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AMC Trans Am Javelin SST, an ultra-rare underdog, is up for auction

Among the rarest of the American muscle cars that went racing in the early Seventies — cars including the Camaro Z/28 and the Boss 302 Mustang — the 1970 AMC Trans Am Javelin SST may be the most hard to find, and among the most valuable. Only 100 units of this unique Javelin were produced, and one of them is up for auction at the Mecum event in Dallas on September 20. The Trans Am Javelin was fashioned in a patriotic livery of tricolor paint — red, white and blue — and arrived after the American Motors Corporation had decided in 1968 to compete in the Trans Am racing series against Ford and General Motors. The company's chief driver, Mark Donohue, would dominate the 1971 season, taking seven wins in his Javelin AMX and that yearÂ’s SCCA Trans-Am Championship. AMC took the trophy with 82 points, well ahead of Ford's 61, Chevrolet's 17 and Pontiac's paltry 7. The example listed for auction came equipped with a 390-cubic-inch V-8 engine with 325 horsepower at 5,000 rpm and 420 pound-feet of torque, power steering and brakes, dual exhaust, BorgWarner four-speed manual transmission and Hurst competition shifter. Its “ram induction system” sealed a chamber around the air filter so that cool air from the functional hood scoop would be funneled into the intake. This JavÂ’s factory price was $3,995 — a mere $32,000 or so in today's money, though it was expensive by the standards of the time. The 100 Trans Ams were among 19,714 Javelin units built in 1970, so they started out rare, and today the surviving examples are highly collectible, if and when they come up for sale. No bid estimate is available yet. Related Video: Motorsports Chevrolet Ford Pontiac Auctions Automotive History Racing Vehicles Classics

Cadillac Celestiq, Lyriq, Hummer, other future GM electric cars: Here's everything we saw at ‘EV Day’

WARREN, Mich. — Today, General Motors held an “EV Day” event at its Warren, Michigan, campus to present its new “Ultium” battery technology, modular electric vehicle architecture and soon-to-come electric vehicles. Unfortunately, we were forbidden from bringing cameras into the event, so while we canÂ’t show you what we saw, we can tell you more about it. While we saw the previously teased Cadillac EV (which we now know to be called the Lyriq) and the GMC Hummer pickup teased during the Super Bowl, there were a number of other future cars at the event, which GM President Mark Reuss assured us are all real vehicles in the works. The biggest surprise came at the end of the event, though, in the Cadillac Celestiq electric sedan, which Reuss described as a future flagship that would be hand-built “very locally.” It had been hiding under a dark sheet all morning, with the front and rear illuminated Cadillac emblems shining from underneath. When the wraps came off, we saw a long, white, four-seat fastback sedan. The 23-inch wheels were pushed out to the very corners of the car, giving it what appeared to be a very long wheelbase. The model on the stage had no side mirrors or visible door handles. The grille mirrored that of the Lyriq crossover next to it, with integrated lighting in lieu of the usual mesh or slats youÂ’d see in an internal combustion car. The entire roof, all the way until it tapered to the tail of the vehicle, was tinted glass. In back, vertical tail lighting ran down the C-pillar before turning rearward across the top of the trunk. Inside, everything below the beltline of the windows — essentially all but the headrests and top portion of the steering wheel, was hidden from view. Behind the Celestiq, a large digital display showed a rendering of its interior. The dash consists of a pillar-to-pillar curved LED display serving as both instrument panel and infotainment system. Protruding forward between the front seats was another touchscreen that appeared to house some more controls, with open area, probably for storage, below it. The rear seats had the same sort of touchscreen between them. Built into the back of the front seats were a pair of rear-seat entertainment screens, much like we saw in the Lyriq. The door panels blended wood, metal and animated lighting to give character and a sense of opulence. GM interior design manager Tristan Murphy was on hand to tell us a bit more about the Celestiq.

GM won't really kill off the Chevy Volt and Cadillac CT6, will it?

General Motors is apparently considering killing off six slow-selling models by 2020, according to Reuters. But is that really likely? The news is mentioned in a story where UAW president Dennis Williams notes that slumping US car sales could threaten jobs at low-volume factories. Still, we're skeptical that GM is really serious about killing those cars. Reuters specifically calls out the Buick LaCrosse, Cadillac CT6, Cadillac XTS, Chevrolet Impala, Chevrolet Sonic, and the Chevrolet Volt. Most of these have been redesigned or refreshed within the past few model years. Four - the LaCrosse, Impala, CT6, and Volt - are built in the Hamtramck factory in Detroit. That plant has made only 35,000 cars this year - down 32 percent from 2016. A typical GM plant builds 200,000-300,000 vehicles a year. Of all the cars Williams listed, killing the XTS, Impala, and Sonic make the most sense. They're older and don't sell particularly well. On the other hand, axing the other three seems like an odd move. It would leave Buick and Cadillac without flagship sedans, at least until the rumored Cadillac CT8 arrives. The CT6 was a big investment for GM and backing out after just a few years would be a huge loss. It also uses GM's latest and best materials and technology, making us even more skeptical. The Volt is a hugely important car for Chevrolet, and supplementing it with a crossover makes more sense than replacing it with one. Offering one model with a range of powertrain variants like the Hyundai Ioniq and Toyota Prius might be another route GM could take. All six of these vehicles are sedans, Yes, crossover sales are booming, but there's still a huge market for cars. Backing away from these would be essentially giving up sales to competitors from around the globe. The UAW might simply be publicly pushing GM to move crossover production to Hamtramck to avoid closing the plant and laying off workers. Sales of passenger cars are down across both GM and the industry. Consolidating production in other plants and closing Hamtramck rather than having a single facility focus on sedans might make more sense from a business perspective. GM is also trying to reduce its unsold inventory, meaning current production may be slowed or halted while current cars move into customer hands. There's a lot of politics that goes into building a car. GM wants to do what makes the most sense from a business perspective, while the UAW doesn't workers to lose their jobs when a factory closes.