified Teague's fondness for clean, flowing edges and corners. It had understated lines and a big enough back seat for adults, hidden beneath a swopping tail. Coupled with equally impressive performance, sales outpaced the initial estimates of 45,000 and reached 56,000 units in its inaugural year. This dropped to around 40,000 for the 1969 models, but the pony car rage had peaked, and Javelins rivals were tailing off, too.

The Javelin was initially offered exclusively as a two-door hardtop, with the SST being more luxurious and priced approximately $105 higher than the standard model.

During the 1960s, AMC once advertised the only race they were interested in was 'the human race.' That ideal had radically changed by the late 1960s and early 1970s as its focus, expense, talents, and efforts were3 focused on NASCAR and SCCA competition with the legendary Roger Penske and Mark Donohue. American Motors set its sights on the SCCA Trans-Am Championship in 1968, campaigning the Javelin SSTs prepared by Ronnie Kaplan. The team proved that even with the meager support AMC could field, they could compete with the best of the Challengers, Mustangs, Cougars, 'Cudas, Firebirds, and Camaros. Drivers like Peter Revson, George Follmer, Bob Tullius and Lothar Motschenbacher handled the Kaplan and Penske Javelins.

Homologation during the Trans-Am's early years required a mere 100 of the qualifying configuration needed to be built, and even those were not restricted to the racing engines' five-liter displacement. To that end, AMC produced the minimum number of 1970 SST Javelins, which soon became known as the Javelin 'Trans-Am,' even though Pontiac owned the rights to the name. These SST 'Trans-Am' homologation specials were powered by the biggest engine in the arsenal, a 390 cubic-inch V8 rated at 325 horsepower at 5,000 RPM and 420 lb-ft of torque, aided by the 10:1 compression ratio and manually-operated cold air hood scoop. The engine was backed by a close-ratio four-speed gearbox, 3.91:1 limited-slip rear axle, 14x6 inch styled steel wheels, power steering, power front disc brakes, heavy-duty cooling, stiff suspension, a 140mph speedometer, and 8,000 RPM tachometer. Styling features included a chin spoiler under the front bumper and an adjustable spoiler on the rear deck. All 100 examples wore Ronnie Kaplan's paint scheme of Matador red nose, Pearl white cabin, and Commodore blue tail. These were the only Javelins produced by the factory in this paint scheme.

The SST wore fresh new styling with competition-oriented adaptations for 1971, including an integral roof spoiler and raised front fender bulges. Penske and Donohue won the Trans-Am World Championship in 1971 with the aero-themed Javelin, and again in 1972 and 1976.

The standard engine for 1971 was the 232 cubic-inch line-6 or an optional 401 CID V8 with a single four-barrel carburetor and a high compression ratio of 9.5:1. It had forged steel crankshaft and connecting rods and delivered 330 horsepower at 5,000 RPM and 430 lb-ft of torque. The performance upgrade 'Go Package' was offered with either the 360 CID or 401 CID 4-barrel engine, and added a handling package for the suspension, heavy-duty cooling, power-assisted disc brakes, 'Rally-Pac' instrumentation, 'Twin-Grip' limited-slip differential, a T-stripe hood decal, a blacked-out rear taillight panel, and white-letter E60x15 Goodyear Polyglas tires.

The 1971 factory literature boasted of its engineering prowess along with the styling, 'We made improvement after improvement, applying a large number of lessons we learned in our Trans-Am racing competition.'

AMC offered three levels of trim in the Javelin lineup including the base Javelin, the Javelin SST, and the Javelin AMX. By 1971, the AMX was no longer available as a two-seater but was now a premium high-performance edition of the Javelin complete with a fiberglass full-width cowl induction hood, and spoilers in the front and rear for high-speed traction.

The 1972 Javelins wore a new 'egg crate' front grille design, equipped with more standard comfort and convenience items, and offered in a total of 15 exterior colors with optional side stripes. Just like the rest of the industry, engine outputs were downgraded to the more accurate Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) net hp figures. The 'Torque-Command' automatic transmission was the TorqueFlite sourced from Chrysler.

