Originally Posted by The Toy
I remember meeting Mark Donahue back then when he was racing the Javelins and then the Matador for NASCAR. I must have been about 11 or 12 then and I remember going to the Atl Speedway to watch the race from one of the sky boxes that AM corporate rented for the local dealers and corp big wigs. I remember Mark Donahue coming up to the sky box after the race and if I remember right he finished 16th.
Did you know that Alabama use to use Mark Donahue edition javelins for hwy patrol cars?
I think, as others have already agreed, that the Crossfire has a lot of the AMX body lines. If AMC was still around today, the Crossfire could just as easily been the newest AMX.
That's just my thoughts.
The Toy, that's so cool, I never had the pleasure of meeting Mark Donahue. But I understand he was a very unassuming man (not the usual straight for such a talented race car driver) I did get to meet George Folmer, and Amos Johnson at a big AMC get together (my Dad was a GM at an AMC dealer too) after a big race at Mid Ohio Race track.
I fully agree, I think the Crossfire and the AMX are "kindred" spirits, 36 years apart, and their respective "stats" seems to bare this out.
I think the Alabama Highway Patrol cruiser that you were talking about was actually a 1972, 401 Javelin, that had the Javelin AMX rear spoiler that was patterned after the Mark Donahue spoiler.
It is generally recognized as being the first official "Pony Car" ever to be used by any police force.
http://www.sspmustang.org/misc/gb_photo8.htm