Unlike say, the Dodge Charger, Ford Mustang and Chevy Camaro, the AMC Javelin has never been classed as one of the muscle car greats.

With its droopy nose and overly-defined fender lines, it’s not hard to see why it never made it to true pony car poster status. But, nearly half a century later, that hasn’t stopped muscle car builder Ringbrothers from giving it a second shot with this: a 1972 AMC Javelin AMX called “Defiant”.

Jim and Mike Ring, co-founders of Ringbrothers, head up the Wisconsin-based firm famed for putting silly power and carbon fibre bodies on America’s finest muscle cars of old. And other oddities like 900bhp Winnebagos. When they sourced this Javelin (once a regular at the petrol station their father ran in Plain, Wisconsin, but hadn’t hit the road since 1977) they were greeted with a time capsule of Seventies nostalgia. They could have simply reconditioned it. They didn’t.

The Defiant features a custom front-end utilising all new 3D-printed carbon-fibre panels forward of the A-pillar, while the wheelbase has been stretched by moving the front wheels forward six and a half inches. Certainly gives those distinctive front arches a more modern look and set of proportions to please our 21st-century widescreen eyes. In fact, most of the body is made of carbon, there’s a custom suspension setup, new ‘Cuda inspired gills and bumper, Baer brakes, steel side-exit exhausts and proper wheels and tyres. Then you get to the engine.

Under the carbon fibre bonnet is one of our favourites, the 6.2-litre supercharged Hemi from the Dodge Hellcat. Ordinarily producing a terrifying 707bhp as ‘standard’, the Mike and Jim swapped out the stock supercharger for a 4.5-litre Whipple unit good enough to juice the Hellcat motor up to four figures. To be more specific, 1,036 horsepower. All fed through a Bowler automatic transmission and carbon fibre driveshaft that feeds the crazy amount of power to the wheels.

So, does carbon fibre bodywork and a four-digit dyno readout make this pony car more poster worthy? It sure as hell helps…