Spartanburg, South Carolina, might have been the home of NASCAR hero David Pearson, one of the best to ever turn a wheel, but someone back in 1970 might have been a Richard Petty fan (for those who don’t know, he was a longtime Plymouth wheelman), because they walked into Marion Burnside Motors in Spartanburg and signed for this Deep Burnt Orange Metallic GTX. And it looks pretty much as good now as it did back then. The seller is presenting it as a “semi-survivor” that was treated to one lacquer repaint in its original “FK5” color; it’s still holding up well, but it has the fine cracks and crazing one might expect from a nearly 50-year-old paint job. Barn Finds reader Mitchell G. found it on eBay in Maiden, North Carolina, and it’s a well-documented example with no rust.

The GTX was advertised as the car for the man (or woman) who was a little more mature than the Road Runner crowd. The brochure for Plymouth’s “Rapid Transit System” said it best: And there you are, money in fist, about to kid yourself into one of those ignominious conveyances known as the family sedan. Ugh. Revolt. Befitting the top-of-the-line intermediate, the GTX had the 440 Super Commando as standard equipment. With 375 horsepower and 480 lb.-ft. of torque, the 440 was a known quantity in the muscle car world; it wasn’t the top dog, but on most nights in most places, it would get the job done as well as anything. The 727 Torqueflite was also standard on the GTX, and this one has it, in addition to a set of 3.23:1 gears out back. It was unlikely that the original owner was going to use the GTX as a hard-core street racer, but out-of-the-box, it was a fun ride.

This GTX had a fairly light load of options, with power steering, console, vinyl top, AM radio, Rallye Road Wheels, and a few other low-buck additions adding up to a window-sticker price of $3,994.85 (the base price was $3535.00). The GTX didn’t really need many options, however, because it came with so many performance items standard. The interior of this example, with its exterior-matching interior, is still in beautiful shape, leading one to believe that the 67,500-mile odometer reading may be legitimate.

The undercarriage shows its 55 years, but it is completely rust-free (aside from the obvious surface rust here and there). Aside from the decades-old paint job, the car is original, down to the vinyl top and all sheet metal.

Mopar muscle has been hot for decades, and there’s no reason why this “semi-survivor” GTX won’t bring big bucks at the end of the auction (although the seller says that they’ll consider a trade for a ’68-’70 Charger or ’70-’71 Cuda/Challenger, so I hope the sale doesn’t end early!). It’s a running, driving muscle car that hasn’t been messed with, and those are the best kind. Rapid transit, indeed.