Anyone remember the Javelin?

The title of most forgotten Australian-made muscle car would have to go to the Rambler Javelin, assembled in 1969 in small numbers (15 a month at best) at the Australian Motor Industries factory in Bertie Street, Port Melbourne. AMI was successfully building Toyotas at the time, but inspired by the success of the Falcon GT and Holden Monaro the company decided to join the muscle car club. They did a deal with the American Motor Corporation and began producing AMC’s ‘pony car’ in right-hand drive format for the Australian market.

They chose the 343 cubic inch V8 version. In hindsight, the 390 option available in the US would have been a better choice. While the Javelin was noted for its looks, it was an average performer, hampered by a dodgy three-speed automatic that only generated acceptable acceleration if operated manually. Considering the motor’s claimed 280 bhp it was strangely slow.

“We have not been able to establish a factory maximum speed claim, but the best we could manage over the flying quarter-mile was 108mph,” ran a Modern Motor track test report. “We have a feeling that the car should be faster than this.” That was an understatement. The six-cylinder Valiant Pacer 225 tested in the same issue of Modern Motor was as quick over the quarter.

The biggest problem was the Rambler’s price: a staggering $7,495, at a time when you could have picked up a HK Monaro GTS 327 for under $4,000. AMI quickly returned to pumping out those Corollas in bulk.