Need Advice About a '73 Javelin

[Gooch]

Hi all.
Just found your board. Very useful research material you guys have here.

I'm new and this is my first post, so I'll just jump right in.

A little about myself. Other than age, location, and employment, (of which is in my profile), married, 2 kids (very young ones). I own 4 vehicles, one of which is a '89 Supercharged MR2 with a 4AGZE motor, and an original, fully documented '84 Z-51 Corvette (twin throttle bodies). Both are weekend cars. The vette has been in Corvette Magazine and is a 3x national show winner.

I can usually be found over on the vette forums. I'm not loyal to any certain brand of car. I just love all fast cars whether they be exotic, foreign, muscle, don't care. Like them all.

Now for my question. I have an opportunity to acquire a '73 Javelin from the original owner. It last ran in '82. According to the owner, their son quit driving it, no apparent reason why. It was running and in great condition when it was parked.

The obvious current condition of the car would be that the motor would be locked due to setting, rust, etc...

The owner is going to give it to me. Thanks to the information provided here, I was able to break the vin number down that was provided to me from the owner (who is a friend of my mother-in-laws).

The car apparently has a 304 2V, 3 speed on the floor, and it appears 3:54:1 rear-end??? Might be wrong on the last one.

Realistically, I'm thinking this car isn't worth the money or time and energy to rebuild due to what it is worth in running condition, correct??

I would be interested in hearing any input (positive or negative) from you guys.

Thanks in advance.

Gooch

[FL_Javelin]

"Realistically, I'm thinking this car isn't worth the money or time and energy to rebuild due to what it is worth in running condition, correct??"

That depends on your intentions.

If you intend to restore for profit then it may not be worth it. A nice 73 Javelin would fall anywhere from $10k-$15k depending on options. Very hard to pin it down, I base it on Ebay sales. I've seen #2 Javelins (non-AMX) with 360ci auto stay around $10k. Recently in auction at BJ Palm Beach I think a 73 Javelin AMX with 360 sold for $15k and change. Athough one very nice example reportily sold for $35k, 401 4sp(?) in maxiblue.

AMC have never and may never be the blue chip cars others are, most people into them are so because they love AMC's and the ones that are (will be) are not the base Javelins like yours (and mine). Relative to other cars, the javelin may not be the best "profit to investment" car out there.

If you can restore the car and not put out too much cash then you may well see a fair profit.

However, if you want a unique car that draws attention, then I say go for it. Forget profit, I am often the only AMC at shows and cruises. People are very interested in these rarely seen vehicles. AMC made great cars and the following of owners they have are very loyal and knowledgable. AMC owners are unique. We cant build one from a catalog, we have to search for the parts, research for what we want and often make do with what we can find since most parts arent being remade.

I have just under $10k into mine which might allow me to see a profit but I would never sell unless its to get that next AMC I want :D

just my $.02

Good luck

[Big Bad AMX]

Welcome Gooch!

I agree with what FL_Javelin wrote. What I'd add is that you might be interested in dropping in a 401 4-speed rather than a stock resto. It wouldn't cost much more to build a 401 compared to a 304. And having a V-8 car to begin with makes it fairly easy. If you want something unique with strong performance it's certainly an option to consider.


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[Gooch]

Thanks for the insight.
I was beginning to wonder if anyone cared about this particular model/year.
I understand about the "only vehicle" at car shows.
My vette is usually the only '84, 1 year made, at any show.

I'll have to go and look at it again, but I'm thinking that this car will cost too much to restore - vs- what resell would be worth. And for what it's worth, I, like any real car guy, develop an attachment to my cars. So If I'm going to do this, I really need to perform my research first.

Gooch

[Gooch]

Welcome Gooch!

I agree with what FL_Javelin wrote. What I'd add is that you might be interested in dropping in a 401 4-speed rather than a stock resto. It wouldn't cost much more to build a 401 compared to a 304. And having a V-8 car to begin with makes it fairly easy. If you want something unique with strong performance it's certainly an option to consider.


.

Thanks.

Thought about upgrading motors since the AMC is unique in the aspect of engine retrofit, e.g 304 to 401 can interchange between certain year models without any modofications.

Haven't ruled anything out yet.

[CloudyB]

I'll second with Big Bad Amx and Florida Jav. You may not get your money back but you got to love the attention. I had a Javelin as a kid and My father was an AMC guy.I recentley could of bought any car out there.I went back to the Jav.My two kids and I love cleaning her up and taking her to shows.were 3-4 in Best of Shows.I always hear "Man I haven't seen one of them in years.or My girlfriend had one.lol.lol. Were usually the only one there with an AMC.I like the production #'s were low and the rariety of the care always get the attention. The AMC people are the best when it comes to sharing info or help also.

[donsjave]

I am a proud owner of a 71 Javelin that I updated from a 304 to a 401 and have yeilded outstanding results. I have had the Javelin for the past 27 years and can attest to it's attention grabbing results at car shows and cruises. I bought this car when no one wanted them because they either ugly or as some people have said, they were a "Rambler" and the mindset at the time was to shun the car. Today, it's a different story.
I would not and could not destroy a good rebuildable AMC if I have the money to restore them and the garage space available to store them. I also have a restored (something that we did ourselves) 70 AMX and am currently having a 73 Hornet hatchback repainted. These two other AMC's were in various degrees of rust and poor maintenance. But, the bottom line here is that the cars were on above averge of being good cars (no serious rust outs and the frames,unibody, were in good shape).
As far as making your money back in these cars was never an issue with me mainly because that was not what I was looking for. The money that I sunk in the Javelin far exceeds in what I could sell it for. I did it mainly for the loyality of the brand name and the love of the car itself. I simply have fun with the cars themselves and the shear enjoyment of driving the cars.
For the car hobbyists such as ourselves, there comes a time that money is thrown out of the window no matter what the loss. I was fortunate in my Javelin for the money spent on this car was kind of spread out over the past 25+ years so my record keeping was kind of lax. Do I regret spending the kind of money? In no way do I regret it, the fact of the matter is that I would proablably spend twice the money if I had to.
You just read an post that expresses my thoughts on the matter and my 2 cents worth. If you are an AMC hobbyists then you for the most part understand in what I am trying to convey here.
Happy AMCing to everyone and see ya on the flip side.

[Gooch]

Thanks everyone.
Restoring a car, if someone is a true car guy, is not about the resale, there I do agree.

I'm still contimplating this car. It essentially is going to be given to me if I want it.

Where would you purchase a 401?

I like the uniqueness of this vehicle, plus with 3:54.1 gears, that's a plus.

The 304 that is in it is annemic at best. My 4 cylinder Galant pushes the same horsepower as the 304, so an upgraded engine would be a necessity.

Appreciate all the inputs.