First of all, this Javelin is a pony car. It's meant to compete with the Mustang, Cougar, Firebird, Camaro, 'Cuda, and Challenger. Muscle cars are more like what you have there with that Chevelle or perhaps a Charger. Second of all, not all imports are garbage just as how not every American car is great. Please understand this. The car community will be much better for it.
In all fairness basically any American car even if it was rare and cool was considered junk at some point for instance a lot of 60s-70s cars were basically treated as junk by the early 90s the reason why there almost untouchable now is the rise in price in the early 2000s (and this comes from a guy who loves classic American cars)
@@jakekaywell5972 you're very wrong. This pony car was considered to be a muscle car like the 428 SCJ Mustang and Camaro SS, Z/28 and the big block Plymouth Valient of 68-69. ANY car with big HP and torque with big performance numbers is considered to be a muscle car with the exception of luxury Marques. Today's 2023 Charger Red Eye will smoke most muscle cars back in this era. No what you're talking about before you attack a person for their post, Wil Farrell
Oh my god, I had no idea these vintage reviews existed until now! These are amazing!! Bud Lindemann is full of personality and that driver is one savage beast!
AMC, despite not having a great budget and management was a very good car company. Almost all their products were weird, but in a really charming weird sort of way. I wish that it was still going on today, and if it does ever come back (which I highly doubt it will), I'm curious to see what they would come up with. No I don't want to see some lame retro-style crap car, I actually want to see a new, original line of cars made by them. I just wonder what they would do if the company was still here today.
I remember in 1st grade 1978 or 1979 my brother Rob who was a senior in HS we were going to school in his Javelin at the intersection at the end of our road he nailed it and did a 360 he was my hero. I was hooked on muscle cars for ever RIP Rob.
I graduated in 1978, and spent four years in their auto shop program. At the end of my senior year several of the guys had built themselves decent cars, and all met up at the closest track to see who had the fastest car. We had a GTO with a 400, A 70 mustang with a 351C, a 55 Chevy with a 350 and a 72 Camaro with a 283. The guy who owned the Camaro didn’t check the specs of the engine he was building and got taken. Then at the last minute one of the Guys showed up with a 60 Rambler with a 390 topped off with Group 19 parts, which was kind of like Mopars Direct Connection factory racing parts. After the trip to the track the Rambler came back as the fastest car, running in the 12’s. That got my attention and I’ve loved AMC ever since. Second in my kind was Mopar with its massive factory support.
This was pretty much AMC at the top of their game. Shortly after this they started making some really strange and ugly cars with terrible reliability. Pacer/Matador anyone?
Yup...In driver ed, they had me pilot a '74 2dr Matador. With a 304 V-8 and a full load of student drivers, it was a powerless, slushy handling ride. Perfect for us!! The driver ed teacher got wise to me using cruise control...But he grinned and winked and gave me bonus points using it...:-) This car, and those like it, were many things. Certainly, they are missed...
It's very interesting to get to know about the world of motoring in classic Europe, Asian, and America. They were all so different, and interesting in their own way. Now it's all the same.
Poking fun at the Corvette's expense on this one. "Probably the most noticeable changes are the bubbled front fenders, slightly reminiscent of the Corvette. However this similarity end there. Because the Javelin, is a handler."
They were. Unfortunatley, they underwent some chinsy-fying in the last era of AMC. Rocker arms became a weak link then. Nonetheless, a damn good engine. And inline 6-cyls all were smooth, low end torque motors simply because they fire every 60deg, instead of 90 deg in a V8. Mopar Perf still offers a stroked AMC 258cid.
If Chrysler had bought AMC in 1968 instead of years later can you imagine what a 426 Hemi 4 speed AMX would have been like with that light body ? Even the hottest Vette would think twice before trying that. As we all know AMC already have been using some parts from Ford and Dodge rather than develop their own like Autolite carb and i think some GM power steering pumps and later Mopar automatic transmissions
@jeepster02 By the way I would still take the Monte over the Cordoba, although the Cordobas "Rich Corinthian leather" is tempting! :) In the end as far as true muscle cars of the early 1970s, nobody, I mean nobody could touch Mopar..plain and simple..and thats coming from a "GM person"
amc was allways trying to save money, so one of the ways they did that was to use the same block for their v8 engines. (just bored and stroked differently to achive whatever engine size) 290,343,390,401. etc.. great video, thanx for posting. cheers.
If you cut a coil off the front springs and block lowered the rear leaf spring, you could lower the car about an inch. Wider wheels and tires to fill the fenders. Then the AMX and Javelins would look aggressive and handle well.
I never tire of these old test drives. Mostly I enjoy the video presentation itself, and not the cars they are driving. So campy, but enjoyable. Why tilt the camera? Some weird emphasis? And in all honesty, most of the AMCs that were shown really weren't too bad, given the little or no money AMC had to develop their products. I doubt any worldwide car company today could match that financial efficiency.
