From the moment I believed that I could convince my parents that I deserved a car of my own, I kept an eye out for anything that had any indication of being for sale nearby. I looked through auto trader books, classified ads in the paper, and so on and so forth, but riding around neighborhoods on my bike hunting is what got me the furthest. The clues were all there: the car was parked at the edge of the driveway or lawn, the “For Sale” sign in the window or written on the windshield in shoe polish, usually looking like it’d been there for more than a few days. These cars and trucks would be the marks that I’d keep logged in the back of my head for future use, in case I managed to catch a lucky break and got the green light. It was also kept in mind in case I got lucky enough to find a score I couldn’t pass up, which seemed to be just about everything back then.
None of them were like this AMC Javelin, though. While I was checking out derelict late 1970s Buicks, cars like this Javelin were either restored or so far gone that no kid could touch them without money from the folks. Unlike a mid-1970s Camaro, which was the perfect “learner’s car” in the late 1990s, a Javelin was the pro level: a dead marque that usually needed major surgery to put back on the road. Not this one…according to the seller, some gas down the carb will get it to fire and while it is no doubt very rough, it’s not too far gone to not be saved. 
$2200 gets you into AMC’s four-seat offering in the pony car war. I’d realistically believe that using the Rough Start budget, that you could get this car street drivable within cost, provided that the transmission isn’t fragged. That first step is the hardest part. Once it’s moving on it’s own, get patch panels for the rear quarters and start gearing up for work on the mill under the hood. Everybody loves ’em when they are done, but every great story has to start somewhere.
Craigslist Link: 1968 AMC Javelin SST
Consider yourself lucky if you Got to drive a camaro in your teens. Here in Europe when i was 17 i would kill for anything made in the USA. But it would cost Way more to buy and keep a camaro on the Road here than most people could afford back then. So i was lucky enough to get a rustet out German build ford taunus. I almost killed myself in it too due to a pair of bad front tires where one blew up on the highway, sending me and the ford trough the guardrails. I survived however and went on to my first Real american car a couple of years later. My parents where wery happy when i bought a rusty and wery loud ford custom 4 door from 73. So where the neighbors when i would fire that thing up in the morning to go to work. Happy days though wish i was 17 again.
Rust Bucket
The worst thing about these cars is trying to find trim parts. My current project is also a 68 Javelin SST, but mine has practically no rust other than surface spots here and there. Depending on how deep the cancer in this one goes, it might just be worth more in parts. People restore these cars because they are somewhat scarce. Plus there’s the factor of not driving cars that everybody else has. In short, we AMC nuts build these because we are passionate about the cars, not the payout if we sell them off.
My family has a ‘78 Concord in the family since new. It’s had $20,000 in paint, body and interior, and if Dad was to post it for sale, he’d be exceedingly lucky to see $2,000. Which will never happen because it’s staying with us until I die…
$2.2k for a steaming pile of rust ? 343/slush-o-matic ? Decent condition ? Ran when parked ? Excuse while I climb back on the turnip truck…….
You first… 🙂