The History of MY involvement with AMCs...(you better sit down).

	In late 1981, I was 2 1/2 years out of High School and 
working in a large factory close to home. I was going on 19 
years old and just getting around to getting my license as I 
hadn’t really needed one before...being in a fairly large city, 
everything is a block or two away.
	I indicated to everyone that would listen that I was 
looking for a car for under $1000 and it had to be of the muscle-
car variety- it need not be ACTUALLY fast, just had to have the 
right look and stance. I looked at about a dozen ‘leads’ but all 
were rusty hulks or 4-doors, which, by my standards, meant 
‘family’ car.
	In mid-September, a co-worker named Vinnie mentioned his 
neighbor was selling a car I might like, called a ‘Javelin’, and 
was asking $1000 even. He lived about 20 minutes away and offered 
to run me out to see it. I’d never heard of such a car, but since 
he assured me it was a ‘muscle’ car (and I had nothing better to 
do), I went along...dragging another co-worker with us, Jose, who 
I felt knew something about cars.
	As we pulled up to the driveway, the car was facing out...
it was a 1973 Javelin, Dark Brown with a Pale Tan vinyl interior 
and Black vinyl top. A thin Tan pinstripe traced the side crease 
of the body from nose to tail, Cragar SS mags, rusting, but 
salvagable, wearing nearly-wasted Dunlop GT Qualifiers. The picture 
of it on my website is the first I took as I stepped out of Vinnie’s 
car that day. You’re seeing it just as I did that first moment. I 
grinned so wide, my head flipped back like a Pez dispenser!
	We walked around the car, looking the body over. The 
passenger side quarter, near the bottom, just behind the wheel well, 
was torn open....a parking disagreement with a fire hydrant....but 
it was very repairable- about a 6inch rip that followed the edge of 
the well. Otherwise, the body was flawless.
	The interior had the standard split-seams on the driver seat, 
but the balance was perfect. I burst out laughing when I saw ‘Desert 
Only’ on the A/C control. And, boy, was that dash weird! Why did it 
wrap around you like that? (Fast forward to 1996...what car dash 
doesn’t nowadays?)  Where the hell is the glove box.........OOhhhhhhh!
 WEIRD!!!! My habit of always being non-conformist was pushing me 
into buying this thing without knowing if it ran! Wha---Where’s the 
door lock? Hey! That’s gotta be tough to open with a hanger! .......
Lust at first sight.
	Jose suggested we look under the hood (suggesting something 
important to the car might be in there). Behold, all the trappings 
of the muscle car engine: Offenhauser finned aluminum valve covers 
stood out most, then the yellow Accel wires and Edelbrock intake. 
Mallory ignition, Carter four barrel...all the buzz terms that made 
me giddy!
	Jose asked Vinnie to start it. Perhaps in an attempt to really 
impress me, Vinnie reached in, and without touching the pedals, turned 
the key. Yeah, right! It had sat for a while. Vinnie made his second 
attempt while seated and after pumping the pedal just a bit. VaaROOOMM! 
The Turbo mufflers rumbled to life and vibrated, but could still be 
spoken over.....the sound I’ve come to demand from every V8 since. 
Not loud, just a ‘presence’ like Darth Vader standing behind you, 
breathing... (chills).
	The built 304 idled smoothly..perhaps just a bit less smoothly 
than stock (based on my experiences since). I asked about taking it 
for a ride, but Vinnie said it had no insurance (the scurge of Jersey 
living). He said once around the block, but that’s it, and since I was 
still awaiting my road test, Vinnie would drive.
	Well...Vinnie had already scared the crap out of me on the way 
to this place in HIS car....as I recall, a 66 or 67 Malibu(?). And 
driving a car that wasn’t his own proved an ‘experience’! I nervously 
climbed out and asked "Why does she want to sell this thing?".
	"She says it’s bad on gas" Vinnie answered. We all looked at 
each other and cracked up laughing. Who the hell buys a car like this, 
then worries about gas mileage?
	I asked that Vinnie have her hold the car while I begged mom 
for a loan for the balance of the price......I said I’d spend $1000...
I didn’t say I had that much! After days of pestering and pleading, she 
gave in.
	I risked my life again in Vinnie’s passenger seat, dragging my 
younger brother with me this time, for the ride back down to pick up 
the car. I handed Vinnie the cash, he ran inside and returned with 
the keys and title. I put on my dad’s old plates (if he only knew) and 
pulled away. All my practice in mom’s Impala did not prepare me for 
the power hiding under this pedal! I was jerking the nose up and down 
all the way home.......with a side trip thru the car wash for added 
effect upon arrival home!
