133298 / 1967 Plymouth Belvedere GTX

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This 1967 GTX is a super clean, near-survivor 4-speed car with 99% of its original parts. Present is the original fender tag, original distributor tag, original seat tags and all original sheet-metal.

Understanding that we had a 100% correct, complete numbers-matching car, we decided to send the original engine, transmission and air cleaner off to Shepard's Automotive. In case you've never heard of Shepard's, they were founded by Larry Shepard, Sr., an engineer at Chrysler Corporation in the 1960s, who worked under Tom Hoover (the Godfather of the HEMI at Chrysler when they rolled out the street HEMI in 1966). Larry was later an engineer at Mopar Performance and has literally written the book on Mopar performance engines (in fact, I think he's written five or six). With an impressive bank of NOS and original parts and an even more impressive knowledge base, there was nobody out there better suited to restore the drive-train in our GTX.

With the doors, fenders, deck lid and hood removed, the entire body was placed on a rotisserie and sent off for dipping and e-coating. After the body was returned to our shop, we completed the metal work quickly, which was limited to a few small patches in the lower driver's side quarter panel. Because we replicated the original factory welds, you wouldn't know that the work was done if we didn't tell you. As we learned when we received the body shell back from the dip shop, the original floor pans, trunk floor and floor pans were perfect, with no prior rot or rust.

With the metal work complete, the car was primed, block-sanded, block-sanded some more and then block-sanded again for good measure and then painted in base coat/clear coat. Only after the base paint and clear coat were applied was the Medium Red Metallic sport stripes painted on, exactly the way it was done on the assembly line. If you ever see a restored 1967 GTX with the painted stripes flush with the base color, it's WRONG. On the underside, our restoration shop replicated the factory primer processes, complete with blown overspray.

After the drivetrain was properly bolted into place, our shop installed the original and now restored Dana 60 rear axle and restored rear suspension. We installed brand new stainless fuel lines, brake lines, brake hoses, grommets, weather-stripping and gaskets. A new fuel tank was bolted into place, and a complete, reproduction concours HEMI exhaust handles the soundtrack. The entire braking system was reinstalled, using a combination of restored original and replacement parts. After the front suspension was in place, the restored and extremely hard to find 1967-only HEMI steel wheels were bolted up to the car, complete with four brand new reproduction redline tires. Finishing off the restored rolling stock were the four original, restored HEMI-only dog dish caps.

Turning our attention to the interior, our in-house interior expert Ralph Farinacci went to work. The front and rear seats and most of the interior parts had been finished by Ralph over the prior three months and simply needed to be installed. Ralph is a big believer in using original parts, right down to original screws and that's how he approached the restoration of the interior on this GTX. Of course, there are new door panels and vinyl seat covers, but every other piece is original to the car. The original dash pad was restored, along with the original gauge cluster. The original steering wheel was expertly refinished to better-than-new condition. Small touches like original restored kick panels and an original rear seat speaker set this car apart from the "catalog restorations" we see so often. 1967 GTXs have boatloads of interior chrome and every single piece was redone to concours standards.

Since the restoration was completed, this amazing GTX has been gently and carefully broken in and dialed in and is a true investment grade car which can be enjoyed on summer nights or rolled off a trailer at any concourse event. We all have our ultimate cars-if the 1967 HEMI GTX is yours, you can't do much better than this one!