Well within the definition of a muscle car...and for consignment, a 440ci V8 1969 Plymouth GTX with a dual intake N96 fresh air hood, some replacement steel, and bathed in fender tag matching B5 Blue with black accenting. Add in some new glass, rarely seen in a muscle car power windows, new suspension parts, upgraded gauges and an aluminum radiator and we have a classic that was a key to ushering in the muscle car era. The GTX created a bar for the other manufacturers to try to meet as to toughness and reliability with the power to outrun the Po Po...
Exterior Subdued and soothing Jamaican Blue Metallic paint, (B5 Blue), on this car is pretty much top notch with just a few areas where filler is cracking and bubbling on the satin black finished lowers of the doors, quarter panels and rockers. As to the hood, an N96 fresh air version is on and has wide black stripes painted within its field. Very straight steel, well minded gaps and shiny trimmings are abounding on this example with its dual round horizontal headlights flanking either side of a chromed egg crate GTX badged grille. Badging on the hood states 440 and setting it all off are the red mesh inserts within the air intakes. One has to love the detail on the rear glass with its "ogee" bottom window trim shape just adding some interest to the overall lines of this pretty much square and rectangle design car. The rear quarter corners are "canted" inward with a rectangular tail light on each corner. Also, below is another shiny pristine bumper and dual exhaust pipes peeking out from below. 15-inch Mopar police wheels are wrapped by new Hankook 215/70's for the front, and 235/75's for the rear yielding a slight rake to the car's stance. Snappy GTX badges are noted on the rear quarter panels and new from Classic Industries trunk lid back.
Interior In a word, showroom. A swing of the door reveals a beautiful stitched vinyl black panel with some chrome trimmings and a very nice crank, all framed by a B5 Blue sill above. Within this black field are the chrome laden rocker switches for the rarely seen power windows. Turning our attention to the interior seating area, we can start upfront with a console that is dressed to the nines with wood applique and chrome delineation trimmings, but does show some heavy wear and degradation towards the rear. Flanking this console are nearly new black vinyl high back buckets with square pattern tuck and roll inserts and adjustable headrests. These are in front of the dash with fully upgraded gauges, some more wood applique as well as an AM radio in its factory location and an aftermarket AM/FM/Bluetooth stereo mounted to the bottom of the dash. A shout out to the back seat, as it appears to have never been sat in! Like new black carpeting has been installed, and the headliner is nice and tight. All interior lighting works perfectly, and our consignor states that all of the gauges are now functional.
Drivetrain Moving to the heart of the operation, we see a completely refreshed but non-original 440ci mill that specs out as a 1978 version being fed by an AVS2 4-barrel carburetor. Dressing things up is the orange open element air cleaner assembly and ribbed and black crinkle finish Mopar Performance valve covers. A non-original A727 3-speed automatic transmission is bolted to the back and sends power rearward to the 2.94 geared 8 3/4" rear axle, (this ratio is determined by the 2.94 tag bolted to the center carrier). Keeping things extra muscle laden in the engine bay is the functional air grabber assembly bolted to the underside of the hood and temperatures are kept in check thanks to an aluminum radiator and Mopar Performance cooling fan.
Undercarriage Not to be outdone by the topside, the undercarriage goes along for the show too with undercoated black painting for the frame, floor pans and rockers. Just a smidge of surface rust spotting the underside where the undercoating has chipped off but is unremarkable. A newer fuel tank is now installed, and amazingly the stamped undercarriage panels are black and are straight. Independent torsion bars are up front providing the ride along with new bushings and an alignment, and in back are new leaf springs with new shocks. Power disc braking is on front, and power drums for the back. All looking good underneath, including the dual exhaust breathing spent fossils to the rear of the car through Flowmaster mufflers.
Drive-ability Our decoder had some behind the wheel time in this wonderful piece of muscle from 1969, and he reported all is buttoned up with any controls. The brakes were very good, (they need to be), and he could definitely feel the big block ponies under the hood. He loved it!
A blue piece of muscle car history showing very well in this example from the Mopar camp right out of 1969 with some neato factory options, a big horsepower drivetrain and the backing of the fabled GTX nameplate. Waiting for you in our overstuffed Hallowed Halls, are you going to be the next lucky owner to lay down some black strips on the asphalt?
RS23L9E100608
R-Plymouth Satellite/Belvedere S-Special Price Class 23-2 Door Hardtop L-440ci High Performance 4bbl V8 375hp 9-1969 E-Los Angeles, CA Assy Plant 100608-Sequential Unit Number
