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LAST OF THE BREED
THE GTX WAS PLYMOUTH’S MUSCLE CAR FOR GROWNUPS AND 1971 WAS ITS PSYCHEDELIC SWAN SONG
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THE GTX CAME INTO THIS WORLD as a Belvedere and left as a Road Runner, but in between—from 1968 to 1971—it was its own model and the swankiest of Plymouth muscle cars. It presented like a midsize Sport Fury, in contrast with the Road Runner, the cartoonish nature of which glossed over a pretty austere offering. Arguably, the GTX was the Sport Fury in a way: Its midsize, 116-inch wheelbase B-body chassis had started life in 1962 as the full-size Plymouth. This downsizing was later reconsidered, and big (C-body) Plymouths reappeared, on a 119-inch wheelbase, for 1965. The B-bodies were then partially renamed, with Belvedere remaining but a new Satellite badge taking the old Fury slot.
The ’66 Belvedere and Satellite could be had with any of Chrysler’s highly respected V-8 engines, up to and including the vaunted 425-hp 426-cu.in. Street Hemi. Most practical for the truly street-oriented enthusiast were the B- and RB-series “wedge” engines—so called in contrast to the hemispherical combustion chamber. The tall-deck RB’s were the big performers with the 413-cu.in. version of 1959-’65 making a name for itself in the Chrysler 300 and the 426-cu.in. Wedge motivating the hottest Plymouths and Dodges at the drag strip. Their 440-cu.in. successor was the biggest-displacement Chrysler V-8 to go into production.
Ialways thought this was the best-looking Plymouth ever. It’s hard to get a better color combo than purple and white. You love looking at it; being seen in it is even better. My ’67 is straightforward, fundamental, and linear. It gives the visual impression of a missile, and it drives okay, but it’s a little more primitive. The ’71 is smooth, all curves, and feels very purposeful. It feels like you could get in and drive to California. It’s the same chassis, but a different universe. Four years’ difference is like night and day. But against my Plum Crazy 2015 Dodge Challenger Hellcat, it’s like a B-17 compared to a 747. The Challenger is faster and better, but more removed.—Chris Perry
The only trouble was that despite that oh-so-’60s Space Age name and all the various goodies like bucket seats and floor shift that were required of a muscle car, the Satellite didn’t tap into the youthful spirit the same way as the Pontiac GTO. Plymouth’s solution was to black out the grille and rear fascia of a Belvedere, give it features like a heavyduty suspension, a standard 375-hp Super Commando 440 with chrome valve covers, Red Streak tires, simulated hood scoops, optional stripes, a “pitstop” fuel filler, and a console-mounted tachometer, and call it the GTX.
Since it was a bit luxe and pricey for the traditional Plymouth crowd (nearly $3,200 in its 1967 debut year, compared with a starting price under $2,750 for a Satellite hardtop), the GTX gained a reputation as being the gentleman’s muscle car. By 1971 Plymouth was calling it and the full-size Sport Fury GT “the Executive Branch of the Rapid Transit System.” Meanwhile, as early as 1968, the Road Runner, with a starting price just over $3,000, answered the same need on a cheaper basis, and the justover-$3,500 Dodge Charger’s restyling that same year offered an equally compelling car to the GTX for only around $200 more.
Exacerbating all this internal competition, the Road Runner (and Dodge’s similar Super Bee) kept acquiring formerly GTX-exclusive equipment like a convertible body and a 390-hp Six Barrel 440-cu.in. V-8 for 1969 that couldn’t be had in the 1969 GTX at all. Nevertheless, the GTX persisted into 1970, selling to enthusiasts who had greater goals than going fast in a straight line for the lowest possible expense.
For 1971, the GTX underwent the same re-style as the Satellite and Road Runner, adopting what Plymouth called “the slickest new body shape this side of Modena.” Enthusiasts mostly call it “the fuselage body,” thanks to a familial look shared with the full-size restyle of 1969 and the new-for-’70 E-body Barracuda and Challenger. As it shows up on these pages, in this car, owner Chris Perry, of Fountain Hills, Arizona calls it “the pinnacle of Mopar psychedelic styling.”
