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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.
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