The car thst killed AMC.
Posted on 08/22/2020 4:30:38 PM PDT by Impala64ssa
On this day in 1967, AMC issued a press release, pictured above, officially announcing the 1968 AMC Javelin. The vehicle would help AMC shed its commuter car appearance and as it jumped into the pony car market dominated by the Ford Mustang and Chevrolet Camaro. When the Dick Teague designed Javelin hit showrooms about a month later, on September 26, the base model retailed for $2,743, about $21,500 today. If you opted for the base hardtop Mustang you would pay $2,567 or you get a Camaro for $2,450.
For 1968 and 1969 a Javelin buyer had five engine options, ranging from the standard 232 inline 6 up to the 390 V8 that produced 315 horsepower. The latter became available midway through the 1968 model year. When the car was first released the biggest engine available was the 280 horsepower 343 Typhoon V8.
The car received excellent marks from automotive journalists. Motor Trend placed it at the top of the “sports-personal” category in its annual “Car of the Year” issue. It called the Javelin “the most significant achievement for an all-new car.”
The average age of a Javelin buyer was 29, which was 10 years younger than the average AMC buyer previously. Though ads compared the Mustang and Javelin side by side, and one even featured a Mustang getting beat up with sledgehammers, sales were not comparable. For 1968, 55,125 Javelins left dealers, while nearly 320,000 Mustangs sold. AMC, of course, did not compete at the same volume as the Ford Motor Company.
Production of the AMC Javelin would last through 1974. Only 27,696 were built, including 4,980 Javelin-AMX models, in its final year. Several factors contributed to the Javelin’s end. A rough economic climate was a primary factory, but the oil crises and stricter emissions and safety regulations sealed its fate. It was estimated that it’d take $12 million in engineering costs to bring the car up to date with new bumper rules alone. Additionally, AMC needed the room to manufacture its new small car, the Pacer, which was to be introduced for 1975.
Dog faced Pony Car Market
The car thst killed AMC.
I used to work for a guy who collected vintage Corvette’s and had an AC Bristol under long term restoration.
His daily driver was his Pacer. He loved the thing.
The Javelin was cool. But then there was the Matador, quite possibly the ugliest production car ever.
My Dad bought a Nash Rambler brand new off the lot in 1952 and just 15 years later had to pay a junk dealer $15 to tow it away.
Nice looking car but I’m surprised it was priced above the Mustang and Camaro.
Never cared much for the lines of the Javelin. The AMX was more my cup of tea.
My parents bought a 1960 Rambler station wagon. The dealer liked my parents and at the time, one could drive to the AMC plant in Kenosha, Wisconsin and pick up their car. Ours was not ready, so the dealer paid my parent $200 to drive two cars from Kenosha to Moorhead Minnesota.
In 1966 they bought a Marlin which I am hoping to have restored. In 1971, they bought a Javlin for me as a college graduation present (it turned out to be a lemon). We also purchased a Jeep Wagonner, a couple of Rambler station wagons, and a Renault Alliance from that same dealer. My parents bought their final car from them in 1990 as I did. They went out of business, my parents passed away and I moved out of the area. But for 30 some years we bought all our cars from that dealer.
I did consider both the Pacer and the Gremlin but at 6feet plus, they were too small.
It takes someone with a deep sense of irony or totally clueless to put flames on that car :)
I wanted a Javelin. Got a Matador instead — early ‘70s. I loved that car!!!
“But then there was the Matador”
I had one. Loved it.
Welcome to Joe Biden's world.
The Gremlin, the Pacer, the Javelin.... AMC. My old college roomie had a Javelin. When he graduated he simply left it parked on the street in Atlanta and moved. I think he eventually sold it for $150.
They made some good cars, the pacer killed them but it was actually a pretty good car, lots of room.
The matador was a good car.
I had the opportunity to drive one owned by my friend’s dad, and while it felt like driving in a fish bowl, it also felt like it was powered by goldfish.
Had to be one of the most underpowered cars ever sold.
I haven’t seen one on the road in years.
Never cared for them.
https://www.topspeed.com/cars/others/2017-amc-javelin-amx-defiant-by-ringbrothers-ar178162.html
Heh, sorry. Thought this was about the Pacer...never drove the Javelin.
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