Jay Leno in his AMC Javelin 1970 Mark Donohue Edition.

AMC Javelins don't get as much attention as their pony car contemporaries, and this 1970 AMC Javelin Mark Donohue Edition, recently featured at Jay Leno's Garage, shows why.

The Javelin was AMC's rival to the Ford Mustang, Chevrolet Camaro, and Dodge Challenger/Plymouth Barracuda, and these cars didn't just compete for sales volume. They also competed successfully in the SCCA Trans Am series. In this episode, Mark Fletcher, co-author of the book 1970 Maximum Muscle: The Pinnacle of Muscle Car Power, shows off an unrestored model with 46,000 miles on the odometer.

AMC first entered the program in 1968 with Kaplan Engineering, and for the 1970 season Roger Penske took over the program, with Mark Donohue driving. Donohue was already a big name, having won Rookie of the Year in the 1969 Indianapolis 500, and had had great success in both sports car racing and Penske's earlier Camaro Trans-Am program.

AMC decided to capitalize on Donohue's star power with a special version of the Javelin. Based on the Javelin SST, the car was equipped with a rear spoiler designed by Donohue for race cars. According to Fletcher, AMC built 2,501 Donohue Editions to meet the homologation requirements for this part. Under the hood of the Ram Air is a 390 cubic-inch V-8 mated to a four-speed manual transmission. Output when new was 325 or 340 hp; a 245 hp 360 cubic-inch V-8 and a three-speed automatic were also available.

Leno found this Javelin outside Auto Books-Aero Books, a specialty automotive bookstore in Burbank, California. As he often does, Leno tracked down the owner, Fletcher, and asked him to appear on the show.

Watch the full video to see Leno drive this racing-inspired muscle car. For a more extreme take on the Javelin, check out the 1,100-horsepower Ringbrothers build featured in a previous episode of Jay Leno's Garage.