REMEMBER WATCHING THIS TV SHOW BEFORE HEADING TO SCHOOL ON SPEEDVISION. I WAS FLOORED AT HOW SIDEWAYS YOU COULD GET THAT JAVELIN AND IT WOULDNT SPIN OUT fELL IN LUVE WITH THOSE CARS
These videos are odd, Buddy boy in the 69 GTX video quotes "Every which way but loose." Which is a Clint Eastwood movie that didn't come out till 1978! 🤦♂️🤣
Holly panic stop Batman!! 209 feet sounds very scary in modern times. Just glad in 2020 we can toss out those weak brakes for some nice big brake upgrade kits.
Being smaller AMC was good at exploting the niche market and their design. Their engines were very reliable and Dick Teague was a great designer working on a dime budget. Of course the Pacer was not a high point.
Although popularly referred to as muscle cars, the smaller cars are more accurately called pony cars. You can still get away with calling them muscle cars most of the time, though. The ultimate size of the car or its engine does not necessarily make the difference, but it's the car's position in the manufacturer's lineup. A Mustang can't really be Ford's muscle car when they already have the larger Gran Torino in that position. Besides, the term "pony car" is named after the Mustang itself.
Just think how much better this car (or any car back then) would handle with radial tires? Plus, these guys ever hear of thresh hold braking? Just slam on the brakes and hang on!
If I may add one more thing The Javelin would have been better looking without the fender top wheel buldges and yet it still looks classy 50 plus years later.
That march music cracks me up. "This one time, at band camp..." Back in the day when you could tell cars apart. Today -the past 25 years- we have the copy cat, cookie-cutter syndrome.
Phillip S my impala basically looks like the toyota i parked next to the other day. They aren't even from the same continent and they looked damn near identical. Its sad.
come here in Brazil (no, do not come it's just force of expression. things here are tense) and see our "cars" ... all colored silver, gray and moss. all are small four-door front-wheel-drive hatch, weak, expensive, and alike. you can look at a Peugeot or a Hyundai or Chevrolet or Volkswagen or even a Ford ... All are identical, all without sports appeal or anything else ... All cars made today are bland without content without spirit that makes the user not have the slightest pleasure of having or driving. When I look on the street, I want to cry. I begin to get the desire to move to the US.. but it seems that even in the automobile country people are not interested in cars anymore ... :'(
And if one looks up TSBs and Recalls for AMCs, they were no worse than the competition. AMC's fall from grqace, in my opinion, was their too long of offering stodgy, old folksy Ramblers. Javelins won in TA racing then, beating the rest. Hornets and Gremlins won in Pro Stock drag racing. AMC was really not the embarassment of the industry as most think; not like GM is today.
It also needs to be anything but a mousetang to be called a muscle car...... Mustangs have always been slow even when they tried they were still slow, just as the owners try to say there "the shit" with their mustang...... almost every person I know who owns mustangs are posers...... Chrysler and GM is where its at..... although Galaxies and Fairlanes were nice......
Or that the modern 3.7L & 4.7L Chrysler engines were initially designed by ex-AMC engineers, still on the payroll, as per Mopar Performance Tech's discussion with me last year. (Sorry about 3 replies. RUclips limits how many characters, so I had to split my response up in 3 parts.)
AMC had no Big or Small Block V8. They had 3 generations of engines. The first was from the Hudson/Packard era, and the latter 2 were their own new design and were almost identical; just varying in deck height. And yes, they made a 327, 360, and a 390. And no, they weren't Chevy's, Mopar's, or Ford's.
"the hats off job for styling would have to go to Dick Teag" ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha...it's the ugliest nightmare on wheels ever manufactured Dick Teag should have called the Chevy designers & asked for their drug dealer's phone number because he was getting a hold of some bad drugs
I still wonder if this is a pre-production car, or some sort of ringer sent around for testing. Maybe the color is off in the film, but this car appears to have a blue or green interior, with a black exterior with orange, gold or red stripe. An odd combination for sure. Secondly, when they talk of suspension, Bud mentions "....sway bars fore and aft, and traction bars at each wheel." Now, AMC never offered a rear sway bar on the Javelin ..... EVER. And the traction bar at each wheel could be reference to the torque links AMC used to provide on their performance models, but they were NEVER offered on the Javelin. They were however, an over-the counter DEALER item for the Javelin. That's what leads me to think this car has been upgraded from your standard board of fair automobile.
I think the exterior color might be "raven green" the twin canopy top has green vinyl, so the interior is most likely green as well. great looking car IMO. id love to go back in time and order a 71 sst just like this model.. just my 2 cents. cheers.
I love discussing/reliving the forgotten AMC stuff, as you can see. I grew up with them, and was part of a tiny % who saw their potential. Most young folks don't realize, or perhaps don't care, where the Jeep Cherokees came from. Or that the (silly looking) Marlin,like the Barracuda, came out at the same time or before the Mustang.