“Psychedelic,” in the dictionary sense of “hallucinations, distortions of perception, altered states of awareness,” and sometimes “states resembling psychosis.” That’s thanks not only to the only-Mopar-in-the-’70s “In Violet” paint—Plymouth’s name for Dodge’s famed “Plum Crazy” hallucinatory purple—but also a perceptiondistorting amount of torque coupled to a four-speed that could, in the hands of an unrestrained driver, even induce the occasional smoky, rubber-shredding fit of near-psychosis.
Torque in ’71 came courtesy of engine choices similar to 1970, when the GTX line finally got access to the Six Barrel 440. A reduction in compression ratios and other detuning put the advertised horsepower of the base, four-barrel 440 down to 370 from 375, and the Six Barrel to 385. The optional Hemi, probably underrated to begin with, kept its nominal 425-hp number.
The ’71’s exclusive combination of GTX panache, the fuselage body, and mind-melting ’60s-style drivetrains add up to what Chris terms “a one-year experience.” The basic design returned for 1972 on the Satellite and Road Runner (the Belvedere name had disappeared after 1970), but the Hemi was gone and the GTX badge had become mostly an identifier of a Road Runner with a 440. Perhaps that’s an indicator of just how closely the GTX was identified with 440 power.
It’s appropriate, then, that our subject car boasts the standard 370-hp engine, topped with the optional vacuumoperated “Air Grabber” cold-air induction system. The cooler intake charge is supposed to be denser and make better power, though Plymouth didn’t adjust the ratings on engines so equipped.
The GTX was so special that its base powerplant was a 370-hp, 440-cu.in. RB-series big-block V-8. It churned out 480 lb-ft of torque and this car puts it through a four-speed manual.
One suspects that even without triple carburetors or a Hemi, or even the Air Grabber system, this car would have been plenty of fun for the original owner, as it came backed with Chrysler’s robust A-833 four-speed rather than the more-typical TorqueFlite three-speed automatic. The combination of big-block torque (some 480 lb-ft at 3,200 rpm), Hurst floor shift, and 3.54 gears in the Dana 60 is a recipe for acceleration.
It’s not all about brute force, however. To handle that power and the not-inconsiderable weight of its various engine choices, the GTX came standard with heavy-duty torsion bars and springs, and a heavy-duty front anti-sway bar. Buyers could opt for front disc brakes with power assistance and 10-inch drums in the rear, but 11 x 3-inch drums were standard up front with the 11 x 2.5-inch units in the rear. Similarly, low-profile G60 x 15 tires on 7-inch rims were a potential upgrade for more stick-to-itiveness in the turns. Our feature car sports the latter option but makes do with manual, four-wheel drum brakes—something Chris regrets not in the least.
“Both my cars have them,” he says, referring to the Hemi-powered 1967 GTX sharing garage space with this car. “They work great. Contrary to what people say, I wouldn’t hesitate to hop in and go 70 mph with them.”
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The key is being “meticulous” about putting them together.
While the GTX is an extremely civilized muscle car for 1971, Chris says there’s no doubt it’s still a product of its time—for better and for worse.
“Guys say ‘I’m gonna drive the wheels off it.’ Nobody does that. It’s vinyl seats and a big motor; it’s got no air conditioning.” Driving it more than an hour at a stretch is a bit of a workout. “You get someplace and your t-shirt’s wet.”
That may not be the point, however. The early muscle car is about something more visceral. Horses aren’t a practical transportation option anymore either, yet humans continue to ride them because it satis es something more primal than utilitarian. Growly, old-style muscle cars like this need to exist to preserve that experience.
Chris’ does it perfectly. It’s not restored, per se, but it received a thorough detailing once it was home. It was something of an impulse buy, back in the fall of 2017, when he spotted it in an online classi ed listing.
“I was looking for a Dodge truck,” he recalls, but, nding nothing “I put in Plymouth on a whim.” The purple paint had the intended effect.
