AMC
Models,
Collectibles,
&
AMC Group 15 Accessories
Highly Collectible then, and even more so not as many of the companies that pressed then are long since out of business much like AMC itself. Some MIB (mint in box) models can easily command over $500. Others are dime a dozen. But all are worth picking up as today's models on the shelves are tomorrows collectibles. And for those of you who built these, young or old, my hats are off to you, I wished I had time to do such myself. I also want to mention that AMO (American Motors Owners Association) has a model contest at each AMC National event. Different age groups too! It is a growing segment of the AMC Hobby, and awesome to see many youngsters get recognized for something many of us used to do in the 60s as kids! So with that in mind, I'll try to keep up with this new file on my website. This file will be for you-build-it type models only, with a occasional stray AMC Collectible thrown in for good measure, but mostly plastic models only. If you have a unbuilt model not represented here and wish to share it with others, please send me a small jpeg photo of it. If you are a collector and do not know what some of these may be worth, there are model books available at Barnes & Nobles and Amazon to name two places you can check up to see what your own unbuilt vintage beauty might be worth. And ebay also have a number of AMC models on it at any given time, I have bought some really great models at bargain prices off ebay. Good luck and happy modeling. Eddie Stakes
At this time I do not have the original issue, as some of these are a original, others are reissues.
1967 Rebel Grant Funny Car by AMT
1967 Ambassador Convertible by Jo-Han
1968 Ambassador Convertible by Johan *Note AMC never MADE a real 1968 Ambassador convertible, Jo-Han already had jumped the gun, so this is one of the rarer promotionals.
1968 AMX First Issue by AMT (opened)
1968 "Speedy AMX" by Lindberg (opened)
1968 Trans Am Javelin by Jo-Han (they came this way) FRONT BACK
1969 Javelin "Super Funny Car" by Jo-Han
1969 AMX "Street Magic" by Matchbox
1969 AMX "Yankee Clipper" Funny Car by MPC
1969 AMX Craig Breedlove red/white/blue by MPC
1969 Rambler Pro Street by Jo-Han
1969 Rambler Pro Street by Testors
1970 AMX Lightning Bolt Street Machine by MPC
1970 Hornet "Green Hornet" Funny Car by AMT
1970 Rebel Machine by Jo-Han (opened/spread out)
1970 Mark Donohue Javelin by Jo-Han
1970 Javelin red, white & blue by Jo-Han
1971 Javelin/AMX "Super Funny Car" by Jo-Han
1971 Trans Am Javelin George Follmer by Jo-Han
1971 Hornet Funny Car "Stinger" by Jo-Han
1972 Javelin AMX "Hurst" Pro Stock by Jo-Han
1972 Javelin AMX Pro Street by Jo-Han
1974 Gremlin X 'Mini Musclecar' by AMT (opened)
1974 Gremlin X Funny Car by AMT
1974 Hornet Hatchback Funny Car "Potluck" by AMT
1974 NASCAR Team Penske with trailer and towing van
1975 NASCAR Matador Bobby Allison #12 by AMT
1977 Gremlin Stocker by Model King/AMT
1977 Matador X "AMT/X custom" by AMT
1977 Pacer Custom Panel Wagon by AMT
Ken Tessier's AMC Model Collection
AMC
Collectibles & MISCELLANEOUS
& Group 15
Accessories
This is a rare one of a kind AMX painting that used to hang in Kenosha. If anyone knows the artist, let me know. I should have bought it, it eventually sold for $190.00.
I don't remember what this ultra rare Gremlin Go Cart sold for, but this is the best looking one I have seen in 20 years. Here is a front angle view, showing this Jade Green J7 beauty. Rear angle view, and the box and chassis itself!
Hell's Driver AMC Javelin poster from the American Thrill Show. See Press Photos for the cars!
Star Trek comic with a AMX! And a Close up of the AMX, nice drawing! To bad the story line really sucks! The story is called A BOMB IN TIME: THE PSYCHOCRYSTALS. You can find this on ebay every now and then, usually under $20. Check vintage comic book stores too.
Intercar's AMX metal toy 1:43rd scale.