I had a 64 rambler american back in 74 . It was a neat little car with a way better ride than most cars back then, i never understood why most people were so dismissive of amc back then. A few years later i bought a 70 machine . That car had a lot of torque and a really cool hood scoop with built in tach. Fit and finish was not so good and borg and warner automatic transmission was infamous for poor reliability. But it was a really cool car. I've always liked different cars now I'm driving a kia niro hybrid ( great car) i think that to many people get too set in there ways . I remember feeling sad when amc was gobbled up just for the jeep product line.
Everything is relative. Back then, the SST may have been considered a good handling car, but nowadays that kind of body roll would seem absurd. I love muscle cars, but handlers they were not.
I had a 74 302 3 speed it was ok but when they went to this bigger body style in 71 the game was over. I just saw some stuff on a AMX/3 to bad it did not make it might have given AMC a second life
Excellent video. I like the honesty of it and I love the car. These were cars (like Ford, GMC and Mopar) that could go from the dealership to the track. The gas crisis started by OPEC really hurt the American Auto industry as did the unions at the time. Who knows what great cars we would have kept coming out with if those things didn't happen.
The stoppers were doing all and more of what was asked. Stood on the pedal and all four wheels stopped moving. Halting an automobile as we all know now, requires much more than stopping a wheel from turning.
This is how we drove our Rebel Machines on a daily basis. In my case, while drinking a Pepsi in on hand and eating a 1/2 Lune Moon with the other. We didn't have cup holders, just round dents in the glove box door. A major shortcoming that still irks me.
Indeed...I've been told a lot of this has to do with the old bias-ply tires they used back then. You put modern steel belted radials on these cars and the handling is transformed. But there's no denying modern cars are better, hand over fist.
For the most part, the difference between a Pony Car and a Muscle Car were the car's size relative to the rest of the lineup. Pony cars typically rode on shorter wheelbases and overall smaller dimensions, while a Muscle car had somewhat reasonable space to be used as a family car. Compare a Mustang to a Gran Torino, a Camaro to a Chevelle, or a Barracuda to a GTX. Chrysler blurred the line a bit with their E-body pony cars, because the engine they wanted to fit had ridiculous dimensions.
I love the dark green with light green on the top combo of this car.. looks nice with the red pinstripe. . Also love the 1971 sst grille. Anyone interested in the Randall automotive gremlins? .. those were interesting amc cars. Rare.
@CamaroAmx i had up to that point learned the old fashion way (my dad didn't know much about AMC either. he stuck to Fords and Dodges) by messing up. it taught me alot about cars. i did alot of firsts in that car (1st time i broke 100mph-156mph, 1st drum brake rebuild, 1st really long burnout, 1st real street race, 1st drunk driving- didn't get caught, 1st drive through really deep snow (11 inches) in a RWD car, 1st bodywork, 1st cool car, loudest car i've ever driven, and on and on).
@MarksmanLeBlanc stick ain't hard. i learned in a 79 4-speed 351M (big block) Bronco on a dirt road w/ a very low 1st gear ("granny gear") and in a silver 89 Shebly Daytona Turbo (1 of only a few 100 made in that color. wish i still had it). be happy to have access to the info of the internet. i didn't have PC untill '01 (over a year after i got the car). i learned from a 71 Javelin Clhilton Service Manual an old man gave me at a gas station to help me with my car. it was quite random really.
@MarksmanLeBlanc yeah, by 73 everyone else had switch over to all unleaded. AMC was a little behind. Mine has the 304, but it has some factory optional speed parts (Group 19 parts) like roller rockers, higher compression pristons and factory headers (but the headers are shot to hell after 40 years). my dad still refuses to believe its "just" a 304. he says it runs like a 401 (a freind of his had a 401 AMX when he was in HS that my dad rode in alot). since its the 360, you have 727 (if an auto).
@jeepster02 You got me pegged, I am a GM person. By the way I wasnt touting the fact I have a Buick GN to be cocky, I just think its a classic example of awesome aggressive looks and power, back in the 80s when both were frowned upon. At the car shows its considered a muscle are. After some thought about it you are correct about the Monte...it was for most of its life a 2 door soft riding touring type car with fancy decals , but I always loved its look.
@MarksmanLeBlanc yes lead sustitue is required, unless you change the valve seals to harden ones. the AMX and Javelin required leaded fuel until 73, but then you had to run lead fuel every other tank in 73 & 74. since yours has the 390 (earlier engine), lead is required. just go to Autozone (or equivelent) and buy a couple of bottles and add 1 bottle at every fill up. they aren't very exspensive (max $2) if you don't, it begin to smoke and eventualy cause engine damage (i learned the hard way).
The 258ci engine was one of their best 6cyls. Zillions made. Chrysler kept it even after they bought AMC, eventually replacing it with the 3.7L V6, and now their Pentastar Engine. It was an evolution of the Hudson straight 6s, which not too many know were +300HP killers that won NASCAR many a times. Hudson offered them with 4bbls, big cams & pistons, etc. At the time, the Hudson Hornets were lighter and better handlers then the rest.
