My Families' Cars and Key Industry Pivots: Javelin and American Motors' Survival

The subtle intersection of my families cars and pivotal automotive industry transitions

In 1966 American Motors offered their executives an easy way to lease American Motors cars for their family. My father worked for the Kelvinator Division of American Motors and got this benefit. So in addition to his company car — an Ambassador station wagon — we could now select an additional family car at a low monthly fee. With the help of his co-executive Ed Christian he chose, for my mother, in 1966 an aqua Rambler American Rogue, in 1967 a white Rebel SST and for 1968, the best, a red Javelin SST with its base 232 cubic inch 6 cylinder engine.

The Javelin felt like an amazing car for us. After years of nice but economical and practical Rambler Cross Country wagons, we could now drive a car that turned heads and put us teenage drivers in the “cool kids” category. It looked good, with a beautiful grill, large sloping windshield, long ‘semi’ fastback, flush mounted door handles and a lot of room for our friends and their hockey equipment inside. It looked much sleeker than a Mustang or Camaro or the other “cool” cars of the day.

But how did we get here? How did American Motors the company offering economical and practical innovative alternatives to the Big Three’s dinosaurs suddenly come up with this gem at the head of the youth car class?

The steps toward this Javelin began in 1962. In February of that year George Romney — the much admired head of American Motors — resigned to pursue public service as the governor of Michigan.

The American Motors Board appointed Roy Abernethy as new President. Mr. Abernethy was “a sales executive with the dubious prior background of Kaiser and Packard.”¹ But, he had single handedly built the Rambler dealer network that delivered the stellar sales of the previous 5 years.

Then, “almost simultaneously [with the switch to Abernathy], AMC switched roles. From an exclusive supplier of reliable-but-dull compacts, the firm moved toward a broad product line meeting the Big Three across the board”.² It is hard to overstate the absolute reversal of corporate philosophy and strategy that this switch entailed. Abernethy, confident in his marketing and sales abilities, rejected the company’s image as a provider of economical compacts, expunging Romney's image of AMC.

He added new market segments, directly tangled with the Big Three, joined the horsepower race, added models and tried to redo the image.

Part of Roy Abernethy’s strategy for the NEW American Motors involved major styling changes in all series and also the creation of a sporty fastback two door to help reset the American Motors image. Dick Teague, leader of the design team at American Motors came up with the new Marlin which American Motors produced as a “halo car” — i.e., limited production exotic models intended to produce a positive image of the firm and the product line, thus helping sell other vehicles within the make. Though envisioned as a 2 plus 2 (two people fitting in the front and two in the back), at Abernethy’s insistence that he fit fully into the back seat, it become a 3 plus 3 - fitting 3 people in the front and 3 in the back! Not appealing to sporty car types.

1966 AMC Marlin - Photo By CZmarlin, Christopher Ziemnowicz- Own work, Public Domain

This fastback did not sell well but it served as a stopgap in the sporty youth market. Also it provided for Javelin design elements including the side window styling and molding.

In 1966 sales of automobiles were weak industry-wide and AMC was facing major losses. A wealthy venture capitalist named Robert Evans began buying stock in AMC with the intent of “turning it around”. He became the largest shareholder, with 1% of the company’s stock, and got himself elected to the board and then with unsparing disparagement of the company as too conservative he got elected Chairman of the board.

From there, this avid sportsman and hydroplane racing enthusiast actively encouraged sporty AMC cars as a means to participate in rapidly growing, more youthful consumer market segments. He also handpicked Roy D. Chapin Jr. as AMC's general manager, the eventual successor to Abernethy.

However, losses continued and Abernethy was forced to "drop out of management team" on January 9, 1967. With him went Evans who was replaced as president by William V. Luneburg, AMC's group vice president of automotive operations.

Roy Chapin was appointed to fill the CEO position. “Chapin realized he was taking over at a crucial time; The Wall Street Journal described it as "a dying company." At the time, Chapin said, "We're going to have to show ingenuity." He reflected later that the most difficult period was "... when our president, Bill Luneburg, and I took over. We were out of money and we had to do something to overcome the immediate problems. We had no time to think about long-range problems. Obviously, we managed to solve immediate considerations.” ³

The Javelin was one of those ingenious products that might help save them — much to the delight of Dick Teague and his design team. Teague and team used a shoestring budget to create a masterpiece that wowed the market.

