American Motors had a few cars that were less than desirable back in the 60’s and 70’s, and it was one of those companies that you hated to love, but didn’t necessarily love to hate them. They were an “on the fence” kind of car company: mention the Matador and many people weren’t thrilled; the Pacer often got a laugh from many people. But one car that stood out was the AMX, it was the only steel-bodied American car of it’s time, and a little brother to it’s four-seater sibling the Javelin.

It’s name originated from the code name given to the car when it was in it’s experimental stages, “American Motors eXperimental”, in 1969 the Super Stock was introduced to the public. This car was not street legal, and it’s sole intention was to hit the quarter mile. There were 52 of them built, this one that is listed on eBay is #31 of the 52, and is well documented.

The car was built to perform, with a 390 ci engine sporting an Edelbrock STR-11 cross ram intake with a pair of Holley carbs, the 12.3:1 compression was enough to give the engine about 420 hp, as rated by the NHRA, despite the puny 340 hp that American Motors gave it. They were known to fudge a little on numbers back then. The heads on this car are modified by Crane, and a set of Doug Thorley headers with 1-7/8″ primaries are bolted up, simply known as Doug’s Headers back in the day.

The Hurst shifter with heavy duty shifter rods was moved up and back towards the driver, for those high 10-second runs, reaching about 128 mph in the process . The rear wheel wells were opened up on these cars to accommodate the 10″ drag slicks that they ran on these cars. If you want to read some more about this car, check it out at their web site.

It’s currently offered, again, at upwards of $75k, it didn’t sell last time and of course the reserve is a bit higher. Is it worth the asking price? The public didn’t think so last time around, but then again, this isn’t just any car and you don’t see many of them around anymore – especially the Super Stocks when there were only 52 of them made.