@MarksmanLeBlanc I'd watch for rust (body parts are hard to come by). Always run it with lead fuel (you can buy lead substitute at any auto store). The points ingnition is a pain in the rear, so I'd upgrade to electronic (jegs and summit have ones for AMC). Since AMC used some parts from other companies (the trans is a Chrysler 727 but with an AMC bolt pattern. the ignition is GM and the carb is a Ford/Autolite). other then that just watch for the normal things to do when buying a used car.
anyone notice this is a sst with a 401 in it?,and Not an amx version?..isnt that an odd combo?..even the wheel is the base version..besides all that,id like to say Thanks for sharing that video :) because its 100% Awesome Memory Central / AMC
just bought a 72' javelin sst, always dreamed of owning one, and noe it's mine!! just finishing up a highly modified 401 for it, and looking for a t10 4speed (car has clutch pedal) some dumbass put a built chev 355/ th350 2,500 stall (in car now) and although it's fast as hell, it should be ALL AMC!
Happy to say I can personaly atest to the praises he's giving the Javelin. My 73 Javelin/AMX is great car to drive. It was my daily driver in HS. I was the only kid to drive a classic car of any type to school. lots of fun. still have it 12 years later, but it needs a little work (its a northeast car).
@deloreanman14 The 0-60 runs will also improve greatly as well. I raced a few modern cars with mine and beat them. Never got to race a real modern performance car, but alot of 80s/90s performance cars felt the sting of my little 304 V8 auto 73 AMX (headers, shift kit and upgraded valvetrain and air shocks). My 73 AMX handles like a dream, better then my 93 Z28 but the Camaro does get better MPGs.
I find that these era muscle cars all had very similar lines...The Javelin, the Mustang Mach 1, and the Charger and Challenger all kind of resemble each other in 70-71. Chevys Monte Carlo had the most distinct look of the group in these years. Great video
Classic cars I'm sorry no and to all the AMC motor co didn't come close to making a pony car so that said came nowhere close to the muscle car and to all who say challenger and cuda copyed them you're wrong AMC copied them read other comment I posted about cuda,challenger AMC cars couldn't beat running water
Keep in mind AMC didn't have the funding for major projects like the big three, they actually did very well for an independent company. 1971-74 javelin is the type of car that you either love or hate, there's no in between. AMC might not of had powerhouse musclecars like Hemicudas or 440 six pak road runners, but the SS AMX and a few others were no slouch. Definitely respected members of the musclecar family.
your BMW won't be a popular car, it'll be forgotten in 10 years if it isn't already, muscle cars like these will be admired for years to come
First of all, this Javelin is a pony car. It's meant to compete with the Mustang, Cougar, Firebird, Camaro, 'Cuda, and Challenger. Muscle cars are more like what you have there with that Chevelle or perhaps a Charger. Second of all, not all imports are garbage just as how not every American car is great. Please understand this. The car community will be much better for it.
In all fairness basically any American car even if it was rare and cool was considered junk at some point for instance a lot of 60s-70s cars were basically treated as junk by the early 90s the reason why there almost untouchable now is the rise in price in the early 2000s (and this comes from a guy who loves classic American cars)
Exactly the truth.
@@jakekaywell5972 you're very wrong. This pony car was considered to be a muscle car like the 428 SCJ Mustang and Camaro SS, Z/28 and the big block Plymouth Valient of 68-69. ANY car with big HP and torque with big performance numbers is considered to be a muscle car with the exception of luxury Marques.
Today's 2023 Charger Red Eye will smoke most muscle cars back in this era. No what you're talking about before you attack a person for their post, Wil Farrell
It was a sad day when this company finally shut its doors. Some really grand cars back then.
Oh my god, I had no idea these vintage reviews existed until now! These are amazing!! Bud Lindemann is full of personality and that driver is one savage beast!
AMC, despite not having a great budget and management was a very good car company. Almost all their products were weird, but in a really charming weird sort of way. I wish that it was still going on today, and if it does ever come back (which I highly doubt it will), I'm curious to see what they would come up with. No I don't want to see some lame retro-style crap car, I actually want to see a new, original line of cars made by them. I just wonder what they would do if the company was still here today.
They'd probably make crossovers again, which they pioneered with the eagle SX/4.
I remember in 1st grade 1978 or 1979 my brother Rob who was a senior in HS we were going to school in his Javelin at the intersection at the end of our road he nailed it and did a 360 he was my hero. I was hooked on muscle cars for ever RIP Rob.
