1967 Plymouth GTX

By 1967, the big three understood that it wasn’t just enough to be fast—muscle cars needed to look fast too (“It pays to advertise,” as one Plymouth exec put it at the time—sleepers were officially passé). To that end, Elwood Engel’s designers took the mildly updated Belvedere body shell (quad headlamps and a decklid indentation were the main differences from 1966) and gave it simulated hood scoops molded in fiberglass, a blacked-out grille (balanced by an argent-silver tail panel, similar to the lower door and sills on a Satellite), and a protruding, race-inspired (“straight from the super-stocks”) gas cap. GTX badges put the world on notice that this was the hot Plymouth, and racing stripes were also optional for the truly flamboyant. Nineteen shades of acrylic enamel were available, including Turbine Bronze—a callback to the 1964 Chrysler Turbine Car.

Inside, bucket seats (with optional adjustable headrests) and a 150-mph speedometer were the big visual cues that the GTX was more than mere transportation. Those buckets were available trimmed in four different solid color schemes, and three two-tone schemes. A wood-rim sport wheel was another racy option for GTX buyers.

The standard gear selector was a column shifter for the TorqueFlite. Those who specified the console and/or the four-speed received a floor shifter to burnish the car’s sporting credentials. Choosing the

console also provided a location for the optional tachometer. Reading off the coil and mounted directly ahead of the shifter, the tach was an extremely useful optional extra for any car driven in anger or even with occasional exuberance. Period and period-style aftermarket instruments are popular and intelligent add-ons for cars not already so equipped… read more >