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| The Sporting American: The History of the AMC Javelin |
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| Written by Aaron Severson |
| Saturday, 13 March 2010 00:00 |
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Page 1 of 4 The AMC Javelin was American Motors' only foray into the popular "pony car" market, and the model that almost single-handedly transformed American from a peddler of Scotsman-like economy to a two-time Trans-Am racing champion. This week, we take a look at how the Javelin came to be and why it disappeared. ROBERT EVANS AND AMCIn the fall of 1965, millionaire Robert Beverly Evans started buying up shares of the American Motors Corporation. By January 1966, he had acquired over 200,000 shares of AMC, making him the company's largest shareholder and earning him a seat on the board of directors.
Bob Evans' arrival at AMC made headlines in the financial world. A dashing 59-year-old socialite from Virginia, Evans was the son of wealthy lumberman Edward S. Evans, founder of the very successful Evans Products Company. Until 1960, Evans had been better known as a sportsman than a businessman. After his family lost control of Evans Products to an aggressive west-coast venture capitalist, however, the still-wealthy Evans went on an acquisitions spree, buying up struggling companies and making them profitable. By 1965, he owned a dozen companies, with revenues totaling more than $20 million a year. Evans' investment in AMC was a vote of confidence in a company that had seen better days. Although AMC had risen to number three in U.S. auto sales earlier in the decade, it had floundered after the departure of CEO George Romney in 1962. Romney's replacement, CEO and President Roy Abernethy, had tried to shift the company's focus from compact economy cars to more mainstream products, but he had only succeeded in sacrificing the company's main point of distinction. AMC's market position began to slide, and by early 1966, the automotive press was wondering gloomily if its days were numbered. Evans had no background in the auto industry, but AMC was exactly the sort of company that attracted his interest. Despite its recent slump, its debt load was reasonable, it had modern facilities, and it still had the resources to develop new products. It was far from unsalvageable, and its stock was significantly undervalued. If Evans could turn it around, he stood to make a handsome return on his investment. Evans felt that American's principal failing was its staid, fusty image. Six or seven years earlier, George Romney's small-car evangelism had struck a chord with buyers reeling from the excesses of the fifties, but now the Baby Boomers were reaching driving age, and they had no interest at all in AMC's frugal Ramblers. The youth market was booming, and Evans thought it was high time American Motors claimed its share.  In the early sixties, the Rambler American convertible was the sportiest model in AM's lineup. Motor Trend tested a car equipped much like this one in February 1963. With 138 gross horsepower (103 kW) from the 196 cu. in. (3.2 L) six (with the optional two-throat carburetor) and Rambler's "Twin-Stick" (three-speed plus overdrive) transmission, it went from 0-60 mph (0-97 kph) in a little over 16 seconds and reached an actual top speed of 92 mph (148 kph). Testers found it comfortable and reasonably economical, with the overdrive providing relaxed highway cruising, but exciting it was not. TARGET: MUSTANGIf the mid-sixties youth market could be summarized in a single word, it would be Mustang. Introduced in April 1964, the Ford Mustang was an astutely targeted appeal to the hearts and minds of the Baby Boom generation. It was cheap, it was sporty, and it offered a full measure of mass-produced individuality, with a wide assortment of options and accessories. The Mustang was a colossal success, selling over a million units in its first two years. More seriously, it outsold AMC's entire 1965 line-up, and it was already inspiring a host of imitators.
A few months before the Mustang debuted, AMC had exhibited a cute fastback coupe called Tarpon, styled by Bob Nixon, and based on the compact Rambler American. Dick Teague pushed to build the Tarpon as an answer to the Mustang, but Roy Abernethy ordered him to scale up the design for the midsized Rambler Classic platform instead. The result was the awkward Rambler Marlin, which was no threat at all to the Mustang, or even the Dodge Charger. By the middle of 1965, even Abernethy admitted that the Marlin was not what AMC needed. Bob Nixon, by then the head of small car exterior design, started work on a replacement. It was initially known as Rogue, a name AMC was then using for the hardtop coupe version of the Rambler American. The new Rogue would be AMC's entrée into the emerging "pony car" market.  The production Rambler Marlin was essentially a re-skinned Rambler Classic with a fastback roof. Sales were very slow: 10,327 in 1965, 4,547 in 1966, and a mere 2,545 for the restyled, slightly bigger 1967. (Photo © 2008 Christopher Ziemnowicz; released to the public domain by the photographer) PROJECT IV AND AMXIn October 1965, as the Rogue took shape, Chuck Mashigan's advanced styling studio developed a design study for a sporty two-seat fastback coupe, also based on the Rambler American platform. Teague dubbed it "AMX," American Motors Experimental. Although there were no specific plans for production, the AMX was an appealing design, and it had a strong influence on the development of the pony car project.
Because the pony car was a considerable departure from anything AMC had done before -- the company's only previous sports car, the 1951-1954 Nash-Healey, was neither designed nor engineered in house -- Teague proposed exhibiting prototypes of the AMX and other advanced styling studies, to show the public that AMC was moving in a new direction. Bob Evans became a strong supporter of that idea, which culminated in an extravagant traveling auto show called Project IV, shown in 10 North American cities in 1966. Project IV showcased four concept cars, including a non-running model of the AMX; a longer 2+2 coupe called AMX II, designed by freelance stylist Vince Gardner; a four-door sedan called Cavalier, with interchangeable doors and fenders; and a two-door coupe called Vixen, which looked a great deal like the later AMC Hornet. Teague subsequently commissioned the Italian coachbuilder Vignale to build a full-size running prototype of the two-seat AMX, which replaced the fiberglass model in the later Project IV exhibitions. Roy Abernethy teased visitors by implying that American might build something like the concept cars if response was strong enough. That was a little disingenuous, because the pony car project -- which bore a strong resemblance to the AMX and AMX II -- was already well under way. The show did have one major influence on AMC product planning: Bob Evans was so taken with the Vignale-built AMX that he asked Teague to develop a production version, in addition to the upcoming four-seater Mustang fighter. Around that time, AMC's Name Committee was debating what to call the new pony car. Special events manager Guy Hadsall, Jr. suggested "Javelin," which neither Teague nor PR director Howard Hallis liked very much. Hallis preferred "Cavalier," but Hadsall discovered that Dodge had already registered that name with the Automobile Manufacturers Association (AMA). The pony car became the Javelin.
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Another childhood memory - I was 10 years old.
Back in 1974, my mother had just gotten her license and wanted to buy a sporty car. Somehow, we ended up at the local AMC dealer and she ended up ordering a plum colored Javelin AMX with gold stripes, 360 V8, and who knows what other options. I was thrilled with the idea of finally having a powerful sports car in the family. Sitting in the showroom Javelin AMX was heaven while my parents did the paperwork.
It never came to be. At that time we lived in a small apartment and rented a very small garage from the neighbor. My father measured the garage and realized the Javelin would not fit. We neded up going to the dealer and changed the order to a 1974 Hornet X hatchback with a 304 V8.
To this day, I occasionally browse for sale ads looking for a decent 1974 Javelin AMX. Then again, I do the same for Porsche 928's, 69 Dodge Chargers, and all sorts of other childhood and teenage draam cars...