Introduction / Overview:
Egge Machinist; Brandon Redmon shares pics of his 70 Javelin at Willowsprings.
The car is a 1970 AMC " Mark Donahue" Javelin one of 2500 built. It has been in the family since it was purchased new by my grandparents at Ricker Motors ( then at the 5 points in Whittier). My mother used to drive the car when she was in high school. As I was doing some checking on the VIN number, the car was built on March 15, 1970 exactly sixteen years before I was born. It came originally with a 360 c.i. AMC engine connected to a Borg-Warner T-10 three speed automatic transmission. The car was repainted back in 1971 because some antifreeze was spilled on the hood and fenders, but it is the factory paint. The interior was redone in 1990 with factory vinyl. It may not be stock but that's how it would look from the factory. After multiple rebuilds of the rear end, the decision was made to put in a Ford 9" as a replacement. In 2005, the crankshaft broke in the 360 so it now has a 401 AMC motor put in with a 727 Torqueflite transmission and a Hurst shift kit.
In 2008 my father and I took the car up to Willow Springs and it did very well for the technology of its day. Other cars that were there were 2006 and newer Chevrolet Corvette Z06's, a couple of Porches, and some Japanese imports. We were taking it around the track with little experience in road courses but it was able to hold its own. Considering we were the only Trans-Am era car there it felt like a throw back to the Trans-Am races in the late 60's to early 70's which is a feeling I cannot describe.
The Javelin gets driven just about every weekend to various car shows, usually 5 a month, 4 small shows like the Doughnut Derelicts in Huntington Beach and one big show like the Bellflower or Uptown Whittier show. With most shows it is the only AMC and it attracts a lot of attention because its not a vehicle from The Big Three ( GM, Ford and Mopar).