	I ran upstairs and told the folks to look out the window. I was 
quite dejected when they looked outside and didn’t look at mine any 
longer than they did the others that were scattered up and down the 
block. Mom simply let out a ‘Mmmmm’. Looking back, they probably bit 
their lips, not wanting to indicate they thought I’d get killed in it! 
Harumph! I knew what I was doing! And my little brother thought so, 
too!
	The first couple of months were heaven. My 28 year old girl-
freind (yeah, so?) loved the car at first sight. A co-worker asked 
what body shop had added the Vette flares to my ‘Cuda’...duh! I was 
loving the confused looks on people’s faces that had never seen a 
Javelin before. I had also found that the curve of the dash made the 
radio face unreadable to the front seat passenger, thereby making it 
difficult for them to play with it! Was that the designer’s idea? 
Awesome! My car, my radio!
	One day, I was driving around with my permanent sidekick 
brother in a light rain...I think I was going to buy an album (a 
large vinyl CD for you young folk!)...when a group of teens ran out 
in front of me. I slammed on the brakes, but the wasted Dunlops just 
surfed along, so I released the brake and (cover your eyes) turned 
into a row of parked cars. I looked at my brother who said he was 
fine. So was I. I threw open my door and looked to see where the kids 
were. They were safely on the sidewalk, laughing at my misfortune 
(mental note: next time, hit them!). I went to the front of the car. 
I had hit the front fender of a Regal and the rear of a Monza (GMs, 
big deal) and tore off my passenger side fender, the front end of 
which now hung about a foot away from the hood’s edge. The headlight 
faced straight up, the bumper was mangled. The grille cracked at the 
end, but with the lamp bezel back in place, would still be usable. 
Those are the facts. The feeling was that of having run over your 
own dog. I burst out crying as I tried to pull the headlight upright
..as if just doing that would force the car to reshape itself. I 
gave up and drove home. My ever-logical dad informed me I’d left the 
scene of an accident. So I climbed back into my battered beauty and 
drove to the police station where the cops on duty looked at each 
other as if I had three heads.
	"You hit parked cars...and WANT to report it?"
Okay, I’m an idiot...where do I sign up? I made out the report and 
went home.
	Soon after, my parts hunting paid off and I found a good 
YELLOW fender, which I spray-painted a similar brown. About a year 
later, I picked up a ‘74 Javelin, 258/Auto that I planned to drive 
while I fixed up the ‘73. But the magic was gone, and over the 
course of the next two years I pounded the ‘73 to within a inch of 
the junkyard. It was eventually impounded for being unsafe to drive, 
and the ‘74 was sold to a neighbor needing parts for a black ‘73 
Pierre Cardin Javelin. My brother rescued the ‘73 from the impound 
and stripped the drivetrain from it, expecting to put it in a '73 
Javelin he had found. That car turned out to be badly rusted below 
and he wound up selling the motor to a freind who had a ‘72 AMX with 
a dead 360. We stripped the ‘73 for parts to sell later.
	I next got a ‘79 Camaro (a thousand apologies) to tool 
around in. Feeling the withdrawal, I found a blue ‘74 Javelin in the 
want ads somewhere in 1984. The guy was asking $150! Not expecting 
much, I went down to see it, again with my younger brother. It 
needed a hood, driver side fender and bumper, all of which we had 
at home. Also, it wouldn’t run right...but it did run..spitting and 
popping. I bought it, forced it home and asked my neighbor with the 
Cardin to check the firing order. Sure enough, two wires were 
switched during the last tuneup. Now it ran like an animal!
	I used it for a year or so, but couldn’t fall in love like 
I had with the first. I put it up for sale, and it was bought by a 
woman that had owned a 72 AMX years ago, and now missed it. I found 
out her car was the very one that now had my Javelin’s 304 in it! 
Small world! She passed away sometime after that in a car accident 
(not in the Javelin) and her husband still has her car stored away 
to this day, awaiting the day their son will have it!
