Muscle Car of the Week: 1969 Plymouth GTX!

This week we're taking a look at a car that is rarely seen these days in the auto restoration services industry; the 1969 GTX. The fact that it's a 'restoration rarity' so to speak isn't because it's not a great car, because it most definitely is. It comes from the fact that it had a very small production run, thanks to the demand for other competing muscle cars models like the Mustang or the Chevelle, as well as the GTX's sister model, the Road Runner!

Both the GTX and the Road Runner were based on the Belvedere body type, but while the former was a bit more powerful, the latter was much cheaper. The Road Runner's base price was almost $1,000 less, in fact. Added to the fact that not much changed for the GTX in the way of design from the previous year, you can see why consumers tended to opt for the less expensive Road Runner. Even so, the GTX still had some nice upgrades from the 1968 model that should definitely pique your interest for restoring one.

One such upgrade was with the new luxurious wood-grain trim that was added to the inside. It's a great look that holds up to this day and looks amazing when fully restored. Another new feature was standard black lower-body-side paint job that replaced the old dual racing stripe look from the previous year. These new looks combined to make the 1969 GTX a truly a beautiful car in our opinion.

Under the hood, the majority of the engine options carried over from '68, but one tasty upgrade stood out- the 440 V8. This baby pumped out around 390 horse power during chassis dyno testing and is a real work horse, making the quarter mile in just under 14 seconds. There was also a 426 cubic inch Hemi available, but because of the steep $700 price tag, it was very unpopular.

All in all, if you can find a GTX from 1969 you should definitely consider putting in the effort to restore it. They're a perfect mix of power and luxury.

Originally, a fully loaded GTX went for right around $3,500 in 1969, and nowadays you can ask for up to $100,000 for a fully restored convertible model (of which there were only 700 produced!

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