The GTX was Plymouth’s deluxe entry in the ’60s muscle car wars, offering style and comfort—and an optional 426 Hemi V8, too. Here’s the original 1967 sales pitch.
Before there was a Road Runner, there was the Plymouth Belvedere GTX, the brand’s first official entry in the ’60s muscle car wars. Introduced in September of 1966 as a 1967 model, the GTX was a fully equipped muscle car, boasting deluxe exterior trim and badges and an upmarket interior with bucket seats and a floor-shift console. The list price reflected the extensive list of standard features: $3,178, several hundred dollars more than the bare-bones Road Runner introduced for ’68. Of course, once the red-hot Road Runner arrived, it outsold the more expensive GTX by more than two to one. In more recent years, automotive writers have dubbed the GTX the “gentleman’s muscle car.”
Despite the posh equipment, the GTX was as potent as any in the muscle car category, with a standard 440 CID Super Commando V8 with 375 hp and a choice of Torqueflite automatic and four-speed manual transmissions. Of course, optional at extra cost ($564) was the mighty 426 Street Hemi V8, laughably underrated at 425 hp. (According to factory records, 720 such beasts were produced.) At that moment, the Street Hemi was pretty much the king of the heap at the drag strips and drive-ins. But in this original 1967 commercial spot, the GTX is presented not as a hairy drag strip monster but as a fun and sporty lifestyle tool. Enjoy the video.
I never really understood why the GTX stayed on after the introduction of the Road Runner instead of being folded in. I understand the market they wanted; even Buick had a muscle car. And I understand why they came out with the stripped Road Runner afterward. But Road Runner was a better name and the cartoon character was easier to market. If the cars had been markedly different in appearance it would have made more sense. They should have just created a premium package for the Road Runner and moved the GTX name to the Fury.
Of course, Plymouth’s logic looks brilliant compared to Oldsmobile naming all of its cars Cutlass.
Two target markets, two different standard engines, two different models.
As much as I like the Road Runner, I will always prefer the less common GTX. As a guy from the South, I recently got a kick out of hearing a fellow southerner refer to the Road Runner as the most “beautifulest” car he’d ever seen when they were first introduced.
It made me like the GTX even more.
The 67 GTX is a great looking car. The GTX being a intermediate car it makes sense to use the name GTX after the original GREAT ONE ( Pontiac’s 1967 slogan) the Pontiac GTO. Plus all the other GT cars in name out there like Mercury Cyclone GT, Fairlane GT, Mustang GT. The GTX name was just a natural for the time.
The 1967 GTX is every bit as pleasing to the eye as a 1968 Road Runner and in 1968 the GTX has all the right touches to the body where the Road Runner left off like wheel lip molding, rocker molding and a better interior plus a bigger engine.