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The 1967 Plymouth GTX swapped stripped-down race-car bravado for bucket seats, a console tach, and chrome trim — then backed it up with a 440 big-block as the standard engine and the 426 Hemi on the option sheet. Here’s the story behind the Mopar built to out-class the GTO without looking like it was trying.
Plymouth sold the 1969 GTX as the muscle car for buyers who wanted power without giving up polish – a blacked-out grille, an upscale cabin, and a 375-horsepower 440 standard with no options required. Only 208 of that year’s 15,602 GTXs left the factory with the legendary 426 Hemi instead. Here’s what it takes to get one of the more common 440 survivors running exactly the way Plymouth intended.
Dan Hallisey brought his numbers-matching 1971 Plymouth GTX onto Jay Leno’s Garage — then handed his passenger seat to the high school auto shop teacher who taught him everything he knows about engines. The 440-powered GTX, one of the last built before Plymouth retired the nameplate for 1972, still has enough torque to catch a first-timer off guard. It’s a rare episode where the teacher, not the car, ends up stealing the show.
Long before buyer’s guides and forum threads existed, Chrysler trained its own salesmen with an internal film explaining exactly how to sell a 1970 Road Runner, GTX, Satellite, or Belvedere. Uploaded by Mopar archive channel MyMopar.com and viewed over 83,000 times, it doubles today as an unintentional spec sheet for anyone chasing one of these cars. Watch to see what Chrysler wanted its own salesmen saying on the showroom floor.