General Motors changed the car market in 1964 with the introduction of the GTO. By stuffing a large engine into a mid-sized car they created the muscle car. Sales exploded and the other GM divisions had to have a piece of the action. Chevrolet, Oldsmobile and Buick quickly produced high performance versions of their mid-sized cars also. The management at Plymouth was caught asleep when this happened and it took a couple of years to come up with a viable alternative. That alternative was the Plymouth GTX.
In 1967 Plymouth introduced one of the all time muscle car legends. The GTX only came with two engine choices. The more affordable of the two was the 440 cubic inch big block rated at 375 horse power. The other choice was the fearsome 426 cubic inch Hemi with a conservatively rating of 425 horse power. These cars were performers and either could do zero to sixty consistently in the six second range. That's not all, according to Motor Trend Magazine the GTX was on of the best handling cars of its size produced during that era. The GTX was a solid performer and sales were brisk with nearly 13,000 produced in 1967.
In 1968, the GTX was restyled along with the rest of Chrysler's intermediates. This design which was shared with the Dodge Charger, Super Bee and the newly introduced Plymouth Road Runner was an instant classic and is the picture most people visualize when they think of classic cars of the 1960's. Engine choices remained the same and performance was exceptionally strong. Car Life Magazine called the GTX "The fastest and the most powerful standard car built in America. And the 440 is not far behind." Sales increased to over 18,000.
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