SUBTLE MUSCLE

Its lines are undeniably muscular with period-correct bulging haunches and the long fastback flying buttresses. This first-generation AMC Javelin also has an era-defining, deeply recessed, squared-off ‘venturi’ grille. The pillarless doors create a perfectly proportioned aperture when the front and rear windows are wound down, and it has the correct big V8 rumble from its twin tail pipes.

This 1970 example’s Golden Lime paint is also pitch-perfect, straddling both the ’60s and ’70s, familiar and unfamiliar at the same time. It looks right but you won’t recognize it as a standard colour from any of the big three American motor manufacturers. Which is another subtle success because the car was made by a company actually called ‘American Motors Corporation’ (AMC).

Owner Donald Webster says the reaction from almost everyone, and especially from muscle car fans, is, “What is it?”

It’s something of a coup to have a coupé that is undeniably a muscle