Possumblog

Car Talk

Chef Tony, noted fondler of cast iron cookware, sent me a link to a story in the Chicago Sun-Times about an old friend of mine: The 'X' marks AMX's spot in auto history

Actually, a pretty good article for what is admittedly a rather obscure model. For a more detailed history of the car, probably one of the best sites is The AMX Files. As I noted to Tony, as a former owner, there are a few minor details I noted that aren't quite right in the article.

1. The 2-seat AMX showcar shown in the article came first (although it wasn't actually a two seater--it had a trunk-mounted jump seat called a "Ramble Seat" that could pop up, and the rear glass would also raise up to provide a windshield of sorts), so it's a bit of a misnomer to claim the AMX was nothing more than a shortened Javelin--in actuality, it's more like the production Javelin was a lengthening of the concept car AMX. The production AMX was a shortening of the production Javelin. In the end, it's nothing but a minor (and sort of confusing) quibble, since they were developed more or less side-by-side as companion models based on a common ancestor.

2. Despite what the article says, the AMX hood was no longer than the Javelin's. They shared front bumpers and fenders, so the hood had to be the same length or it wouldn't match the edge of the front of the bumper. They also shared doors, windshield, trunk lid, rear glass, drivetrains, suspension (although AMXs had axle-mounted traction links standard), and interiors (except for the rear seat, obviously). Although the AMX was distinctive, the two cars didn't look like entirely different cars from two different makers--the relationship was pretty apparent.

3. Speaking of the hood, the two blisters on the '68 and '69 models had simulated louvers, not real ones. '70 models got a functional hood scoop.

4. The serial number plaques on the dash did not follow VIN production numbers. It's possible to have a car with a lower dash number than a car that was built earlier in the production run. The serial number plates were supplied to AMC loose and were randomly picked out and installed as the cars came down the line.

But that's about it.

Mine was a 1969, and at the time I bought it, I had no idea it was one of 195 specially painted "Big Bad Blue" cars with painted bumpers. It also had the "Go Pak," which consisted of stiffer suspension, heavy duty radiator, battery, alternator, etc., stripes, and power front disc brakes. It was in pretty sad shape and I thought the color was horrible, so being young and inexperienced (and with able assistance from my Dad, who knew even less about such things than I did) I had the bumpers chromed and the car repainted bright Matador red with silver painted stripes.

It was beautiful, but it probably damaged the collectibility of it. I went through and redid the interior and rebuilt the engine and did a bunch of other stuff and entered it in a few shows, then I sold it when I got married in '91 for $6,500. This was back when people would have thought you were insane if you told them Hemi 'Cudas would one day cost over a million dollars. It was about what the average Camaro or Mustang of similar vintage was selling for at the time.

It was a great fun car although a real handful in the wet. I'm surprised I'm not dead.

Tony said he'd like one, so some words of caution--if you do ever get one, beware of rust in the rear quarters--there are no more sheetmetal quarters available except off of junkers, so you have to patch whatever rust or damage you find.

Also look out for crappy quality NOS trim bits. When I had mine, you could still order some trim parts from the factory, but they were of vastly inferior quality to the original parts. I bought a rear reflector strip and it looked like crap, and the lettering was crooked.

Front suspension is another issue--the '68 and '69 both used a type of spring and trunnion thing with a strut and top mounted spring that had a weak point in the center. These break and it was a lot of money even back then to rebuild it.

Anyway, quite a blast to drive, although I don't really crave to have it back now. Things change, you know.

OH, and before you all write to tell me about it, the one at the Alabama State Trooper Headquarters in Montgomery is a Javelin. Some of those had the AMX package--AMX having became the name of the performance option package on the Javelin from 1971 to 1974.

Posted by Terry Oglesby at March 23, 2007 10:48 AM