Happy Wednesday Thursday everyone! Get ready for another horsepower-packed installment of Muscle Car of the Week. Seeing as I haven’t done a MOPAR in a few weeks, four to be precise, I figured I would get back to my favorite brand of American muscle. The year 1967 marked the start of a host of new and more powerful cars introduced by Detroit. If you had some cash, a need for speed and a penchant for MOPAR’s (like yours truly) then the 1967 Plymouth GTX was the car for you. Jump it for more.

Although performance was on everyone’s mind after 1965, Plymouth did not exactly have a large number of performance-oriented cars in their fleet prior to 1967. The introduction of the GTX would change all of that. Plymouth engineers took the already-existing Belvedere as their canvas and added a host of performance and luxury amenities that made the car look better and move a hell of a lot faster. To improve aesthetics they added an upscale grille and tail panel, non-functioning (but badass looking) hood scoops, racing-style gas cap and optional stripes. Since this was an upscale performance car, the interior got a shot of Armani and was treated to buckets seats laden with attractive vinyl and a host of simulated chrome interior panels that screamed elevated social status. The package was rounded out with GTX emblems on the quarter panels letting you know that you were looking at a true luxury muscle car.

The business end of the GTX was exactly that, all business. The base engine was the reworked 440 cubic inch wedge V8 that was rated at a solid 375 horsepower and 480 lb ft of torque. In years prior, the 440 had been used to power Chrysler’s full-size cars however it was re-tuned for performance and dropped into the GTX. Stats for the base 440 included 0-60 times in 7.1 seconds and a blast down the quarter going by in the mid-15s. Plymouth made sure that the GTX was a well rounded car overall by adding a beefy suspension that consisted of power steering, six-leaf springs, heavy duty shocks and torsion bars. The stout 727 3-speed auto tranny backed the V8, with the A33 4-speed manual as an option. The 440 was certainly potent enough to hold its own on the street against anything out there at the time, but what about the owner that wanted to crush competition into a fine powder then blast it away with exhaust gases? Well my friends, Plymouth had an answer for those people: Hemi.

The legendary race motor had been de-tuned for street use in 1966 and featured 10.25:1 compression, hydraulic cam and the same dual-quad intake. Power ratings for the Hemi were extremely conservative at 425 horses and 490 lb ft of torque. When equipped with the Hemi the GTX could now sprint to 60 in 6.1 seconds and do the quarter in 13.5 seconds. The drawback to the Hemi was its price, $546 dollars, which was a lot at the time especially considering the GTX sold new for around $3,400 with the base engine. However if you had nearly $4,000 to spend in 1967 and wanted people to know who you were, the GTX was the right car for you. Things would change in 1968 as the re-designed Coronet and Road Runner B-bodies would target the youth market as low-buck muscle. The GTX would then become an option on the Road Runner and serve as the gentleman’s car once more.

Thanks again to Muscle Car Club for some stats.