American Motors joined the pony car movement in 1968 with two models if you count the 2-seat AMX as one of them. They sold 55,000 copies the first year, three of which included specially modified versions by Craig Breedlove and Edelbrock Engineering. This is one of them and it ran the Salt Flats at Bonneville in Utah at more than 161 miles per hour, a record in that class that would stand for years. This special car has likely been a museum piece ever since and will be available here on Mecum auctions in Indianapolis, Indiana on May 13-21, 2022.
The Javelin would see production across seven model years (through 1974) and two generations, after which AMC existed from the pony car market (as did Chrysler). The engine chosen by Breedlove and company for this car was a 304 cubic inch V8, according to the listing, but that’s not a displacement that AMC would offer until 1970. There’s lettering on the rear quarter panels that say “343” which was an engine in 1968-69. So, we’re not sure when this motor, with its specially designed 2×4-barrel aluminum intake manifold and special heads, found its way into this machine.
Dubbed the “Bonneville Speed Spectacular,” this automobile has appeared in several magazines over the years including the October 1998 issue of Car Craft and the April 1970 edition of Hot Rod. It’s quite distinctive with the red, white, and blue custom paint job (apparently applied on what was a white car, to begin with) and the black bucket seat interior which looks quite good. It should be as we’re told it’s only seen 19 miles of use and the rest of the time it was on a trailer between gigs.
There’s no telling how much a car like this could go for at auction. And it’s certainly not something you’d want to pay six figures for and then drive around every day. This is one of 17 AMC products scheduled to be at the Indy auction, with others including a 1970 Rebel Machine, a couple of 1969 SC/Ramblers, and a 1970 Mark Donohue Javelin.
Sexy beast….
Craig breedlove ,was this a hippy from the sixties ?
With a name like that , how could he have success with racing ?
Inquiring minds want to know ?!
I’m shocked you don’t remember him, as I do, from his land speed records in the 1960s. Here is his Wiki page.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craig_Breedlove
Thanks for the link
But
I was mostly poking at his name for reasons that were obvious to me …
@ Claudio. Sorry for the misunderstanding. There should be a “sarcasm” emoji we can use to help the gullible (me!) know you aren’t serious.
No worries
I read the link you shared
And read a few other ones on the man
I have very limited knowledge on amc as most of their cars were butugly to me
Eagles , amx and javelins for me
Too bad they were not into convertibles that attracted me
I once tried to buy a topless eagle conversion but it was sold for more than i felt comfortable with …
the speed spectacular had 3 Javelins that were identically painted and equipped, with 343 Cubic inch motors, who knows what ever happened to the two others. They were built for High end speed events.
Ive been in the AMC hobbie since 1978 and never, ever, seen one of these special Javelins. ONE RARE PIECE.
That interior sure looks like it’s seen more than 19 miles!
Actually, AMC entered the pony car market a few years earlier with the Marlin. Like Plymouth with the Barracuda, it was based on an existing model. Was still a nice car although no fire breather.
It’s no surprise that Ford, GM and Chrysler enthusiasts don’t know about the AMC’s performance exploits starting in 1967 with the Baja Rebel, the James Garner Rambler Scrambler Baja cars, the land speed records or Craig Breedlove and his wife who set more land speed records than any other make. No single car will ever match the accomplishments of those cars. Yes individual cars have broken some records but no car can come close to matching or breaking all of them. And of course being first to accomplish something can never be taken away.
The amazing thing was how relatively little money it took to make those records. Ignoring those accomplishments became modus operandi as Ford, Chrysler and GM waged a subtle war of disinformation against AMC for years to keep AMC at bay and their accomplishments out of the mainstream media.
AMC itself didn’t help because their company culture was essentially disinterested in any race but the human race even during their stint at racing during the muscle car years. They suffered from the boiling frog syndrome.
That is, you can put a frog in a pot of water and it will sit there as you gradually heat it up and die rather than hopping out of the pot. That is exactly what killed AMC. They failed to advertise effectively.
AMC failed, not because of any lack of engineering or product failure. In their later years, they did indeed produce inferior cars, but the damage was actually done during the muscle car years when they had certain assets they could have used to better promote the hell out of their product line but chose to do nothing innovative.
The Rebels, Javelins and AMXs were better built cars than their competition. That is finally being acknowledged by people restoring these cars in recent years, but far too late to save American Motors.
As a body panel supplier to AMCs, I get to hear from Ford, GM and particularly Chrysler guys who upon putting together one of these cars, can’t stop babbling about how good they are in terms of unibody design/construction, performance and easily available power.
AMC built impressive cars but failed miserably to tell the buying public about it. Losing Mark Donahue to a fatal racing accident was the key event that began the slide. Everything went downhill from there.
I bought a new 69 AMX in Atlanta. I out ran every musclecar I could find with that car. At a local dragstrip (Dallas) I won my class beating a Z/28 and the owner was furious ! That car had the quality of a later Toyota. Never had to take it back to the dealer. Ran great, handled great, looked great and attracted a lot of attention cause it wasn’t a Chevy, Ford or Mopar !