What Happens In A Car Factory by Arthur Shay. Published by Chicago, Reilly & Lee in 1968, this (to me at least!) historical book takes a look at how a auto is built. And of course it is our favorite automaker involved, AMC, and you take a tour of the Kenosha plants. Extremely rare book to find (hardbound, long out of print) these usually sell in the $100/beat to $300/mint range. Go ahead and google it, some antique bookstores might have one, even Amazon occasionally. suggestion? Jump on it.
Kenner Light Beam AMX. Like AMC, way ahead of it's time, these came out in 1969 and were solar powered with two small solar cells on the top of the car! There was also a Dodge Charger. But the little AMX, battery powered, would move when you shined the flashlight (which came in the box) on the roof of the car! Pretty amazingly little car, 1:20th scale, about a foot long. This is the whole Kenner AMX Kit!
What AMC or NASCAR fan would NOT sleep better with a authentic AMC NASCAR Matador pillow? I do not know what company made these but these have all the sponsors on it, top to bottom, and are really well made. I bought this one off ebay for $51.
A rare item seldom seen is a Trans Am Javelin race game. These were sold (or given away in some cases) by the dealerships. AMC's involvement in racing programs was full tilt, and this excellent game capitalized on that. Powered by little AA batteries, these Javelins raced around the track, complete with grandstands, signs, and hairpin turns. It is a large set, about 3 feet x 3 feet when folded out. A extremely rare item to find complete even at national shows. This particular mint unit sold for $600 on ebay in 2005. Quite a bargain. This is the front cover of the box. Spectator domes, original model paint (yes, the Javelins came in red, you painted them white and blue!) are here. This is a close of of the "new" 1968 Trans Am Javelin. Original booklet with instructions and Javelin. The set also came with a "activities booket" detailing AMC's new involvement in Trans Am racing. The booklet in the lower corner "off to the races" occasionally shows up for sale and can be bought for under $20. One of the rarest photos on my website is this original decal sheet for this set.
Tyco! If you owned and like Tyco HO Scale racing and
trains, they did not forget American Motors. Here are a few neat Tyco items you
can still find for sale if you have a good eye. Tycoscene
featured a number of tiny 68-69 AMXs. This setup was for your rail road set and
what a nice compliment it would add. To add a realistic touch to any
train layout, you could add a number of Tyco
Railcars. This Tyco
Autoloader featured six vehicles, three AMX, three Camaro.
In your massive layout, everyone would need a authentic Tyco
Union 76 Gas Station with AMXs. And if you were like
many of us, you had a Tyco
Pro Trans Am Javelin Racing Game. A close up of the great
detail on the box.
Many HO scale train layouts featured some sort of car track, simply because Tyco
kept adding new items you could continually build. One of those was a
railroad/car crossing. I still have mine and can't tell you how many AMXs went
flying across the room when hit by a row of Burlington Northern locomotives.
Some spectacular crashes happened at this intersection when we were kids.
In 1969 AMC had a "License Plate Game" which was a US map, and featured stamps you would stick on the state of which you saw those plates in traffic. This would take away from talking on the cell phone, painting your nails, picking your nose, text messaging, and applying makeup now so this game would be dangerous! Actually it was for the kids. I would say 99% of them never saw a Hawaii and Alaska license plate so cheated and stuck the stamp on there anyhows. Rare item.
Some of the rarest literature out there is original
AMC DATA BOOKS. These were usually tossed away by dealerships after only a few
years. So few exist. These had all the information you would need if you were a
salesman, like actual pieces of paint in charts, real pieces of vinyl, leather
and corduroy and other seat materials and vinyl roof materials. Why? Because
when you, as a customer, asked questions about a color of a car, or what the
seats felt like, the salesman could answer your questions thoroughly, and by
that, would lead to more sales. This is a 1969
AMC DATA BOOK. This
is a photo of actual
seat materials for AMX, Javelin and
Ambassador. And this is
the cover. When a salesman brought this
out, he was pulling out stops to make the sale. This is a
DATA BOOK for model year
1972. Seat
Materials for your 1972
Gremlin & Javelin & AMX. And
this is a extremely rare phot as it actually has the tri-color
seat material for the Gucci Hornet!
And for 1973.
Here are four photos, including the cover,
note the real slivers of paint, along with the actual chip charts. You could now
get Levi's Interior in
your Gremlin! Look closely here, in
your AMX or Javelin besides the usual interiors, Domino fabric but on the left, Pierre
Cardin Interior. Yes, tough it, feel it,
order it. Not a whole lot of people did from 72 thru 74 however. And of course,
the big winner here, AMC's
Buyer Protection Plan had other automakers
playing catchup!