I graduated in 1978, and spent four years in their auto shop program. At the end of my senior year several of the guys had built themselves decent cars, and all met up at the closest track to see who had the fastest car. We had a GTO with a 400, A 70 mustang with a 351C, a 55 Chevy with a 350 and a 72 Camaro with a 283. The guy who owned the Camaro didn’t check the specs of the engine he was building and got taken. Then at the last minute one of the Guys showed up with a 60 Rambler with a 390 topped off with Group 19 parts, which was kind of like Mopars Direct Connection factory racing parts. After the trip to the track the Rambler came back as the fastest car, running in the 12’s. That got my attention and I’ve loved AMC ever since. Second in my kind was Mopar with its massive factory support.
This was pretty much AMC at the top of their game. Shortly after this they started making some really strange and ugly cars with terrible reliability. Pacer/Matador anyone?
Yup...In driver ed, they had me pilot a '74 2dr Matador. With a 304 V-8 and a full load of student drivers, it was a powerless, slushy handling ride. Perfect for us!! The driver ed teacher got wise to me using cruise control...But he grinned and winked and gave me bonus points using it...:-)
This car, and those like it, were many things. Certainly, they are missed...
+Rick Flynn Those 74 and up Matador 2 drs were some ugly vehicles
The Gas crunch must have really slammed them. That hit a lot of U.S. Automakers hard.
It's very interesting to get to know about the world of motoring in classic Europe, Asian, and America. They were all so different, and interesting in their own way. Now it's all the same.
first one I saw up close was a new Alabama highway patrol interceptor in 1971
Still one of my favorite bodies!
Back when car people built cars.
the excessive front overhang makes a good looking car look awkward ..
love the 1971-74 javelins. personally, i prefer the sst grille over the flat grille that came out later. (like on the 74 amx).
The first drift car/
Imagine this with a set of tires that actually grip worth a shit
but the smell of cancerous rubber is part of the package
You gotta use the originals though. Make em sqeal
Haha! Yep!
Poking fun at the Corvette's expense on this one. "Probably the most noticeable changes are the bubbled front fenders, slightly reminiscent of the Corvette. However this similarity end there. Because the Javelin, is a handler."
This review has better info than a lot of the modern reviews.
They were. Unfortunatley, they underwent some chinsy-fying in the last era of AMC. Rocker arms became a weak link then. Nonetheless, a damn good engine. And inline 6-cyls all were smooth, low end torque motors simply because they fire every 60deg, instead of 90 deg in a V8. Mopar Perf still offers a stroked AMC 258cid.
If Chrysler had bought AMC in 1968 instead of years later can you imagine what a 426 Hemi 4 speed AMX would have been like with that light body ? Even the hottest Vette would think twice before trying that. As we all know AMC already have been using some parts from Ford and Dodge rather than develop their own like Autolite carb and i think some GM power steering pumps and later Mopar automatic transmissions
"some body lean" - lulz
It looks fine to me. And what does “lulz” mean? Is that some kind of hep cat jive lingo?
@@Joesmusclecargarage i think its gamerz lingo
@jeepster02 By the way I would still take the Monte over the Cordoba, although the Cordobas "Rich Corinthian leather" is tempting! :) In the end as far as true muscle cars of the early 1970s, nobody, I mean nobody could touch Mopar..plain and simple..and thats coming from a "GM person"
amc was allways trying to save money, so one of the ways they did that was to use the same block for their v8 engines. (just bored and stroked differently to achive whatever engine size) 290,343,390,401. etc.. great video, thanx for posting. cheers.
If you cut a coil off the front springs and block lowered the rear leaf spring, you could lower the car about an inch. Wider wheels and tires to fill the fenders. Then the AMX and Javelins would look aggressive and handle well.
401 is not a big block engine! It is the same block as the 390, 360, and 304...
I want the drivers boots.
100% AMC means 100% respect from true car guys :) i just aquired a 1971 AMX all original including paint.
I never tire of these old test drives. Mostly I enjoy the video presentation itself, and not the cars they are driving. So campy, but enjoyable. Why tilt the camera? Some weird emphasis? And in all honesty, most of the AMCs that were shown really weren't too bad, given the little or no money AMC had to develop their products. I doubt any worldwide car company today could match that financial efficiency.
REMEMBER WATCHING THIS TV SHOW BEFORE HEADING TO SCHOOL ON SPEEDVISION. I WAS FLOORED AT HOW
SIDEWAYS YOU COULD GET THAT JAVELIN AND IT WOULDNT SPIN OUT fELL IN LUVE WITH THOSE CARS
looks like a car chase scene from the 70s television show CHiPs or emergency.
love the 71sst. looks cool green on green like this one.
Don't forget the SS/AMX, a factory Drag car that ran in the 10 second range on the strip
SUCK on that Japan AMeriCa was drifting in1971!!!!
I have a 72 SST 360 in the same colour - Hunter Green. I'm preparing to do a full resto to bring her back to her former glory 🤩😎
I want his voice on my satnav.
@danlepley I don't know of a contest where you can win 6 different muscle cars, but I would sign up in a heartbeat!
