As we see from Chris Zinn’s Iconografix book on the Javelin, where a couple of these photographs also appear, AMC’s Advanced Studio was considering a Javelin redesign scheduled for 1973 as early as the spring of 1970, when the majority of these photographs were taken (note that the photograph showing the closest resemblance to the production “humpster” Javelin is dated 1968). It’s worth noting the Chevrolet Camaro RS in the background of one of the shots being used as a styling benchmark; a quick glance over the rest of the shots gives you a good guess of what other cars were used as benchmarks.
What happened? Simply, AMC didn’t have the resources to implement such extensive styling changes to the Javelin for 1973. Rather, they smoothed out the roof, revised the grille and taillamps and continued the second-generation’s overall style through to the end of Javelin production in 1974.
Bonus: David included another shot of a 1968 clay in the set, along with a shot of a production 1971 Javelin wearing Machine wheels.
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