Slaughter the fatted calf! It’s not every day you up and decide to sell your classic Hemi’-powered muscle car, and you can bet this 1970 Plymouth GTX was not recently found in a barn. More likely someone passed away or decided their dreams of restoring it to factory perfection and selling it for private island money have passed them by. Whatever the story, you’ll have to contact the seller to find out more about this Hernando, Mississippi classic because zero, Z-E-R-O information graces the listing on Facebook Marketplace, except the asking price of $100,000. Thanks to reader Marc S. for spotting this dirt road dream find.
A couple decades ago a fully dressed 426 Hemi’ engine brought about $17,000, but today that number can top $50,000 even if the engine is not ready to fire. What looks like a windshield wiper motor suggests this car may have been street-driven at least part of the time. The black engine compartment could indicate the car’s original color, or sometimes even a Mopar got the black rattle-can treatment while its engine was out. No claim is made for this being a factory Hemi’ car, but you never know. What looks like a Mopar cross-ram intake may not have been stock, along with other parts, but come on, it’s a Hemi’, baby! There’s always a buyer for Hemi’ stuff.
For a while any original Hemi’ car was a guaranteed $135,000 or more, and rare or special models can still command over $200,000, but plenty of finished original Hemi’-powered muscle cars trade under $100,000 these days, making the six-digit asking price a tough sell. A finished Pro-Touring style 1970 Plymouth GTX Hemi’ recently sold for $82,500 at Barrett-Jackson, a venue often criticized for inflated values. Get two Type A personalities in a bidding war and, next thing you know, a car sells for 70% more than it should have, making everyone who owns one think they’re sitting on a gold mine.
The GTX itself looks fairly straight, and represented Plymouth’s high-style B-body, with more trim and standard features than the budget bruiser Road Runner. GTX buyers enjoyed a stout base engine of 440 cid V8 vs. the Road Runner’s standard but plenty potent 383. If this is a true four-speed Hemi’ ’70 GTX, it would be one of 43 so-equipped, according to 1970GTXRegistry. If I had one for sale, I’d at least clarify in the listing that this is a real-deal car that can be documented, instead of the electronic equivalent of a lonely seller parking a car in their yard to see who knocks on the door. Credit the seller with getting the entire car into the viewfinder before clicking their pictures, though, a feat of seemingly daunting difficulty these days. Would you drop an even tenth of a million on this interesting Hemi’-powered Plymouth?
Probably a blown 440 in a rusty GTX that got a race hemi put in to drag it. Pretty rough these days. Fun, oh yeah, but valuable? Though I do love the sound of a hemi at high revs winding out, I wouldn’t bet the farm on this one, esp with the bubble about to burst on these. Our generation is fading away, how many young people do you see at the drag races today? How many drag race tracks are officially around? I knew a bunch 50 years ago, today?
You can almost bet your salary that this old girl has had all the life sucked right out of her…..wonder if someone aired up the tired before this picture???
Drag racing is dying. Tracks closing all the time and Don Schumacher Racing, which had like 5 teams a year ago has been reduced to rubble. Even a rich guy like him can’t afford the $20 million it takes to sponsor a Top Fuel car. Kids today have zero interest in 70 GTX. They want a Jetta or an Altina. Sad. I had an FE5 70 Road Runner in high school. Muss that gas hog.
I am currently 16 and can tell you the majority of kids these days don’t want to drive cheap gas-sippers, except maybe kids living in cities or people “helping” the environment. There are still tons of young kids these days that are interested in old cars and would love to own a GTX.
How many kids can afford 5 MPG and a hundred grand entry fee? Reality stinks but it is still there. My grandkids would love a nice Corolla or Civic as they would suit their needs to a tee. My wish is that your generation could someday experience this stuff, but the prices are going to have to come back down to Earth. Is that going to happen? Don’t hold your breath, you will turn blue. No pretty girl wants to date a Smurf.
yeah im about to be 16, i have a chevelle with a 350, all my friends want chevelles, impalas, camaros, gto’s, just to name a few and most of us go to drag races every so often, there more of us than you think.
It just sucks the world we live in, because most kids HAVE to drive gas-sippers because inflation, world conflicts, and tension between countires.
Good for you and all your friends we need more young people like you to take over for the boomers and at the same time I feel sad that most of you can’t afford the outrageous prices hell half of us old farts can’t afford them either i would have liked to buy a 1st gen Camaro but bought a 2011 Camaro SS instead because i could afford it but not a 69
Include my son who is 18. He cant afford one now, but he goes to cruise nights and car shows and knows what he likes. When he gets more settled, he will end up owning an old car. It may not be a Hemi GTX , but even if its a 73 Maverick with a 200 , he will take care of it and drive it when he can
There is one to many zeros on the price.
New Dragstrips opening all the time in Ky, check out Decker Boyz Raceway.
Drag racing died when it went to 1000 ft. About the stupidest marketing decision ever. I don’t think they ever thought about the lack of viewer immersion in a 3.6 second run, vs. 5.10. There just isn’t time to process the action and hope for a outcome in sub 4 seconds. You just sit and watch, and almost always the Holeshot wins. Boring, boring boring and pointless. At the very least, they should have had some 1000 ft tracks, and anywhere that it was safe still run 1/4 mile. I was a drag racing nut, but after a year of 1000 ft, I was over it. Haven’t watched since then, and certainly never traveled to a track to watch one. I wrote to NHRA multiple times and never received a reply. Idiots.
Neat brute of a car, but vastly overpriced.
If you want 1/4 mile racing for top fuel and funny car then you’ll have to limit the HP or CI…..the main reason they went to a 1000ft was when Scott Kallita died because of lack of runoff room and at 350+ mph some cars started becoming airborne near the 1200 to 1320 mark with the 9000+ HP they made. At 500ci they make 11000+ now…..as far as I know only TF an FC are limited to a 1000ft, rest of classes go 1320…
What is the FPG on that engine?
(feet per gallon)
Another “Kardashian Kar”–“sitting on a gold mine”!!
To swap a hemi into a 440 car normally requires a K frame change with different motor mounts. I’ve done 4.
Gen 2 hemi motor mount kit without changing the K member
https://www.manciniracing.com/19b19e19cbod1.html
These d Moparts are my favorite but the prices are crazy. I quit reading as soon as I see a ridiculous price.
Whoever priced it is smoking the good high grade weed !!!
Professional drag racing may be suffering but the drag and drive week long events are going gang busters. There are about five or six week long events this summer and the sell out 300 to 400 entries in a matter of hours. Don’t write off drag racing just yet…
Exactly Ron Drag Week type events, lights out, etc. etc. are way more fun than the NHRA Pro classes plus you have a great variety of cars not just the same car with different paint and decals