Not for AMX, Javelin, or anything after the 1950's this is still worth showing. Why? Simply because no matter how old or young you are, few see them. This was a early AMC (and other automakers) attempt at Air Conditioning. Called a THERMADOR you filled it with ice and drove. And the wind did the rest.
As mentioned earlier, American Motors Group 15 was how they "loaded up" a car. I have always been fascinated by American Motors Group 15 items, which changed every few years, although some carried on for a lot longer. I probably don't have all the space to showcase the Group 15 Accessories AMC offered. I do....however, sell authentic copies of several Group 15 Catalogs, one from 1970 which covers mostly 1965 thru 1970, and another which from 1974, covers mostly 1969/70 to 1974. If you want a copy check my ebay auctions.
This is a AMC Fuse Pack. Neat Group 15 item, and seldom seen, maybe have seen 3 of them since 1969.
From 1972, a AMC Tool Kit! That is the cover and this photo shows inside. These were for road trips and mighty handy.
In 2006, I faithfully reproduced the
AMC Compass used from roughly early 1965 to 1969/early 70, and from 1970-up. You
can see the "Pre-GPS
Goodie" (as Hemmings
Muscle Machines called them in January 2007 issue!) but this is a photo of the
1965-69/early
70 Compass
and this photo is of the 1970-up
AMC & Jeep Compass.
Note Group 15 catalog photos in background. These compasses are sold exclusively
on ebay. To
check my auctions, please click here.
This is a AMC Dealership clock that I missed out on ebay for $400 in 2007. Note you can change the dates with flash cards made of plastic. A extremely rare and unusual item. Box Clock.
A unusual AMX print of a nymph scolding a teddy bear. The artist sometimes sells these on ebay, and always has a different muscle car in the background. All are numbered and I picked one up although I don't understand why she is bitching at the teddy bear! PRINT.
When the AMX was officially introduced in 1968 AMC was giving away posters at Auto Shows. The easiest to find was...and still is....THE AMX AT MONTE CARLO as you could walk thru a auto show and get one. However, THE AMX AT NURBURGRING and THE AMX AT ELKHART LAKE were more difficult to find, and you had to visit your friendly AMC Dealership to get those two. These are a set of three ultra early ones advising people to "DREAM!!" and take a free AMX poster. It is my understanding that these first appeared in 1968, possibly May 1968. However, while AMC was still touting "The AMX: it takes mre than money to get one" (a little play on being hard to get) AMC also dropped the "DREAM: TAKE A FREE AMX POSTER" off of these, deciding to charge a small fee to those who wanted them or would get them free only if they came to a dealership. There is several different sizes of these posters. The hardest to find is the largest ones, mainly because they were printed on thin, almost newspaper type paper. The smaller ones, 18"x23" were printed on harder paper, almost a matted print. Not only did they last longer, but retained their color better as time went on. Regardless, this is a ultra early Auto Show set: AMX AT MONTE CARLO; AMX AT ELKHART LAKE; AMX AT NURBURGRING. Should you want a brand new set of these rare posters, <without the dream text> I sell all three and then some, only $10 each, click here or check my ebay auctions.
"The Story Of American Automobiles" was a interesting small booklet produced by American Motors. It was almost like it was geared towards children.....then however went into a hard sell on the new 1968 AMX and Javelin, touting performance, options and accessories! But the beginning of the book starts out with minerals used to make a vehicle, from Africa, Europe and around the world. Then traces how the materials are used by auto manufacturers to create a car. It is extremely informative, and make no mistake about it, the book is filled with wonderful photos of inside the Kenosha Assembly Plant to boot. The title is a little misleading, as it implies I guess all automakers, however, this is ALL AMC and no one else. Like the larger book "What Happens In a Car Factory" mentioned way above, and even the 1969 release of "THE STORY OF AMERICAN AUTOMOBILES" (which was a condensed version with more photos...and updated with mention of the 1970 model line) both of these are a must for the serious AMX and Javelin collector.
This is the 1968 version with the new 68 Javelin on the cover. PHOTO 1 PHOTO 2 PHOTO3 PHOTO 4
This is the 1969 version with the 70 AMX on the cover PHOTO 1 PHOTO 2 PHOTO 3
