Car: AMC Javelin SST
Year: 1969
What makes it special: AMC’s Javelin is a front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, two-door hardtop manufactured and marketed 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.
What made it famous: 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, but standard with the “Go-Package” 5-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. Late model-year production received a cowl over the instrument panel directly in front of the driver. Optional “Big Bad” paint in Neon Brilliant Blue, Orange, or Green also became available from mid-1969 and came with matching front and rear painted bumpers, as well as two vertical rubber-faced painted bumper guards for the rear and a special bright lower grille molding for the front bumper. These optional colors were available on all Javelins through 1970. The Go-Package option was available with the 4-barrel 343 or 390 engines, and continued to include disc brakes, “Twin-Grip” limited slip differential, red-line performance E70x14 tires on “Magnum 500” styled wheels, heavy-duty suspension with thicker sway-bars, and other enhancements. Starting in January 1969, 4-speed manual transmissions came with a Hurst floor shifter.
Why I would want one: These were the sportiest muscle or pony cars available from AMC.
Fun fact: In addition to manufacture in Kenosha, Wisconsin, Javelins were assembled under license in Germany, Mexico, 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 was the first pony car to be used as a standard vehicle for highway police car duties by an American law enforcement agency.
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