1971 AMC Javelin AMX

Those huge fender arches? They’re to fit oversize race tires. The long deck? That’s for the 401 CID, Trans-Am-inspired V8 packing a 4-barrel carb good for 330 horsepower. From the crease running down the flanks to the quad taillights hooded by a ducktail spoiler, the AMC Javelin AMX was one of the more audacious pony cars to fight for dominance on the drag strip and the race circuit at the height of the muscle car wars. Despite odds stacked up against the small, independent automaker in the face of the Big Three, the Javelin and its AMX derivative smoked ‘em in Trans-Am racing, taking the checkered flag in eight of the ten races of the 1971 season, with Mark “Captain Nice” Donahue behind the wheel of many of them. The Javelin AMX distilled the racing success into one of the most exciting, and certainly one of the most distinctive, muscle cars to rumble out onto the scene. Whether you line up for a quarter-mile or swap paint with its Trans-Am rivals out on the track, the coupe from Kenosha is a potent competitor.