The 1974 model year was a tough one on the “pony car” market segment. Three competitors had their last hurrah in 1974 (the Plymouth Barracuda, Dodge Challenger, and AMC Javelin) and a fourth became a subcompact (the Ford Mustang). And, in an odd twist, the Javelin outsold both Chrysler products in their last outings. This nice Baby Blue Javelin looks to have been well-kept and may only have 53,000 miles on the clock. Located in Santa Clarita, California, this possible survivor is available here on craigslist for $9,500. Thanks for the cool tip, Rocco B.!
American Motors joined the pony car fracas in 1968, originally using some components from the venerable American underneath. They introduced two models, the Javelin and the AMX, but the latter was more of a GT-style 2-seater like the Corvette. The first generation was built between 1968 and 1970, with a restyle introduced for 1971 through 1974. AMC produced 22,556 Javelins in 1974 along with 4,980 AMXs which had grown to become the Javelin’s performance model. The most popular engine in the car that year was the basic 304 cubic inch V8, which saw 13,826 copies.
The seller doesn’t impart much information about this nice light blue Javelin. The paint and vinyl top are nice except for some scrapes on the passenger side, possibly too nice to be original. But we don’t know that. The interior has been well-kept for the automobile’s age, but it’s not perfect. The Javelin sports a spoiler under the front bumper, and it has the looks of being aftermarket, but it’s the same color as the rest of the car.
If you’re looking to get into the vintage car scene, don’t have a small fortune to spend, and would like a car seldom seen these days, could this Javelin fit the bill? From the looks of things under the hood, this one may have even been tricked out a little, but the seller doesn’t say. Even though AMC built more Javelins in ’74 than Chrysler did the Challenger and Barracuda, it’s likely that fewer of them survive today.
These cars look great. I like ’em original, like this one.
Nice car and it’s got A/C. Won’t see yourself going around every corner with this one. Glwts
Sorry but … yuck. First car at 18 years old in 82 I put on a lift for a lof at a kmart I worked at was a mid 70’s Javelin and it collapsed in 1/2 on the lift. We told the guy the unibody was totally rotted away but the old man demanded his 9.99 oil change.ugly car …ugly color.Drove my full frame 66 belair 283 Saginaw 3 speed stick home and for several more years.
1959 AMC Ambassador with unibody versus 1959 Bel-Air full frame car in oblique head on crash: Chevy is destroyed & Ambo is still roadworthy.
Far fewer survived, because they were built by AMC.
Hey Big C…What the heck does THAT mean???
They rusted on the dealers lot. And, I knew a lot of gearheads, back in the day. No one owned an AMC. Lots of Camaro’s, Firebirds, Mustangs and Chargers, though.
Observed a person doing a ground-up resto on a Barracuda. First thing that needed to be done was re-welding all the crooked cowl panels because the factory did such a wonderful job……went back & looked at Trans-Am racing results from 1970: Mustang, Javelin & Camaro all whipped the ‘Cudas & Challengers.
Sorry Big C. No they did not rust on the dealers lot. I am from the rust belt and have actively pursued AMC’s back then and were no worse at rusting than anything else. Don’t confuse a Javelin or AMX with a Vega,
It is true most everyone drove everything else from the big three. I and many others simply wanted something better than the big 3 and thankfully there was AMC. Chrysler also wanted something better so they bought them.
Beautiful ride!! Worth every penny and then some. I had a 72 amx and boy I had a lot of fun with that car!
I always thought this body style was made for wide tires on the back to make it look right. I say the same thing about the same generation Charger/Satellite/Road Runner.
Nice I had a 71javlin sst 401 4spd possi rear end very fun very. Fast car
Fast is an understatement.
What color was your 71 SST 401 4 spd?
Looks like this car has the rare manual disc brakes.
“Well kept”? Seriously? With a filthy interior, and scraped, peeling, and dinged paint?
Oh man, a pony car from the 70’s that I like and can actually afford! Just wish it had a 4 speed instead of the slushbox. I wonder how many people would sacrifice me to the car gods for swapping in an LS and a 6 speed from a wrecked Corvette or Camaro , because a car that looks this good should have the power to back it up. Maybe they’ll take my Z900RS Cafe in trade? Either way, someone is getting a really nice car for not a lot of money.
Seems like a fair price, if you can handle that color. Posted 5 days ago.
For a 49 year old vehicle, yeah, it is well kept.
