Does an AMC-Powered Javelin Bracket Car Stand a Chance at Surviving Sick Week?
We could be biased, but one of the things the drag-and-drive community has been helpful at doing is getting people to look at alternative ways of using and enjoying their cars and trucks.
To take it one step further, we’ve seen cars that were previous race-only rides make their way into the drag-and-drive scene successfully.
Nick Taylor did it at the first Sick Week Presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive with a third-generation Camaro that dipped into the 6-second range. Then EJ Naegeli and the Sick the Mag crew pulled it off at the 2023 Sick Summer Presented by TBM Brakes with the ’57 Chevrolet gasser wagon.
Now, Jacob and Tim Davis plan to take this AMC race car and convert it for drag-and-drive duty in time for the 2024 edition of Sick Week!
Sick The Mag keeps its web articles ad-free thanks to merch sales and magazine subscriptions. Thank you to all of you who wear our stuff and read our books - check out all the new styles available here!!
“Got a good bit to do to make this vintage racecar survive on the street, but I think we’re going to try to bring the Javelin out for Sick Week still sporting AMC power under the hood,” said Jacob. “I don’t have the plan fully formed yet, and I’m not sure if the current 12.5:1 compression AMC 401 that’s bored and stroked to 431 cubic inches that’s currently in it will be able to live well on the street, but I’d love to try.”
The back story on this wild AMC Javelin is a crazy, but also a slightly sad one.
“It was originally built by some guys in North Carolina, and they were 20 years old when they started the project back in 1984. They turned the stock AMC into a full-tilt tube chassis roller right in their home shop, but it was never finished.”
Then, after several years of sitting, it was purchased by a gentleman in 1990.
“He towed it home to Wisconsin, painted it in the mid-1990s, bought an engine and transmission for it in 1997, but never finished the car,” said Jacob.
So, once again the car would never leave the garage of an owner as a finished and running hot rod. But this time, Jacob and father Tim decided the story needed a better ending.
“We bought it in the winter of 2022 in Wisconsin after finding an ad posted for it in an AMC Facebook group,” said Jacob.
After going through the car to feel comfortable enough to put it on the race track, Jacob and Tim debuted it for the first time over the summer of 2023, with a best of 10.6 at 128.9 miles per hour naturally-aspirated. “But there’s definitely way more in it,” Jacob admitted.
As for the ‘to-do’ list for Sick Week, Jacob said he has a lot of thoughts and plans.
“We may end up building a slightly less aggressive motor for it for Sick Week, but still want to keep it AMC powered,” Jacob said.
“The car doesn’t have any of the necessary things like lights, horn, or turn signals to make it road legal, but we’ll be adding all that as well as building some muffled side pipes for the road portion of the drive. I actually just got it registered a couple of weeks ago, so we’ve already got through that hurdle.”
The car is a joint venture between Jacob and his father, and the plans are for Jacob to compete with dad as the co-driver.
“Let’s hope it treats us well, and you see us at more than just day one,” Jacob laughed.
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Jacob Davis.
If you have thoughts / feedback / ideas, please e-mail us at derek@sickthemagazine.com