	I soon spotted a ‘72 SST, 304/3spd on a roadside. I knocked 
on the door of the home, and was told by an old man that it was his 
son’s car. I could have it for $150. The son had moved away and 
couldn’t drive anymore. He explained that his son had driven the 
SST thru a red light. He decided not to stop as a cop approached 
and wound up leading half a dozen police cars, one of which blew 
an engine, on a 100mph chase for 50 miles until a commandeered 
tractor trailer blocked his path. The police had beaten him 
senseless, and he now panicked whenever he saw a police car or got 
behind the wheel. WOW! Gotta have a car with THAT kind of history! 
Handed over $150.
	I bought two AMXs, a 73 360 and a 74 304, as parts cars...
both had bad drivetrains, but lots of good parts (one had the 
functional cowl induction air cleaner with a MINT seal on it...I 
gave it away!!!!). The SST became a fake AMX with a flawless 
interior (black with white 74 seats) and a straight, primed body. 
Suddenly, I lost my job at the factory. Money got tight, and off 
she went for $1000. I found out later that the buyer stripped it 
for all it’s parts....so much for all my work! Also, around this 
time, my neighbor passed away from a heart attack while shoveling 
snow. Afraid to inquire too early about the Cardin car, I waited 
a few weeks. I came home to find the car was junked and crushed.
	After that, I stayed away from Javelins for a while...
although a I had a 65 Rambler Classic 770 for a bit....but before 
long, I went looking and found what I thought was the ultimate: a 
final year, every available option, Snow White 1974 401/Auto AMX 
with the black Domino interior, GO package, etc, etc... needing lots 
of work, though. I found a ‘71 SST 232/3spd for parts, and started 
work. Not far into the project, money woes hit again, and off she 
went for $800.
	In 1991, I got the idea to build a race only Javelin and 
stick to brand-X cars for road use. I found a ‘71 SST 304-4v 
(factory special order)/Auto with a missing grille area, and 
horrific interior. I emptied it out, trashed all non-essentials, 
and readied it for paint. The drivetrain would come next. Now the 
money woes hit my mom (long since splitup from dad) and she was 
losing the house. We all moved, but I had no space for this car. 
It sat there, awaiting rescue until the bank foreclosed the 
property and arranged a tow to the boneyard for the SST.
	Then, April, 1995 comes and Javelin fever is in full 
bloom. I hear a rumor that the ‘72 AMX that houses my first AMC 
motor is for sale. It hasn’t been used in 6 years, but the 
interior, redone in 1987, is flawless, the body good, and my 
motor all there. $500 towed it home, and I discovered the weeds 
have helped eat the bottom out of the car. The seat belts rip 
out by hand from the crunchy rockers, the floor boards ‘move’ under 
your feet. CRAP! I need another shell for this motor and interior.
	May, 1995, at a swap meet, I hear of a Javelin about an 
hour from home. I check it out. It’s what I now call ‘Lizzy’- a 
1974 AMX 304/Auto, PS, PB, AC, AM radio still in the dash! The 
interior is covered in a custom-carpet motif (YUCK), but the 
body is straight and less rusted than the ‘72, and the motor 
complete (not running). $700 and this one is home.
	I stripped the ‘72 clean and off the junkyard she went. 

10/26/97: This past year, I bought a Caprice wagon for $850 to 
tool around in, but it proved way too big for me. I traded it 
straight-up for a beautiful '73 Hornet hatchback, thinking it 
would fill my need for an AMC-driver. It was cool, more so after 
I added AMC mags and a sport steering wheel, but it was just no 
substitute for a running, drivable Javelin. I decided to stop 
playing around and got determined to find the right Javelin- the 
final one. The Plum '74 AMX is now considered expendable, and 
will likely either be parted out or sold as a project. Last month,
I found a way to make some quick cash- a local auto body shop had 
an '89 Cherokee sitting outside with a for sale sign asking $1500 
firm. Yes, it need lots of work. I grabbed it and re-sold it a 
week later for $2800- without even cleaning it!
	I took $2500 of that cash and made an offer to buy a '74 
Javelin with a 401/Auto for which the owner was asking $3200. 
Happily, he accepted and I now have an awesome Javelin to work with. 
	Then, last week, I found a '73 Javelin 401/4-speed for
$1600 and when a buyer offered to buy the engine and trans from it,
I chipped in to get the rest of the car for some great parts.
The details of these two cars are on the 'My AMC Vehicles' page of 
my website.

At one point I counted 15 Javelins passing thru my hands. Only 
13 are listed here, so I’ve forgotten a pair someplace, probably 
more parts cars. Somehow, tho, I’m sure there will be more.