My uncles gtx hemi - tell me more about it?

[d0n1]

Hey folks, back in the late 60's my uncle fought in Viet Nam. Upon his return, he bought a brand new 69 plymouth gtx 426 hemi. Being 50 years old myself, I've heard many stories about this car but never saw it in person or photo. My dad passed away recently and going through his belongings, this photo of the GTX surfaced. I'm excited to finally put a "face" with all the stories I heard about this car growing up.

I know that very few were made and I was wondering what you folks "in the know" might tell me about it? Maybe it's options, its rarity, it's value if it were in the current condition of the photo etc etc etc.

I do know that my uncle wasn't a stickler for maintenance and the story goes that he didn't bother checking the oil and one day threw a rod out through the case of the engine while doing 130+mph on the Maine Turnpike. He and my dad took the engine apart with the intention of one day repairing it. The heads, intake and other externals ended up in the attic of my dads garage which burned to the ground in a fire a few years later. The GTX parts were tossed in the dump with all the other fire debris.

The other part of the story was that the disabled car sat in my uncles driveway for years and when he was drunk enough (which was often) he would kick it (in frustration) as he walked by. When he finally got rid of the car it had numerous dents in it from being kicked so many times.

Since these are so rare, maybe it'd be possible to find it today? It'd be awesome to see if it's still around.

thanks

 

[moparnation74]

Interesting story and thanks for sharing.....And welcome to the forum

Great back in the day pic look and also red with no hood treatment, very cool....

 

[Richard Cranium]

Must have been a cool car when it was new!

On a related note, you can see the commitment of quality (ahem) from Chrysler with the fitment of the lower moldings.

 

[d0n1]

Must have been a cool car when it was new!

On a related note, you can see the commitment of quality (ahem) from Chrysler with the fitment of the lower moldings.

Lets hope the door just wasnt closed tight! LOL

 

[d0n1]

Interesting story and thanks for sharing.....And welcome to the forum

Great back in the day pic look and also red with no hood treatment, very cool....

It was back in the day. I imagine the pic was taken very soon after he bought it. Kind of a "look at my new car" picture.

 

[khryslerkid]

Maybe the door isn't closed all the way.

Welcome d0n1! Nice story. Get the word out there and you might get some info, you never know. There are many of us that wish we had some of our rides back again.

 

[eldubb440]

I could understand getting drunk and kicking a mustang.....Heck, he would get extra points for it!

but that bad *** Plymouth, WTF?

 

[moparnation74]

Maybe the door isn't closed all the way.

Welcome d0n1! Nice story. Get the word out there and you might get some info, you never know. There are many of us that wish we had some of our rides back again.

I bet that is the way the door fitted up....they did not fit up well back in the day

 

[moparnation74]

It was back in the day. I imagine the pic was taken very soon after he bought it. Kind of a "look at my new car" picture.

I appreciate you posting that pic...

 

[Auggie56]

I saw several vets from that time who bought nice muscle cars. I hope you find out what happened to your uncles.

 

[d0n1]

I saw several vets from that time who bought nice muscle cars. I hope you find out what happened to your uncles.

yea that would be soooo cool to see if it's still around. Back then, people didn't realize the significance of these cars though. It could have ended up in a junkyard, crushed for scrap.

 

[Bladecutter]

Must have been a cool car when it was new!

On a related note, you can see the commitment of quality (ahem) from Chrysler with the fitment of the lower moldings.

Hard to see in the grainy photo, but it is the door adjustment, dropped in the ***, i can see the upper body line not meeting dead, plus look at front gap, wider at top, tighter towards bottom,, rear gap is exact reverse. But Your point, fit & finish was soft with all 'Big Three" back then. My 68 Coronet which was an original, untouched copper car,,,there were raw vixen file marks in the leadwork on front left side of cowl...leadwork on roof joints, fore & aft was speed bump city...lumpety ta dump.
Ford imo was always the worst fit, finish, & horribly distorted sheet metal. The 66 T-bird 'vert i'm working on right now is an example,,,,all the radical bends & reverse curves are surrounded by waves, low spots,, panel fit awful.
62 Grand Prix,, all the extensions, like the taillight bodies weren't deburred worth a dogs ***, chromed right over slagged edges.
Fine tuning just wasn't priority back then with mfgers, nor were buyers so visually critical either.
Today, things have tightened up, but i gotta say, Ford is still the worst new sheet metal for distortion......imo.

 

[kiwigtx]

Must have been a cool car when it was new!

On a related note, you can see the commitment of quality (ahem) from Chrysler with the fitment of the lower moldings.

Very nice car.
If the lower moldings are out, the passenger quarter vent is also out of alignment.

 

[1BAD426GTX]

d0n1, sorry for your loss. I own a '69 HEMI GTX and in my research I found that there were 198 HEMI GTX's built in '69,
99 automatic, 99 4-speed. Nobody knows how many are left. Your story does give hope that I can be that Uncle and Great Uncle to my nieces and nephews with my GTX.

 

[d0n1]

d0n1, sorry for your loss. I own a '69 HEMI GTX and in my research I found that there were 198 HEMI GTX's built in '69,
99 automatic, 99 4-speed. Nobody knows how many are left. Your story does give hope that I can be that Uncle and Great Uncle to my nieces and nephews with my GTX.

Im sure they will remember the GTX. Give them lots of rides and burn those tires. LOL!

So this would have been one of the 99 auto transmission cars. The story that I remember was that it had a special transmission in it from the factory (muncie maybe?). I'm asking siblings now.

Edit: factory B&M hydro auto trans from california.

 

[1BAD426GTX]

To the best of my knowledge all auto tans were the 727 HEMI Torqueflite , and the 4-speeds were the A-833 18 spine HEMI trans. Either trans were built to handle all the top performance engines of the time.

 

[ws23jrt]

Must have been a cool car when it was new!

On a related note, you can see the commitment of quality (ahem) from Chrysler with the fitment of the lower moldings.

This reminded me of my 69 bee bought new.
I used the bumper jack to change a flat on the front one time and noticed that the driver's door would not open while on the jack.
When the car was back on the ground the door worked again but the passenger side door lost the alignment it had but still latched when shut.
BTW I did play hard with my car and was always flexing it.

 

[POMONAMISSEL]

thus sub frame connectors are a must , ht coupes are week in the twist . rags are way worse .

 

[Bladecutter]

thus sub frame connectors are a must , ht coupes are week in the twist . rags are way worse .

Yep, why i like the post coupes,,the four doors are the torsionally stiffest imo,,,& lightest. 68 post coupe Coronet, 440 trim, with 318 is 3235 lbs,,the 4 door 440 trim, with 318 is 3225 lbs.

 

[Dennis H]

Love the story. Thanks for posting. If more pictures turn up, post them too. My 69 has an Export Tag and is rumored to have been ordered but never delivered to a Vietnam Nam G I.
No documentation proof. I was 16 in 69 and the memory of these awesome cars is burned in.