The resulting production Javelin showed a beautifully clean and uncluttered long-hood/short-deck smoothness accentuated by flush door handles, ventless side windows, and sweeping "C" pillars⁴.

American Motors Full Line Brochure 1968

"The front bumper, an expensive piece of chrome-plated metal, combined to form the underpan. It created a nice effect back in the pre-Endura-nose 1960s, at the same time avoiding the tacked-on look of the Mustang bumper"⁵ .

Left 1968 AMC javelin | S68 | Anaheim 2013 | Mecum auctions; Right 1968-ford-mustang-22-fastback Carscoopscom Revology

The Javelin offered “several innovative safety features, including the first industry use of fiberglass safety padding, exterior side-marker lights, and three-point seat belts.” Our 1968 Javelin sported a thin-line striping at the beltline.

The Press were impressed. Motor Trend’s January 1968 article Testing 6 Sporty Cars⁶ said,

• “Their Javelin is a world apart from the other pony cars in styling, comfort, space and features.

• In SST form with the 343 V-8 which includes a stout handling package, the car turned and cornered as if it were nailed to the road.

• You need only a moment inside a Javelin to discover the abundance of space. Nearly every interior dimension is larger than its competitors, and three in the full-width back seat is a reality.

• There's a look of success about the Javelin, even though it's entering the game late. The final gun hasn't sounded yet, so there's still time to score touchdowns.”

I loved the Javelin… perhaps identifying with it a bit too much. I was surprised when Tom Ahern signed my 1968 Boston College High School Yearbook to “J. ‘Javelin’ Daly”

My father’s Kelvinator office adjoined American Motors Cars' office space in Needham, MA and he was able occasionally to take home demo cars. We / I continually badgered him to try and get an AMX - the two seater version of the Javelin - to bring home. He brought home one with a 290 cubic inch engine and another with an amazing 390 cubic inch motor that put out 315hp. Both had 4 barrel carburetors⁷ and were “scary fast”. These larger V8 AMXs included wide oval tires, handling suspension, and dual exhausts. They glued down on cornering.

The author leaving his graduation with brothers Andy and Chris in black AMX off Morrisey Boulevard, Savin Hill, Dorchester, MA, June 1968 (Boston College High School Commencement)

Results

For American Motors this Javelin / AMX project worked both as an image changer and as a sales success. “The average age of the "first 1,000 Javelin buyers was 29 – a full ten years under the median for all AMC customers." The Javelin's marketing campaign, created by Mary Wells Lawrence of the Wells, Rich, and Greene agency innovated and dared to break with the traditional convention of not attacking the competition, comparing the AMC Javelin to the Ford Mustang side by side. ⁸

“First-year sales were good, with 53,462 Javelins leaving showrooms. This figure far exceeded Marlin sales and was close to, if not better than, what American Motors had hoped for.”⁹ Although Javelin sales for 1968 were less than a quarter (22%) of Ford's 243,085 Mustangs built in 1968 (a significant decrease from the Mustang's 1967 sales), it helped American Motors survive. In the words of the Motor Trend Reviewers, "..never has one car meant so much to the corporate life of a company. For AM's sake, Javelin has to be a success."¹⁰ It succeeded and AMC lived to try again.

Now on a US Postal Service Stamp — “forever”:

Source: Daily Briefing: Pony Cars Forever, National Corvette Museum Motorsports Park Improvements Forthcoming. (2022, July 19). Hemmings.

Morals of the Story

1. Autocratic CEO-driven decision making works more quickly than consensus but it leads to resentment and lack of commitment and in this case whipsawed and failed strategy. Toyota uses consensus based decision making. Nuff said.

2. Sales-type bravado works in sales but it wreaks havoc in manufacturing and service. Keep sales types in sales, not in charge of the works.

