Documented Numbers Matching GTX V Code 440+6

At RK Motors Charlotte, we love rare cars like this 1971 Plymouth GTX. We get even more excited when they are super-clean, low-mileage cars. And when they’re loaded up with uncommon performance options, documented, and numbers matching, for us, it’s like winning the lottery! The Plymouth GTX was the upscale companion to the budget-muscle Road Runner. Both were part of Chrysler’s revamped 1971 midsize line (which also included the Dodge Charger), and both got curvaceous new "fuselage" styling on a wheelbase one inch shorter than the previous year. With the new body came a three-inch increase in rear track, which improved handling, plus a reconfigured interior with a more comfortable driving position and superior ergonomics.

With total production of under 3,000 units, any 1971 GTX is a rare car, but this ’71 GTX is one of only 73 built with the last of the HEMI challenging 440 Six Pack engines.  Add in tasty options like the air grabber hood, disc brakes, the performance axle package with a Super Grip differential, and hood pins, and you’ve got the kind of car that makes numbers junkies start twitching, knowing they’re about to get their next fix.

Although Mopar was the slowest of the Big Three to scale back, not all its V-8s escaped detuning. The Road Runner's standard 383-cid four barrel, for instance, lost 35 bhp. GTX engines, however, held out relatively unscathed. Compression ratios were shaved slightly, but the standard 440 four-barrel and the optional triple-two-barrel 440+6 lost only five horsepower, to 370 and 385, respectively. The extra-cost and seldom-ordered 426 Hemi held fast at 425 horsepower. Four-speeds and TorqueFlites, with axle ratios up to 4.10:1, were still available, as was the Air Grabber hood.

Here are some highlights from the original window sticker (which comes with the car, by the way):E5 Rallye Red paintD5X9 Black cloth/vinyl interiorA36 Performance axle packageE87 440+6 Wedge engineB41 Front disc brakesB51 Power brakesC16 ConsoleD34 TorqueFlite transmissionN85 TachometerJ45 Hood hold-down pinsN96 Air grabber hoodS77 Power steeringV7W Paint stripe

Then there are a few unusual items, like the R26 AM radio with stereo cassette player AND RECORDER. Yes, there’s a microphone jack built in, perhaps intended for the busy executive on the move. Then there’s the Y09 Build for Export .... and this is where the story gets very cool.

In 1971, a Chilean citizen by the name of Henry Pizarro was serving in the United States Air Force.  Henry wanted to become a U S citizen and serving in the Armed Forces was a stepping stone towards this goal.  Henry ordered this GTX shortly before his stint in the Air Force was up and designated the car to be exported to his address in Chile.  We believe that this would have been the only Six Pack car ever to be shipped to South America.  As fate would have it, weeks before the car was scheduled to be loaded up on a ship and sent to Chile, Henry decided to stay in the United States and had the car delivered to a dealer in Jersey City, NJ.  Henry owned and cherished the car for the next 25 + years and has since passed away.  We have a photo of Henry with the GTX from the early 1970's, as well as the original dash tag that was made for him by Chrysler, which was part of the export process in 1971.

The GTX ended up in the hands of a dealer in Garden City, NJ, who summarily the GTX to a Six Pack collector in Houston, TX in 1998, who ended up selling the car to our customer in Virginia, who under-wrote the cosmetic restoration of the GTX, to the tune of more than $50,000.00.Included are  itemized invoices show things like a rebuilt engine, a rebuilt, date code correct transmission (we do not know what happened to the original), new brakes, heater core, a front end rebuild, plus painting and detailing on all the components to put the car in its current exceptional condition. There’s a second listing of work for the exterior paint and body that includes prep and paint, new exterior decals, polished exterior moldings, NOS rear side glass and a new PPG windshield. Plus it’s all rolling on a set of new 15x7 Rallye wheels with 255/60/15 BFGoodrich Comp T/A tires.

That body work was expertly done, and the Rally Red paint shines on wrinkle-free panels. The decals have been applied in all the right places, and even the stainless trim on the rocker panels shines like new. Underneath, the rust-free floors have been carefully undercoated as original with zero overspray. In addition, many of the chassis components have been detailed like new. The exhaust and gas tank appear to have been recently installed.

The black interior’s excellent condition is consistent with the 35,392 miles shown on the odometer. The black vinyl buckets are unblemished without any splits or tears, the headliner is taut, the gauges crisp, and all that simulated wood trim is in outstanding condition. This car also comes with a large binder full of receipts, photos, and original documentation, including the original Chrysler Corporation Broadcast Sheet, original window sticker, and original owner’s manual.

1971 would prove to be the end of the line for the Plymouth GTX. Collectors understandably gravitate toward earlier GTXs, especially the convertibles, but the 1971s cannot be ignored as important pieces of Mopar history. Plymouth built only 2,703 of them, compared to over 14,000 Road Runners and nearly 50,000 Sebrings. So the 1971 GTX must be considered collectible, not only as the last of its kind but for scarcity. A GTX package—which included an emasculated 280-bhp four-barrel 440—became merely a Road Runner option in 1972.

Let's recap: 1 of 73 440 Six Pack GTX's; all original sheet metal; originalengine; original paperwork, including Chrysler Corporation Broadcast Sheet; owner history; great color combination, and; great options.  This GTX has all of the right stuff and then some!  Jump on it fast, because we guarantee that someone else will!