You
gotta hand it to American Motors (Rambler), they REALLY tried! Wanting
to jump into the emerging pony car market, AMC came out with the
Javelin in 1968. It was a “nice” pony car, but
needed something more. So AMC shortened the chassis, restyled the body
and unleashed the AMX. What was so cool about the AMX was that it
didn’t look like ANYTHING else on the road, it was completely
unique. And it was a true “sports car” in the sense
that it did not have a back seat, it was a 2-seater only!
Weighing in at 200 pounds less than a Javelin, AMC packed all the hot
hardware they could think of. The car handled well and had a very
under-rated 390 engine that responded very well to hot rod tricks such
as headers, a larger carb, hot ignition, and taller gearing. Hurst
Performance of Warminster, Pennsylvania. actually offered a heavily
modified version of the AMX that was as close as you could get to an
all-out Super Stock car for the street. All it really needed was a set
of slicks and it’s mufflers uncapped! It was an 11-second,
ready made drag racer.