I love this car and it would be back on the street. Since that is not going to happen, just give me that intake!!!!!!!!!
Gotta check this one out when I go to that Mecum auction this May!
The 304 motor that was used in those cars is not the 304 sold to the public. A 304 race motor motor was a slightly bored 290 engine, whereas the 304 production motor was a stroked 290 engine; 3.28 versus 3.44. I have also heard that the Donohue 5 Litre (304) Trans-Am motors were de-stroked 360 engines.
A friend of mine had a 69 Javelin with a 343 engine and a 4 speed. It was faster than it should have been so he asked the dealer about it. The dealer inquired to the factory about it and found out that in order for AMC to race the 343 in TranAm racing they had to sell 50 of the blueprinted 343 motors. That sucker was fast
“faster than it should have been” said no one ever!
@ SincerePollack:
I got an image of “Tim, the toolman Taylor” in my mind’s eye when I read your comment.
A friend of mine had a 1966 290 Rogue that had a factory experimental blueprinted engine. He won a lot of races with it at Detroit Dragway, against his fathers wishes!
My friends stock 343 4 speed Javelin ran 14 flat ! Back in that time that was fast ! My 390 4 speed AMX ran 14.4s. Explain that !
I always get a kick out of looking under the hood of a late 1960s high-performance AMC model and seeing vacuum windshield wipers. :) (Not that you’d want to drive this thing in the rain!)
Yep AMC guy, nobody told them that there’s little to no vacuum on a performance engines. I still say they should have stuck to making Kelvinator refrigerators. Backwards engineering- or just engineers trying to justify their existance. So it goes. Good luck and happy motoring.
Cheers
GPC
I would have blown your doors off back then and still can today. Once you experience an AMC you’ll become a huge fan. It’s your loss.
Some of the Nash heritage still in these AMC Javelins: (1) vacuum window wipers standard until 1970’s, (2) upper trunnions instead of ball joints I believe in all AMC cars until late 60’s or 70’s including Javelins?, and (3) the Nash-Kelvinator designed integrated heating and A/C called “Weather Eye” that is visible on the left side of dash picture. I believe all AMC cars through to the end had “Weather Eye” on the dashboard on the heater controls but the trunnions & vacuum wipers were dropped earlier.
1969 was last year for trunnions……trunnions were not so bad that Ike Knupp could not beat the Corvettes, Shelby 350 Mustangs & a few others in SCCA class B
Ice bucket turned into a fuel cooler.
Old school hot rodding at its finest.
That’s a legit Moroso cool can.
Thats a heck of a top end.. Tall gear?
My second 68 AMX had a built 390 motor. !2 to 1, cam, intake. headers etc. 4 speed. The price of gas shot up to 50 cents a gallon ! Everybody freaked out. I replaced my 3:54 rear end with a 3:15. Hurt acceleration but top end was insane. It would bury the 140 mph speedometer ! Gas mileage still sucked !
I have only seen one other magneto like that. Who made that? I can’t remember the brand name.
Look’s like a Grant-Spalding Flamethrower.
My 63 Ambo has trunnions… they needed a particular lubricant which of course they often didn’t get…. my car has a (factory) vacuum pump that helps the wipers and they’re excellent…. and the Weather Eye is still working fine.
I would like an early AMX, but in right-hand steer, not much chance.
What would one do with this Donahue car… good that it still exists, but what would one actually do with it… suppose it will vanish into a collection, given there’s no permanent museum devoted to AMC.
Wow…Cragar spokes on a salt flats car…crazy
time to go visit the RAMBLER RANCH in Elizebeth Colorado, its as close to an AMC museum as your going to get 400 plus cars
FYI: this is not a Donohue car. Donohue & Penske were with Chevrolet in 1969. This car is from the Breedlove Speed Spectacular effort. AMC did not use the 343 in Trans AM & did not have to homologate it, or any other engine, with special “blueprinted” motors. There is talk that a special 5 Litre motor was developed for 1969, but not allowed to run because it was not available in production cars. Some of the features of that motor are thought to have been used in the 1970 & up Dog Leg Head motors.
AMX & Javelin Muscle Portfolio has a few details: three of these cars were made & furnished to three teams. The engine is described as a 343 bored to 373. This would require a bore of 4.25 inches. the motors were assembled using a Crower cam with 310 duration & .525 lift. AMC manifold #4486228 with two Holley 4160 rated at 600 cfm. The distributor is a grant Flamethrower & the vehicle used Doug’s headers and a Schiefer aluminum flywheel. The vehicle also used the 2.64 ratio 4-speed with a 2.87 differential and 15 inch wheels. there is also mention of the AMX torque links being installed. Also used were the factory disc/drum brakes and 50-50 shocks. The text mentions that Breedlove did not intend to go much over 6000 rpms so it might be assumed that the crank & rods were the factory cast iron items. With 2.87 gears & tall tires, 161 mph is possible.
Thank you for the info, i will make an effort to read the AMC story that was overshadowed by the media
As we all have learned in the last few years , how bad they can be !
That is right! everything anyone has ever heard about AMC is fake news propagated by the woke socialists at Ford & GMC & Chrysler…….