In researching an upcoming story for Hemmings Muscle Machines about the 1971 and 1972 AMC Javelins that the Alabama Department of Public Safety’s State Troopers used, I spoke with Trooper Tim Butts, who drove a 1971 Javelin as a rookie trooper, based out of the Opelika post. “I was impressed with the way it handled; it had good top end speed,” he told me.
He also said his corporal had one, a ’72. “I got to drive it once, and I swear it was faster,” he said. He didn’t elaborate, though. In researching the story, I found that the 401-cu.in. V-8, three-speed automatic and 2.87 gears were good for about 140 mph, by which point the nose of the car started to get rather light.
Coincidentally, my next call was to Tim’s corporal, Ralph Cottingham. Cottingham, now retired, was a little more forthcoming about his Javelin.
It was the fastest one in the district, probably in the state. I always said that it was a piece of sheetmetal wrapped around a bomb. I once jumped a Corvette on 29 north of Opelika. It was a mountain road – curvy, hills, little streams with bridges across them – and I ran about five miles on that terrain right up with him. Finally, he pulled over and I had every intention of dragging him out and throwing him in jail, but when I saw him, he was just shaking all over, so I just gave him a reckless endangerment ticket and told him I never wanted to see him around there anymore.
Of course, I was young and still had my Superman suit, so I’d do stupid things too. This one time I had to drive down to Montgomery, which was about 60 miles down Interstate 85, and I wanted to see how fast I could make it. Twenty-seven minutes later I was parking in Montgomery. Well, I gassed up for the return trip and figured I’d try to beat that time. About five or six miles out of Montgomery, at about 140 mph, I passed a semi, one of those flat-nosed rigs. Just as I passed it, the air coming off the semi raised the front end of that Javelin straight off the ground. If God wanted to take me then, that would have been a perfect time to do it, but I thank Him every day that he just let the front end of that car right back down. Nobody ever had to tell me not to pull a stunt like that again.
And as for that time Tim borrowed his Javelin?
I was off that night, and Tim and another trooper borrowed my car. About 8 p.m., the phone rang. It was Tim, and he asked me if I wanted to know how fast my Javelin would go. I told him yeah, and he said the other trooper clocked him with the radar at 158 mph. They weren’t exactly busy that night, were they?
Another retired trooper, Captain Roy Smith, who’s now the department’s historian, sent along several additional photos that didn’t make it into the magazine, so I thought we’d share them here. Above, one of the two Javelins that the ADPS tried out before they made their order. It was a 1971 SST with a 304 and automatic transmission. Dig the stripes and hubcaps.
Next was the second test Javelin, a 1971 AMX with the 401, cowl-induction hood, vinyl roof and T-stripe. This Javelin in particular influenced the ADPS to order all of their cars with the 401 and went through two engines – through extensive flogging by the Alabama troopers – before the evaluation period ended. The dealership that made the car available for test purposes figured they’d donate it to the department after the evaluation period.
Only 16 or so of these cars remain, but the ADPS still has two – one used for parades and PR purposes (which once was in the Talladega Speedway museum), and another in the ADPS’s own museum.
Look for the story on the ADPS Javelins in the December 2007 issue of Hemmings Muscle Machines.