Few people realized it then — perhaps even fewer do today — but two American automobile manufacturers offered a Trans Am model in 1970. Pontiac had the bespoiled and striped Firebird Trans Am, which was introduced as a 1969 model, and AMC offered the much more uncommon Javelin SST Trans-Am.

Painted to match the Ronnie Kaplan Trans-Am race cars of 1969, the ’70 Javelin SST Trans-Am was an attention-grabbing pony car with the performance and handling to compete on the street at the turn of the decade. (Photo by Jim Campisano)

The American Motors Javelin SST Trans-Am was a limited edition model that, like the Pontiac, was equipped with functional front and rear spoilers, a wild paint job, functional cold-air hood, and an upgraded suspension.

We’ve covered this model in the past as part of our Rare Rides series, but this time we got up close and personal with an actual car. Not only that, but your author actually got to spent 15 minutes behind the wheel.

AMC got involved in the SCCA Trans-Am series for the 1968 season to help promote its new Javelin sports coupe, a stretched version of the AMX sport car. Remarkably, the program only got approved two months before their debut at the Sebring 12-hour race. AMC finished third in the season points behind Ford and Chevrolet, and 29 points ahead of Pontiac — a promising beginning.

Despite not winning an event in ’68 or ’69, AMC not only forged ahead in 1970, but it hired the dominant team of owner Roger Penske and driver Mark Donohue away from Chevrolet. Penske and Donohue dominated the series with their Camaros, winning 18 of 25 races in the two prior years, locking down a pair of championships for Chevrolet.

Major Revisions For 1970

The production Javelin got a major overhaul for 1970, with a new front suspension, revised styling front and rear, and (most importantly for gearheads) a revamped 390 cubic inch engine with vastly improved cylinder heads and more horsepower.

Stylistically, the car retained its overall semi-fastback shape, but the nose got a new twin-venturi grille and the reverse light was integrated between the taillights.

The interior was dolled up to, addressing reviews from the year before that it was somewhat plasticky. With the SST package, you got a rim-blow, woodgrain steering wheel and wood trim throughout the office.

The entire front suspension was reworked for ’70. Gone was the old trunnion-style front end and an SLA with ball joints replaced it.

A Celebration Of Racing

To celebrate the Trans-Am program, AMC whipped up a special Javelin. It limited production to exactly 100 units and painted them to match the SCCA race cars with their patriotic red, white, and blue paint. To make the cars more aerodynamic, AMC added a front air dam and adjustable decklid air foil. This homologated them for use in the race series. Along with the new functional hood scoop, it also made them look mean.

On track, the cars ditched the street car’s pedestal-mounted, adjustable air foil, and used a spoiler that Donohue designed, as it worked far better on track. (It was the same spoiler used on the Mark Donohue-edition street Javelins.)

Under the hood, the engine had the same displacement as in prior years, but was new in many ways. It had a taller deck height than before. The cylinder heads were also revised, with dogleg intake ports and superior airflow. Horsepower was up 10 from’69, to 325 at 5,000 rpm.

The street Trans-Ams were far more lavish inside than their race car brethren. All were built with the SST’s trim package (minus the exterior rocker moldings and paint stripes). No, they did not get side pipes, which you sometimes see on these cars. Standard was the woodgrain trim and two-spoke rim-blow sports steering wheel.

The Trans-Am came virtually fully-equipped, with the exception of air conditioning. The 390 four-barrel engine, Borg-Warner T-10, and 3.91 Safe-T-Track rear were mandated, meaning this was no paper tiger.

We can confirm this is a legitimate muscle car after spending some time behind the wheel. Iron Stable Garage, a shop in Largo, Florida, that is known for its higher-end restorations, got the nod to give this rare machine some needed mechanical work. With fewer than 27,000 miles on the clock, it runs great, but there are certain areas that need attention.

The car’s anonymous owner agreed to let me throw some shifts in this precious AMC, for which we are eternally grateful. It’s one thing to write about a car; you get a totally different perspective from behind the wheel.

We can tell you the car started right up after sitting a while, with no smoke or carbon spewing from the pipes. It settled quickly into an idle and we were off. No power shifts were executed for a variety of reasons, the most notable being it began raining not long after the car reached operating temperature.

The driving position was quite good, helped no doubt, by the tilt steering wheel. Other than moving the seat forward, I didn’t have to do anything to get comfortable. You have a perfect view of the gauges and the road ahead of you, though the AM-FM radio is positioned low and far away from the driver.

The overall feel inside is quality materials, which a warm glow from the woodgrain on the instrument panel and arm rests. You can tell AMC put in a lot of effort to match the exterior’s sport feel in here.

Having ridden in a couple of 390 AMXs and driven a couple of 390-powered AMCs, including a ’69 Hurst SC/Rambler, I can assure you these things can get up and go. Acceleration was smooth and instantaneous. With the short gears in the rear, this thing was begging me to plant my Size 10 to the floor, but with precipitation hitting the windshield and respect for the owner, I kept my urges in check.

That old T-10 shifted as smooth and the day it was built. The Hurst linkage was good, though the throws seemed inappropriately long. The steering was definitely of the one-finger variety. We don’t know if this is typical for the Javelin or part of the overall wandering nature of the front end. The car was getting its suspension rebuilt as part if its work order, so perhaps the problem was unique to this car.

Is the car equal to that other ’70 Trans Am, you know, the one from Pontiac? I didn’t get a chance to push the AMC version, but my initial reaction is no. Heavy-duty suspension or no, it definitely felt less dialed in than Firebirds on the same vintage I have driven. Not a knock on the Javelin, just didn’t have the same level of development.

From the couple of times I did open the secondaries in the dry, I can tell you this is a low- to mid-14-second car, far better than most pony cars with similar displacement.

No doubt about it: AMC created a unique, desirable vehicle with the 1970 Javelin SST Trans-Am. Too bad they only built 100 of them.