AMC Javelin Street Car Runs 8s with 1,000+ HP Turbo LS

This AMC Javelin looks sharp and runs sharper thanks to Chevy V8 goodness.

For all their bizarre creations and missteps, AMC got the Javelin right. They built a proven winner in the car, which is largely lost in the history of muscle cars. But Kenny Laflower and his bright-green, turbo-LS 1970 Javelin might make some new AMC fans yet.

For Laflower, that means a stoutly built Gen IV 6.0-liter with a Borg Warner S485 turbo. Holley EFI handles the fuel delivery to 160cc injectors. It makes more than 1,000 horsepower with that combination.

All of that is good for 8-second time slips, including an 8.84-second average at Hot Rod Drag Week 2017. That put him 7th in the Super Street Small Block Power Adder class, including a best pass of 8.762 at 155 mph.

Laflower bought the car when he was 16 but sold it a year later. Three years after that, he bought it back and built it from a fairly docile 304-powered street machine into a turbo-LS missile.

The Javelin races with the Team 260 cadre, a collection of Indiana racers (area code 260, naturally) running junkyard truck engines with turbochargers. Laflower turned to LS power at the behest of friend and Team 260 member Adam Hodson. Hodson’s ‘73 Camaro makes the rounds, including notable appearances at Roadkill Nights on Woodward and some big NMCA True Street wins.

Chris Bishir might be best-known of the Team 260 group. He won Drag Week’s insanely competitive Street Race Small Block Power Adder class twice in his Chevy S10, which runs 8.50s like clockwork. Those wins came immediately after cleaning up True Street at Holley LS Fest.

Laflower’s Javelin, however, might be the most recognizable in the group. With its bulging fenders, proper rake, and screaming-green paint, it might be our favorite Javelin here at LS1Tech.