1973 AMC Javelin
The 1973 AMC lineup included the compact Gremlin resting on a 96-inch wheelbase, the Hornet on a 108-inch wheelbase, the Javelin with its 110-inch platform, the 118-inch Matador, and the 122-inch Ambassador. The Hornet gained a new hatchback body style and prices ranged in the low-to-mid-$2,000s. Nearly 123,000 examples of the Gremlin were built, having a factory base price of $2,100, and representing a dramatic increase over the previous year's 94,808 units. Hornet sales had reached nearly 133,500 units in 1973, far above the 85,441 examples built the previous year, representing the growing popularity with compact vehicles as the industry battled with fuel shortages and oil embargos. Sales of the Javelin for 1972 was 26,866 units followed by 26,184 the following year, representing the continual decline for muscle cars but counteracted by the Javelin's small footprint, attractive styling, thoughtful standard amenities, and the availability of an economical six-cylinder engine.

The most visual updates to the Javelin were to the design of the taillights, a smoother roofline devoid of the previous 'twin-cove' indentations, and to the front fascia, grille, and non-telescopic design bumpers with two rigid rubber guards. All 1973 vehicles had to conform to a 5-mile-per-hour front and 2.5-mile-per-hour rear impacts without damage to the engine, lights, and safety equipment. Additional safety updates were made to the doors, strengthened to comply with new U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) safety standards. Spoiler lips were over the rear window, and a rear spoiler was optional on the AMX.

The 'Turtle Back' front seats of the 1970 to 1972 Javelin became lighter, slimmer, and more comfortable. The slimmer design increased the rear-passenger legroom.

The 'Trans-Am Victory Javelin' wore a decal on the rear of the front fenders proudly declaring that the Javelin had won the SCCA Trans-Am Championship for 1971 and 1972. It rode on 14-inch slotted-style wheels wrapped with E70-14 raised white letter tires, and a Space-Saver spare was included. Period advertising of this special edition model featured George Follmer and Roy Woods who had won the championship for AMC in 1972.

The 'Pierre Cardin' edition was offered during the 1972 and 1973 model years with a total of 4,152 Javelins built to this configuration. They received interior designs by fashion designer Pierre Cardin with multi-colored pleated stripes in red, plum, white, and silver on a black background. From the front seats, up the doors, onto the headliner, and down to the rear seats, was a unique design with six multi-colored stripes, in nylon fabric with a stain-resistant silicone finish. The fabric for the seat faces was produced by Chatham Mills, and Cardin's crest was proudly displayed on the front fenders. Buyer's who selected the 'Pierre Cardin' interior paid an additional $84.95 for the upgrade.

The standard 232 cubic-inch inline Six-cylinder engine had overhead valves, seven main bearings, hydraulic valve lifters, a Carter Type YR one-barrel carburetor, and delivered 100 horsepower (SAE) at 3,800 RPM. The SAE net horsepower ratings measured engine output at the rear of the transmission with all accessories installed and operating.

The 304 CID V8 produced 150 horsepower, the 360 CID V8 with a two-barrel carburetor offered 175 horsepower, and the four-barrel version boosted output to 195 bhp. The 401 CID V8 with four-barrel carburetors produced 255 hp. With the 401 CID installed, the Javelin was capable of going from zero-to-sixty mph in 7.7 seconds and had a top speed of 115.53 mph.

American Motors had offered an innovative warranty for 1972 called the 'Buyer Production Plan,' and was the first time an automaker promised to repair defects, except for tires, for one year or 12,000 miles. Buyers were instructed to call a toll-free telephone number if an issue arose, and along with the repair, the buyer would receive a free loaner car if the work took more than a day to complete. The market had responded positively to this reassurance from the manufacturer, and sales reflected their approval. This comprehensive 'Buyer Protection' extended warranty was applied to all 1973 models, plus it added food and lodging expenses of up to $150 should a car require overnight repairs when the owner is more than 100 miles away from home. Once again, the buyers showed their appreciation and approval, and AMC achieved record-high profits.

The 'base' Javelin fastback coupe was priced at $2,890 with the six-cylinder engine and $2,980 was the base V8. The Javelin AMX fastback coupe was offered solely with V8 power and had a factory base price of $3,190. A total of 25,195 examples of the 'base' Javelin and 5,707 of the Javelin AMX were built in 1973.

The styling introduced in 1971 would continue through 1974, the final year of the Javelin production.

by Daniel Vaughan | Apr 2021