These videos are odd, Buddy boy in the 69 GTX video quotes "Every which way but loose." Which is a Clint Eastwood movie that didn't come out till 1978! 🤦♂️🤣
Holly panic stop Batman!! 209 feet sounds very scary in modern times.
Just glad in 2020 we can toss out those weak brakes for some nice big brake upgrade kits.
Who knows if that test car still exists
I've wondered that myself, its a beautiful car. i wonder where this test track was?
Dick Teague was the man!
Being smaller AMC was good at exploting the niche market and their design. Their engines were very reliable and Dick Teague was a great designer working on a dime budget. Of course the Pacer was not a high point.
Very nice car, wish I had one
Although popularly referred to as muscle cars, the smaller cars are more accurately called pony cars. You can still get away with calling them muscle cars most of the time, though. The ultimate size of the car or its engine does not necessarily make the difference, but it's the car's position in the manufacturer's lineup. A Mustang can't really be Ford's muscle car when they already have the larger Gran Torino in that position. Besides, the term "pony car" is named after the Mustang itself.
Just think how much better this car (or any car back then) would handle with radial tires? Plus, these guys ever hear of thresh hold braking? Just slam on the brakes and hang on!
If I may add one more thing The Javelin would have been better looking without the fender top wheel buldges and yet it still looks classy 50 plus years later.
I always felt this era of the Javelin looked a lot like the Ford Mustang (which was IMO not the best era of the Ford Mustang's) of the same era
This is the music that plays when in suiting up for work and everytime in running. > )
That march music cracks me up. "This one time, at band camp..."
Back in the day when you could tell cars apart. Today -the past 25 years- we have the copy cat, cookie-cutter syndrome.
Phillip S my impala basically looks like the toyota i parked next to the other day. They aren't even from the same continent and they looked damn near identical. Its sad.
come here in Brazil (no, do not come it's just force of expression. things here are tense) and see our "cars" ... all colored silver, gray and moss. all are small four-door front-wheel-drive hatch, weak, expensive, and alike. you can look at a Peugeot or a Hyundai or Chevrolet or Volkswagen or even a Ford ... All are identical, all without sports appeal or anything else ... All cars made today are bland without content without spirit that makes the user not have the slightest pleasure of having or driving. When I look on the street, I want to cry. I begin to get the desire to move to the US.. but it seems that even in the automobile country people are not interested in cars anymore ... :'(
I love the music I half expecting John Vecenda bust in with "the Javelin took to the frozen tundra that day like a spry pony..."
I get bmw's stuck in my carburetor all the fuckin time, dick!
And if one looks up TSBs and Recalls for AMCs, they were no worse than the competition. AMC's fall from grqace, in my opinion, was their too long of offering stodgy, old folksy Ramblers. Javelins won in TA racing then, beating the rest. Hornets and Gremlins won in Pro Stock drag racing. AMC was really not the embarassment of the industry as most think; not like GM is today.
It also needs to be anything but a mousetang to be called a muscle car...... Mustangs have always been slow even when they tried they were still slow, just as the owners try to say there "the shit" with their mustang...... almost every person I know who owns mustangs are posers...... Chrysler and GM is where its at..... although Galaxies and Fairlanes were nice......
The Alabama State Patrol used the 71 and 2 Javelins for enforcement use.
Or that the modern 3.7L & 4.7L Chrysler engines were initially designed by ex-AMC engineers, still on the payroll, as per Mopar Performance Tech's discussion with me last year.
(Sorry about 3 replies. RUclips limits how many characters, so I had to split my response up in 3 parts.)
AMC had no Big or Small Block V8. They had 3 generations of engines. The first was from the Hudson/Packard era, and the latter 2 were their own new design and were almost identical; just varying in deck height.
And yes, they made a 327, 360, and a 390. And no, they weren't Chevy's, Mopar's, or Ford's.
"the hats off job for styling would have to go to Dick Teag"
ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha...it's the ugliest nightmare on wheels ever manufactured
Dick Teag should have called the Chevy designers & asked for their drug dealer's phone number because he was getting a hold of some bad drugs
I still wonder if this is a pre-production car, or some sort of ringer sent around for testing. Maybe the color is off in the film, but this car appears to have a blue or green interior, with a black exterior with orange, gold or red stripe. An odd combination for sure.
Secondly, when they talk of suspension, Bud mentions "....sway bars fore and aft, and traction bars at each wheel."
Now, AMC never offered a rear sway bar on the Javelin ..... EVER. And the traction bar at each wheel could be reference to the torque links AMC used to provide on their performance models, but they were NEVER offered on the Javelin. They were however, an over-the counter DEALER item for the Javelin.
That's what leads me to think this car has been upgraded from your standard board of fair automobile.
I think the exterior color might be "raven green" the twin canopy top has green vinyl, so the interior is most likely green as well. great looking car IMO. id love to go back in time and order a 71 sst just like this model.. just my 2 cents. cheers.
Bought mine used in 1979. What an awful car!
Need curb feelers on the door handles the way this boat corners.
