American Motors admitted that this car was primarily designed to turn heads; the design was unlike anything else seen from Detroit at the time. It had been a calculated risk, but they had enough belief in their exceptional styling to have a wonderful opportunity of turning heads and enticing customers to the dealerships. There were highly sculptured fenders with a “twin-canopy” roof with a spoiler-type rear window lip and new full-width taillamps. The interior was completely redesigned and upgraded with a wraparound, aircraft-inspired dashboard for the driver’s instrumentation.

It also helped that the famed owner/driver combination of Roger Penske and Mark Donohue had brought a great deal of respectability to the AMC racing program through their successful 1970 and 1971 Trans-Am campaigns. The Javelins would finish second in the manufacturer’s championship in 1970 to the Bud Moore Ford Mustangs and would follow that up by winning eight races on the way to the 1971 Trans-Am title.

The 1971 factory literature boasted of its engineering prowess along with the styling; “We made improvement after improvement, applying a large number of lessons we learned in our Trans-Am racing competition.”

AMC offered three levels of trim in the Javelin lineup; the base Javelin, the Javelin SST and the Javelin AMX. The example we have the pleasure of offering is the SST model; it is reported to us as being an “original survivor car with one repaint.” The original owner is said to be a mechanic at an AMC dealership, and the car is accompanied by its window sticker and build sheet. It was ordered with the optional 360-cid V-8 engine and Shift-Command automatic transmission with the U-shaped “stirrup-grip control.” Additional equipment includes an original interior with new carpets featuring bucket seats, center console, simulated woodgrain trim on the dash and door panels and radio. The exterior displays what appears to be Wild Plum paint with a subtle black nose stripe, whitewall tires, SST emblems and factory hubcaps. Power steering and brakes are also part of this uncommon and bold automobile.