Divine Intervention

 

This is THE car that turned me into a hot rodder, gearhead, & automotive aftermarket business owner. The last of the AMC muscle cars and extremely rare is this 1974 AMC Javelin AMX. Only 4,980 were built in 1974 (2,320 with the 360 4-barrel) and this car has every available option. Known as "humped fender Javelins" and available from 1971 through 1974, they are cars of distinction with unique styling and race-winning performance. Some regard the AMC Javelin AMX’s as the best-looking cars to roll off AMC’s Kenosha, WI assembly line.

This car was built on Halloween 1973 and then purchased new by my grandpa Frank Slavik for my uncle, Al Slavik in Sioux City, IA. Al drove the car until 1976 when the state police clocked him doing 138MPH! Since that was his sixth ticket with the car, the state of Iowa and my grandpa mutually agreed that Al would not drive the car anymore. So, it was parked in my grandpa's garage and placed under a car cover with only 36,511 original miles.

I first saw it in the summer of 1980 when I was eleven and my uncle Al was showing me his motorcycle. The next summer, I was promised the car for my 16th birthday if I was good to my mom, got good grades, stayed out of trouble & stayed in sports. I did all that & more but when I turned 16, Grandpa Frank said the car was too fast and decided to keep the car for me later on in life. I moved on but never forgot!

Fast forward to 2007: Grandpa Frank willed me the car. The car was still in my grandpa's garage next to two other cars and surrounded by boxes full of newspapers. In fact, it took five twenty-yard roll-off boxes and two weeks just to be able to get the car out of the garage. Remember, the car was driven through three rock salt-filled winters & stored for thirty-one years without being driven. Uncle Al called me three hours outside of Dallas and said he had my car on a trailer and asked if I still wanted it. Can you guess what my answer was? God bless you Uncle Al for delivering on Grandpa Franks’ promise!

Over two years, it underwent a thorough mechanical restoration with many upgrades (the majority in sweltering 100° temps in a garage with no A/C)! Against all odds, the original paint, vinyl top & interior were still in amazing shape and there is NO rust. We believe all the boxes surrounding the car, my Grandfather’s promise & divine intervention.

Believe it or not, I drove this car daily for 7 years and put over 60,000 miles on her. I call her Veronica (after the curvy actress Veronica Lake). I saved every receipt though I stopped counting at $15K. She really turns heads wherever she goes...most people now either say, "I remember those when I was in high school" or "American Motors, I've never heard of them" or "that's a cool Mustang or a cool Camaro." It's a real survivor...I'm glad I didn't get this car when I was 16 because if I had, I surely wouldn't be able to enjoy it now.

Because of this particular car, I got into cars at age 11, I got my first job (interning a Paxton Products, Inc.), got into the automotive aftermarket in 1989 with Paxton, started my business (www.scocar.com) in 2000, and got into the North Texas American Motors Car Club (www.northtexasamc.com) where I met great fellow AMC enthusiasts.