3. Know your place. If you are a fish swim, if a bird fly. American Motors had the strength to work a niche, not the whole market. Shoulda stayed with Romney’s

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Notes:

(2022, September 17). The story behind the AMC javelin. Attic Capital. https://atticcapital.com/the-story-behind-the-amc-javelin/

1968 AMC javelin mixes design... - Steve Stanford designs. (n.d.). Facebook. Retrieved December 26, 2022, from https://www.facebook.com/Stevestanforddesigns/photos/1968-amc-javelin-mixes-design-elements-from-the-marlin-side-window-styling-and-m/2443056482384167/
points to design elements carried from Marlin to Javelin

1968 AMC javelin | S68 | Anaheim 2013 | Mecum auctions. (n.d.). Mecum Auctions. Retrieved December 24, 2022, from https://www.mecum.com/lots/AN1113-168192/1968-amc-javelin/

1968 American muscle car wheel-to-wheel comparison. (1970, January 1). Car and Driver. Retrieved December 24, 2022, from https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/comparison-test/a15143690/ford-mustang-6-car-comparo-comparison-test/

1968-1974 AMC javelin. (2007, October 27). HowStuffWorks. https://auto.howstuffworks.com/1968-1974-amc-javelin.htm
Best full story of the Javelin "but in a country where top speed is incidental and acceleration a virtual gauge of manhood, this was no liability"

AMC javelin. (2022, November 27). Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved December 24, 2022, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMC_Javelin

AMC muscle cars : Muscle car color history. (n.d.). Google Books. Retrieved December 25, 2022, from https://www.google.com/books/edition/AMC_Muscle_Cars_Muscle_Car_Color_History/JHVaQFDrx_MC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=javelin+slope+windshield+amc+rakish&pg=PA37&printsec=frontcover

Evolution of the American motors AMX. (2019, November 23). AMC AMX/3. https://amx3.org/evolution-of-the-american-motors-amx/

Introduction to the 1965-1967 AMC Marlin. (2007, October 26). HowStuffWorks. https://auto.howstuffworks.com/1965-1967-amc-marlin.htm
source of part of Javelin Design

Project bullseye. (2022, September 11). Hemmings. Retrieved December 27, 2022, from https://www.hemmings.com/stories/article/project-bullseye

Rambler Marlin. (2022, November 7). Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved December 25, 2022, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rambler_Marlin

Robert B. Evans. (2022, April 15). Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved December 25, 2022, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_B._Evans

Roy Abernethy. (2021, August 7). Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved December 25, 2022, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Abernethy

Roy D. Chapin Jr. (n.d.). Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved December 26, 2022, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_D._Chapin_Jr

Standard guide to American muscle cars : A supercar source book, 1960-2000. (n.d.). WorldCat.org. Retrieved December 24, 2022, from https://worldcat.org/title/1018171684

Testing 6 Sporty Cars. (1968, January). MotorTrend Archives. Retrieved December 24, 2022, from https://www.motortrend.com/reviews/1968-muscle-car-comparison-archive/

Wikiwand. (n.d.). Wikiwand. Retrieved December 25, 2022, from https://www.wikiwand.com/en/AMC_Javelin

Zal, P. (n.d.). AMC Javelin SST 232 Six (man. 3) (1968) full detailed specifications listing and photo gallery. Automobile-Catalog the Catalog of Cars, Car Specs Database. Retrieved December 25, 2022, from https://www.automobile-catalog.com/auta_details1.php#gsc.tab=0

1. 1968-1974 AMC javelin. (2007, October 27). HowStuffWorks. https://auto.howstuffworks.com/1968-1974-amc-javelin.htm

2. 1968-1974 AMC javelin. HowStuffWorks. op cit.

3. Roy D. Chapin Jr. (n.d.). Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

4. “C pillars of a car are the vertical structural members located at the rear of the car, between the rear door window (if present) and the rear window. The C-pillars provide structural support for the roof and rear of the car, and enclose and define the shape of the car. The term "C-pillar" comes from the fact that the pillars are shaped like the letter C when viewed from the side of the car.” - ChatGPT Assistant (2022),

5. HowStuffWorks - Javelin, op cit

6. Testing 6 Sporty Cars. (1968, January). MotorTrend Archives. Retrieved December 24, 2022, from https://www.motortrend.com/reviews/1968-muscle-car-comparison-archive/

7. “A four-barrel carburetor has two primary and two secondary barrels. At idle and low-rpm driving, only the primary barrels open. The throttle blades on the secondary barrels stay closed. As rpm increases, the engine requires more air and fuel to make power, and this is when the secondary barrels kick in.” - Nutter, B. (2017, June 16). Carburetor basics 101: - https://www.onallcylinders.com

8. AMC javelin. (2022, November 27). Wikipedia,

9. Project bullseye. (2022, September 11). Hemmings. Retrieved December 27, 2022, from https://www.hemmings.com/stories/article/project-bullseye

10. Motor Trend, op cit