Only 1,935 Built: Plymouth’s Greatest Muscle Cars, Ranked

One of these Plymouths wore a giant wing, and only 1,935 were ever built. Plymouth rarely got the credit Ford, Chevrolet, and even Dodge enjoyed, yet it built some of the most extreme muscle cars of the era. Here are five of Plymouth’s greatest, counted down from number five to number one.

Every spec below comes from the fact sheet used for the reel and was cross-checked against Wikipedia. Where a number is a factory rating, we say so, because muscle car horsepower figures were often more marketing and insurance strategy than dyno truth.

#5: 1970 Plymouth Duster 340

A 340 cubic inch V8 rated at 275 horsepower in a lightweight compact.

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The Duster 340 was Plymouth’s bargain-basement performance play. Put a small-block V8 into a light compact body and you get a car that could run with a 383 Road Runner while costing less to buy and insure. It is the car that proves you did not need a big block to have fun.

#4: 1968 Plymouth Road Runner

A stripped-down muscle car with a base price of 2,896 dollars.

Plymouth licensed the Road Runner cartoon name, added a horn that went beep-beep, and focused the budget on the engine and drivetrain instead of luxury trim. The formula was simple: cheap, fast, and honest. It became a sales hit and forced rivals to rethink what a muscle car should cost.

#3: 1967 Plymouth GTX

The 440 Super Commando V8 was standard, rated at 375 horsepower.

Before the Road Runner stripped things down, the GTX was Plymouth’s upscale muscle car, billed as the gentleman’s hot rod. The big 440 came standard, with the 426 Hemi available on top of that. It paired serious power with a more refined package than the budget cars below it.

#2: 1970 Plymouth Superbird

Winged for NASCAR, with roughly 1,935 built to qualify it for racing.

The Superbird exists because NASCAR raised its production requirement for 1970, forcing Plymouth to build close to two thousand street cars with a pointed nose and a tall rear wing. Many sat unsold on dealer lots for years because buyers found the styling too extreme. Today it is one of the most recognizable and collectible Mopars ever built.

#1: 1970 Plymouth Hemi Barracuda

The 426 Hemi, rated at 425 horsepower.

Put the 426 Hemi into the E-body Barracuda and you get the car that sits at the top of nearly every collector’s wish list. The 425 horsepower rating was a conservative factory figure for an engine that dominated the street and strip. Rare, loud, and brutally fast, the Hemi ‘Cuda earns the top spot.

How We Ranked Them

The ranking blends rarity, historical importance, performance, and cultural weight. A pure horsepower list would have looked different, but muscle car history is about more than a single number. The Duster shows the value end of the story, the Road Runner shows how Plymouth sold attitude, the GTX shows the upscale side, the Superbird shows how racing shaped the street, and the Hemi ‘Cuda is the peak.

The Bottom Line

Plymouth never got the same spotlight as some rivals, but its lineup was arguably the most daring of the muscle car era. That daring is why these cars are still collected today.

Which one would you put in your garage? Drop it in the comments.

Image credits: 1970 Plymouth Valiant Duster 340 (27366262585) (cropped).jpg by Greg Gjerdingen from Willmar, USA (CC BY 2.0) · Leimershof 7. US-Car-Treffen 1968 Plymouth Road Runner-20230909-RM-154159.jpg by Ermell (CC BY-SA 4.0) · 1967 Plymouth GTX 6.3L.jpg by Calreyn88 (CC BY-SA 4.0) · 1970 Plymouth Superbird Low LC23.jpg by MrWalkr (CC BY-SA 4.0) · 1970 Plymouth Hemi ‘Cuda (31006971013).jpg by Greg Gjerdingen from Willmar, USA (CC BY 2.0) · 1970 Plymouth Hemi “Cuda (31700436961).jpg by Greg Gjerdingen from Willmar, USA (CC BY 2.0). Facts from Wikipedia.