Jim Richards has lifted the covers on his highly anticipated AMC Javelin, which will make it’s Australian race debut at the Clipsal 500, March 1-4, 2012.
The 1972-built machine dominated American TransAm racing in the early 1970s at the hands of Mark Donohue, having been engineered by Penske.
Just 178 examples were sold in Australia and Richards believes it is the best racecar that he personally has engineered.
“We wanted something different that would interest spectators, but would also be in the Shannons mould,” said Richards. “The Javelin ticked all the boxes.”
It has taken Richards 30 months to transform the machine into the spectacular race-ready example it is today. The search began in 2008 for an American Muscle Car on the ‘net, but as it turned out, a relative of one of Richards’ team was a major enthusiast, with a number in his personal collection.
“I picked it up almost around the corner in North Melbourne!” Richards laughed.
The car sports a 360 cubic inch (5.9 litres) V8 motor that produces in excess of 600BHP. It weighs in at 1580kg. Richards cops a “seeded driver weight” ballast of an additional 30kg.
There’s little doubt the Shannons Javelin will be a welcome sight among the Touring Car Masters field in 2012, which begins at the Clipsal 500, Adelaide.