Yes, not a handler by today's standard. But then, compared to the luxo-barges ever present, it was a good handler. You would be surprised.
Uauuu con "ballestas semi elípticas" en la trasera jajaja qué cañaaa !!
I love discussing/reliving the forgotten AMC stuff, as you can see. I grew up with them, and was part of a tiny % who saw their potential. Most young folks don't realize, or perhaps don't care, where the Jeep Cherokees came from. Or that the (silly looking) Marlin,like the Barracuda, came out at the same time or before the Mustang.
I had a 64 rambler american back in 74 . It was a neat little car with a way better ride than most cars back then, i never understood why most people were so dismissive of amc back then. A few years later i bought a 70 machine . That car had a lot of torque and a really cool hood scoop with built in tach. Fit and finish was not so good and borg and warner automatic transmission was infamous for poor reliability. But it was a really cool car. I've always liked different cars now I'm driving a kia niro hybrid ( great car) i think that to many people get too set in there ways . I remember feeling sad when amc was gobbled up just for the jeep product line.
Amazing what they did with the rambler american chassis...
Everything is relative. Back then, the SST may have been considered a good handling car, but nowadays that kind of body roll would seem absurd. I love muscle cars, but handlers they were not.
I had a 74 302 3 speed it was ok but when they went to this bigger body style in 71 the game was over. I just saw some stuff on a AMX/3 to bad it did not make it might have given AMC a second life
I could have shsved 7 10ths of a second off of that 0-60 time
Search for "1973 Buick Century GS455 - vintage road test".
Now there's a luxo-barge.
Excellent video. I like the honesty of it and I love the car. These were cars (like Ford, GMC and Mopar) that could go from the dealership to the track. The gas crisis started by OPEC really hurt the American Auto industry as did the unions at the time. Who knows what great cars we would have kept coming out with if those things didn't happen.
The stoppers were doing all and more of what was asked. Stood on the pedal and all four wheels stopped moving. Halting an automobile as we all know now, requires much more than stopping a wheel from turning.
This is how we drove our Rebel Machines on a daily basis. In my case, while drinking a Pepsi in on hand and eating a 1/2 Lune Moon with the other. We didn't have cup holders, just round dents in the glove box door. A major shortcoming that still irks me.
Indeed...I've been told a lot of this has to do with the old bias-ply tires they used back then. You put modern steel belted radials on these cars and the handling is transformed.
But there's no denying modern cars are better, hand over fist.
Rum Runners Special..omg ..lmao
Body roll from hell... OMG!
I'm guessing you've never seen AMC's sc/rambler with the 390v8, killed this car in style and performance.
For the most part, the difference between a Pony Car and a Muscle Car were the car's size relative to the rest of the lineup. Pony cars typically rode on shorter wheelbases and overall smaller dimensions, while a Muscle car had somewhat reasonable space to be used as a family car. Compare a Mustang to a Gran Torino, a Camaro to a Chevelle, or a Barracuda to a GTX. Chrysler blurred the line a bit with their E-body pony cars, because the engine they wanted to fit had ridiculous dimensions.
I think they were actually Pony cars...
at 4:25 it looks like the tires are about to come off!
My first car, but try as I might I couldn't stop the fuel from dumping itself out of the short goose neck refueling cap under the licence plate.
The early 1971 401 had high compression, but the late 1971 401 had low compression.
I love the dark green with light green on the top combo of this car.. looks nice with the red pinstripe. . Also love the 1971 sst grille. Anyone interested in the Randall automotive gremlins? .. those were interesting amc cars. Rare.
Not to mention at 80 mph it shook like a pig, still my ride was a head turner, deep blue with white vinyl T-top.
Four wheel drift translates to out of control at every corner.
You sound like a cop! (a.k.a. people who can't drive)
wasnt that the Car on the Titanic,,
This motor was a small block
kind of reminds me of a classic challenger or camaro but sexier with those extra curves.
I had a green 68 SST ,343 4bbl auto with a Muntz 8 track and wedge speakers ;p
@CamaroAmx i had up to that point learned the old fashion way (my dad didn't know much about AMC either. he stuck to Fords and Dodges) by messing up. it taught me alot about cars. i did alot of firsts in that car (1st time i broke 100mph-156mph, 1st drum brake rebuild, 1st really long burnout, 1st real street race, 1st drunk driving- didn't get caught, 1st drive through really deep snow (11 inches) in a RWD car, 1st bodywork, 1st cool car, loudest car i've ever driven, and on and on).
@MarksmanLeBlanc stick ain't hard. i learned in a 79 4-speed 351M (big block) Bronco on a dirt road w/ a very low 1st gear ("granny gear") and in a silver 89 Shebly Daytona Turbo (1 of only a few 100 made in that color. wish i still had it). be happy to have access to the info of the internet. i didn't have PC untill '01 (over a year after i got the car). i learned from a 71 Javelin Clhilton Service Manual an old man gave me at a gas station to help me with my car. it was quite random really.
