1974 ACM Javelin

The American Motors Corporation has always been the underdog of the US car manufacturers, and their Gremlins and Pacers built in the ‘70s are consistently voted as some of the ugliest cars ever made.

But despite this reputation they have also built some very cool vehicles which have been overlooked for many years.

AMC were the builders of the famous WW2 Willy’s Jeep brand, which evolved in to the classis CJ series of models in later years. Different AMC automotive models managed to hold their own in many forms of racing too including drag racing, and road racing and achieving the unthought-of prize of winning the Trans Am Championship during its peak, in 1971 and ’72.

At the age of 18, after a long interest and study of the history of the brand, John bought his first AMC product, a CJ5 powered by 304 cu. in. V8. He still owns it to this day. But his real dream car was a Javelin, as the swoopy body style, performance, and racing heritage interested him.

After an Internet purchase arrived in NZ, it didn’t quite turnout to be “as good as described” , so that was on-sold and the search for a better example resumed. John soon found a very well optioned ’74 model in California for sale on e-Bay , but through a series of errors, he missed out on the sale.

As a last resort, John e-mailed the seller and soon struck up a friendship with him. Soon a deal was done and the Javelin was heading down under.

John’s original factory black Javelin is nicely optioned with the 401 cu. in V8, (1 of 217 built) 3 speed 727 automatic, Rally Pac gauge package, tilt wheel, A/C , and factory 8 track stereo. As mentioned, John and the previous owner Rick Fleischer have remained in contact for quite a while now, and John is thrilled that Rick is traveling down from California to meet John and see his old car again, in its new home, and enjoy a small piece of America here in Taranaki for a few days.