The Trans-Am racing series saw American Motors come on strong in late 1969 with the Javelin, beating Ford’s Mustangs and trailing second behind Chevrolet’s Camaros. AMC built a special series of about 100 tri-colored street cars in commemoration, which started as Javelin SSTs with Matador Red bodies that were masked off to add white centers and blue rear ends. The car emulated the successful Ronnie Kaplan Javelin team car driven by George Follmer. The street versions were powered by AMC’s 390 ci (6.4-liter) V8 engine, which, with ram air, put out a healthy 325 hp. A Borg Warner 4-speed transmission with the iconic Hurst shifter was part of the heavy-duty build, which didn’t sacrifice comfort features like power brakes, power steering, and a fully optioned interior.
From the article by Robert Ross, Bryan Hood, Erik Shilling