@MarksmanLeBlanc yeah, by 73 everyone else had switch over to all unleaded. AMC was a little behind. Mine has the 304, but it has some factory optional speed parts (Group 19 parts) like roller rockers, higher compression pristons and factory headers (but the headers are shot to hell after 40 years). my dad still refuses to believe its "just" a 304. he says it runs like a 401 (a freind of his had a 401 AMX when he was in HS that my dad rode in alot). since its the 360, you have 727 (if an auto).
@jeepster02 You got me pegged, I am a GM person. By the way I wasnt touting the fact I have a Buick GN to be cocky, I just think its a classic example of awesome aggressive looks and power, back in the 80s when both were frowned upon. At the car shows its considered a muscle are. After some thought about it you are correct about the Monte...it was for most of its life a 2 door soft riding touring type car with fancy decals , but I always loved its look.
To quote Ace Ventura "The steering is a little loose ... the alignment is off too"
@MarksmanLeBlanc yes lead sustitue is required, unless you change the valve seals to harden ones. the AMX and Javelin required leaded fuel until 73, but then you had to run lead fuel every other tank in 73 & 74. since yours has the 390 (earlier engine), lead is required. just go to Autozone (or equivelent) and buy a couple of bottles and add 1 bottle at every fill up. they aren't very exspensive (max $2) if you don't, it begin to smoke and eventualy cause engine damage (i learned the hard way).
The 258ci engine was one of their best 6cyls. Zillions made. Chrysler kept it even after they bought AMC, eventually replacing it with the 3.7L V6, and now their Pentastar Engine. It was an evolution of the Hudson straight 6s, which not too many know were +300HP killers that won NASCAR many a times. Hudson offered them with 4bbls, big cams & pistons, etc. At the time, the Hudson Hornets were lighter and better handlers then the rest.
@MarksmanLeBlanc I'd watch for rust (body parts are hard to come by). Always run it with lead fuel (you can buy lead substitute at any auto store). The points ingnition is a pain in the rear, so I'd upgrade to electronic (jegs and summit have ones for AMC). Since AMC used some parts from other companies (the trans is a Chrysler 727 but with an AMC bolt pattern. the ignition is GM and the carb is a Ford/Autolite). other then that just watch for the normal things to do when buying a used car.
anyone notice this is a sst with a 401 in it?,and Not an amx version?..isnt that an odd combo?..even the wheel is the base version..besides all that,id like to say Thanks for sharing that video :) because its 100% Awesome Memory Central / AMC
2:28 almost fucked up
just bought a 72' javelin sst, always dreamed of owning one, and noe it's mine!! just finishing up a highly modified 401 for it, and looking for a t10 4speed (car has clutch pedal) some dumbass put a built chev 355/ th350 2,500 stall (in car now) and although it's fast as hell, it should be ALL AMC!
Happy to say I can personaly atest to the praises he's giving the Javelin. My 73 Javelin/AMX is great car to drive. It was my daily driver in HS. I was the only kid to drive a classic car of any type to school. lots of fun. still have it 12 years later, but it needs a little work (its a northeast car).
look out, a new car can beat a 50 year old stock car... You must be the best driver ever...
@deloreanman14 The 0-60 runs will also improve greatly as well. I raced a few modern cars with mine and beat them. Never got to race a real modern performance car, but alot of 80s/90s performance cars felt the sting of my little 304 V8 auto 73 AMX (headers, shift kit and upgraded valvetrain and air shocks). My 73 AMX handles like a dream, better then my 93 Z28 but the Camaro does get better MPGs.
Besides the AMX, this was the only exciting and interesting car American Motors ever built.
You forgot the S/C Rambler, The Rebel Machine, and the 57 Rambler Rebel.
And the 1971 Matador Machine and SC/360.
I find that these era muscle cars all had very similar lines...The Javelin, the Mustang Mach 1, and the Charger and Challenger all kind of resemble each other in 70-71. Chevys Monte Carlo had the most distinct look of the group in these years.
Great video
Classic cars I'm sorry no and to all the AMC motor co didn't come close to making a pony car so that said came nowhere close to the muscle car and to all who say challenger and cuda copyed them you're wrong AMC copied them read other comment I posted about cuda,challenger AMC cars couldn't beat running water
funny, they beat the AAR Cuda and T/A Challenger in SCCA Trans Am back then....
+Bad-Driver1 The Cuda and Challenger drivers felt sorry for the little piece of crap and let him win.
This piece of crap will NEVER beat a Mopar.
Sure buddy...
Keep in mind AMC didn't have the funding for major projects like the big three, they actually did very well for an independent company. 1971-74 javelin is the type of car that you either love or hate, there's no in between. AMC might not of had powerhouse musclecars like Hemicudas or 440 six pak road runners, but the SS AMX and a few others were no slouch. Definitely respected members of the musclecar family.
I like the javelin on a way they remind me of the cuda