“I like damn near everything about this car, but the color combo just kills me. It’s just stunning and so Mopar. There’s no such thing as a bright purple GTO or Chevelle.” Chris’s appreciation didn’t begin and end with the paint, either.
“I always loved ’71 Plymouth Bbodies. I always liked four-speed cars. When I was 9 or 10 years old, a neighborhood guy had a ’71 440+6 Road
“Air Grabber” was more than just a scoop. It was a vacuumactuated system for cold intake air on demand.
1971 PLYMOUTH GTX
PRICE
Base price .....................................................................................................................$3,733
Options on car profi led...........................................................Air Grabber; spoiler package
ENGINE
Block type ..................................Chrysler RB-series OHV V-8, cast-iron block and heads
Displacement .........................................................................................................440-cu.in.
Bore x stroke .....................................................................................................4.32 x 3.75 in
Compression ratio ........................................................................................................... 9.5:1
Horsepower @ rpm ............................................................................................370 @ 4,600
Torque @ rpm ............................................................................................480 lb-ft @ 3,200
Valvetrain .................................................................................................................Hydraulic
Camshaft ........................................................Chrysler fl at-tappet, 284 degrees duration, 0.450- / 0.465-in lift, intake/exhaust
Main bearings ................................................................................................................... Five
Fuel system ....................................................................Carter AVS four-barrel carburetor
Electrical system ..............................................................................................................12-V
Exhaust system............Dual 2.5-inch pipes, reverse-fl ow mu ers, cast-iron manifolds
TRANSMISSION
Type ........................................................... Chrysler New Process 833 four-speed manual
Ratios ...........................1st/2.44:1 … 2nd/1.77:1 … 3rd/1.34:1 … 4th/1.00:1 … Reverse/2.36:1
DIFFERENTIAL
Type ......................................................................................... Dana 60, 9.75-inch ring gear
Ratio .............................................................................................................. 3.54:1 Sure-Grip
STEERING
Type ......................................................................Chrysler recirculating-ball, power assist
Turning circle ................................................................................................................43.7 ft
BRAKES
Type ........................................................................Four-wheel hydraulic drum, unassisted Front: 11 x 3 in Rear: 11 x 2.5 in
SUSPENSION
Front .............................Independent, lateral, nonparallel control arms with torsion bars Rear ................................................................... Solid axle on semielliptical, asymmetrical, longitudinal-lead parallel leaf springs
WHEELS & TIRES
Wheels ....................................................................................Plymouth steel Rallye wheels Front/Rear: 15 x 7 in Tires ............................................................................................Goodyear Polyglas bias ply Front/Rear: G60-15
PRODUCTION
Plymouth built a combined total of 146,266 B-body cars (Satellite, Road Runner, and GTX) for the 1971 model year. Of those, 2,942 were GTX hardtops.
PERFORMANCE*
0-60 mph...................................................................................................................7.0 sec 1/4-mile ET ....................................................................................... 14.93 sec @ 96.4 mph
* Source: December 1970 Motor Trend test of a 1971 Dodge Charger SE equipped with a 370-hp 440, automatic transmission, and 3.23:1 rear gear.
Runner. I used to go to the window or front yard just to see him drive by. When this showed up for sale and it was local, it was a no-brainer.”
Chris didn’t buy the GTX right away, instead going home from an inspection trip in a thoughtful mood.
Finally, Chris’s wife gave her tacit blessing to the purchase of the ’71 GTX to join the ’67 Hemi car and ’97 Dodge Viper GTS, saying, Chris recalls, “you’re just gonna be a jerk until you buy it,” and sagely noting that if he didn’t love it as much as he thought he did, it could always be re-sold.
The infatuation didn’t wear off, however, and what proved to be a car in excellent condition improved even more with the application of correct detailing, down to the proper primer, overspray, and replicated paint marks on the undercarriage.
If you’re inclined to nd a last-year GTX of your own, Chris recommends it, but also suggests nding the most original one you can. “Parts for the ’71s can be hard to nd.”
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