Oh ok roadrunner/ javelin/ Torino cobra edtion
Nice car, real good price. I have one, white & black, no front spoiler. Original paint 48,000 miles always a hit at car
shows
Love the retro pony car body style. Baby blue is my favorite car color. Floor mounted automatic transmission with high back bucket seats as expected. 304 V8 common but a very practical choice. No information on Craigslist about air conditioning and power assists which would be good to know. Hopefully, it had been a long term California car not a flip from the rust belt. Javelins are rare at car shows so would be popular. Not perfect but a lot to love for a beginning collector or AMC.fan. Would be worth a test drive.
Too bad about the okified sun roof; that would be a deal-breaker for me.
AMC made bad decision after bad decision. So this car outsold the other ponies in 1974. With the other’s (Challenger, Barracuda, Mustang being neutered) being discontinued or changed….AMC could have inherited the entire pony car market had they continued producing Javelins.
Instead they went dorky with Pacers and Matadors. No wonder they failed in the end.
Maybe you should do a little research before you blame two cars as failure. AMC never failed. They had been loosing money but at the time on an upswing. Never did they have to ask the government for a handout. They were bought out.
Their design teems were left intact and many former AMC people went on to do other things. I know former AMC guys on the design team to put the Cummins diesel in the Dodge pick up. The Viper and the LH platforms only to name a few. The Jeep was still popular and was the target of Chrysler and as a bonus they got very good people used to working within tight budgets.
I luv doing research fanboy. So here goes.
n February 1977, Time magazine reported that although American Motors had lost $73.8 million in the previous two fiscal years, U.S. banks had agreed to a year’s extension for a $72.5 million credit that had expired in January; that stockholders had received no dividends since 1974; and that Pacer sales did not match expectations.
Then after the Renault Rescue of AMC.
Under pressure from Renault executives following Besse’s death, Renault’s new president, Raymond Levy, set out to repair employee relations and divest the company of its investment in American Motors. Renault owned 46.1% of American Motors’ outstanding shares of stock. In 1986 American Motors had lost $91.3 million.[93]
Then Chrysler came in to buy AMC, although they only were interested in the Jeep part.
On March 9, 1987, Chrysler agreed to buy Renault’s share in American Motors, plus all the remaining shares, for about $1.5 billion ($3,577,768,014 in 2021 dollars[19]).[93][94][95][96][97][98] Chrysler made no secret that they were only interested in AMC for Jeep,
They were a failure for decades, only kept alive buy buy-ins & buy outs.
I see Emel out searched you and came to the exact same thing you said that they had been losing money. But for some strange reason he never called you out on the key part of your comment. The fact that they never asked for bail out money from the government.
AMC waited to long to get into the pony car business.
JL: this 150 horsepower 5.0 isn’t going to win any Trans Am races. But I am impressed by your knowledge of AMC products. I saw it as a cute sporty car to cruise in on nice days and shine up for shows. I think the 401 V8 was still the top dog in 1974 for American Motors.
Emu haha coping and pasting an article from Time magazine on the web. Wow. Time is an automotive authority. It isn’t unusual for companies to bet on a product. When changes in business occur the investors and banks throw money. That is business. Making any product is a gamble. GM is and Ford are betting it all on electric. How is that going to turn out? Gonna say not good.
AMC was a small company. They did not have millions. They were not inferior. The people running the company were not inferior.The Pacer was built due to a pending government mandate for roll over safety. AMC designed it. The mandate was dropped due largely to GM crying the loudest. AMC was already committed. Another issue is the new design shared little parts sharing and required new tooling. It was a success at first. All US manufactures were getting hammered on by Japan. In 74 the gas crisis hit and large Matadors were not selling of were Cadillacs and Lincolns. The Matador coupe was a success at Nascar largely what it was designed for. It was a nice driving car.
There have been many good products that for one reason or another did not sell. There have been many bad that were a sales success. The Vega car of the year. One of the worst ever made. GM made millions and the people suffered for it. I don’t know anyone who suffered for driving an AMC in the fact of loosing an engine at 20,000 miles.
The head of Renault Georges Bessie believed in AMC. In that time AMC was never stronger. They had all new product and sales were on a rebound. Chrysler came calling and he refused to sell. He had planned to take the Jeep brand global. Out of nowhere he was gunned down getting into his limo.Died on the sidewalk. Guess what? Renault quickly sold their interest in AMC.
To all the AMC haters out there:
I’ll bet you never owned a Hurst SC/Rambler, a Rebel or Matador Machine, a Javelin or an AMX.
If you did, you wouldn’t talk like your shoes are too tight.
And a lot of people found out the hard way how fast those AMX’s with the 390’s and the 401’s were.
EMEL,
Nice job of copy and paste. You should have earlier included the part where Besse died instead of his death being initially referred to in Paragraph 3.
Copy and paste isn’t doing your homework.