Plymouth Hemi GTX Sunroof 1971, Estados Unidos
Motor: 426/425 HP
Exterior: Amarelo (Bahama Yellow)
Interior: Preto
Fotografia
Three broadcast sheets, and original dealer selling paperwork
The most expensive Hemi car ever produced
The most highly optioned GTX ever produced
$6,592.75, more expensive than a Cadillac Coupe Deville in 1971
Unrestored with 49,416 miles
Original Bahama Yellow paint
Black vinyl top and premium houndstooth interior
1 of 2 Hemi GTXs built with factory sunroof
426/425 HP Hemi V-8 engine
4-speed transmission with Pistol Grip shifter
Super Track Pack 4.10 gears
Power steering, brakes and windows
Inside hood release, light package
Rear window defogger, tinted glass
Air grabber hood with tie-down pins
Bucket seats with console
Heater with Strato-Vent option
Rim-blow steering wheel
Front and rear spoilers, sport mirrors
Dual exhaust with chrome tips
AM/FM stereo with 8-track and Dictaphone
Driver aid group with seatbelt and low fuel light
Day Two Cragar wheels, Mallory distributor with Rev Limiter,
headers, chrome air cleaner, valve covers, fan and master cylinder cover
Goodyear Polyglas tires
The original owner, Sergeant Larry Dickson was a highly
decorated Vietnam Veteran who owned and pampered the car until his death
It became part of the Wellborn Collection in 2005
A lot was happening in 1971, and a highly-decorated soldier
named Larry Dickson, who had returned from Vietnam, wanted a Hemi muscle car.
The result was possessing this amazing sunroof Hemi Plymouth GTX for the rest
of his life. Unknown by anybody at that time, this Mopar would be the highest
sticker/highest option Hemi car ever created, and the 49,416-mile car has an
amazing story.
Dickson, a sergeant in the Army, had come back highly
decorated. The Roseville, California, native had won the Silver Star, Purple
Heart and other honors for valor during his tour of duty. He first bought a 70
383-powered Road Runner, but as 1972 approached, he had his local dealership
search nationwide for an unsold Hemi vehicle. What came up was located more
than 3,000 miles away in Bayshore, Long Island.
The EL5 Bahama Yellow ’71 Hemi GTX had been built in November
1970 as a sales bank car, with the New York-based dealership getting it in late
December. The loaded car then went unsold for more than a year. The newly
restyled G-series body gave the car a fresh look, and the list of options added
on an extra $2,885.75 to the GTX’s base $3,707 cost. Of course, that was led by
the 426 Hemi, 4-speed and Dana 4.10 Super Trak Pak driveline. Costly components
were the incredible power sunroof, the top-line AM/FM cassette player with
microphone, a houndstooth interior, power windows, spoiler package and more.
With a massive sticker price of $6,592.75, more than any factory produced
Chrysler muscle car ever built, the still-new car was sent west.
Once Larry bought it, a handful of aftermarket parts were added
to this, notably the Mallory distributor with Rev Limiter to keep from damaging
the Hemi engine. Other changes also included Cragar wheels, headers and chromed
underhood accessories.
Following a minor alteration to the passenger side door during
its first decade of ownership, Sergeant Dickson parked the GTX in his garage
permanently, unrestored and showing just under 50,000 miles since new. His
final registration expired in 1982, and it would remain unseen publicly until
collector Scott Lindsey followed a lead and purchased it from Dickson’s estate
though the family. Soon after, Tim Wellborn acquired it for their museum
collection.
Tim has always been partial to originality, and this one needed
little else but a little cleaning and the door fixed. In speaking with fellow
collector Peter Swainson, Tim noted he hated to do anything to this very
original car, at which point Swainson told him he owned a ’71 passenger-side
door in original EL5 paint. Turning the project over to Roger Gibson, the
original-paint door was added onto the original-paint car. Larry’s day-two
upgrades were left intact as well.
Today the car is unrestored and retains its original matching-numbers
426/425 HP Hemi engine. Factory options outside include the Air Grabber hood
with hold-down pins, front and rear spoilers, sunroof, dual racing mirrors,
tinted glass, bumper guards, chrome tips, extra-cost Hi-Impact EL5 paint and
factory-installed graphics. Driving is aided by power steering, power front
disc brakes, Hemi-specified suspension, G60-15 Goodyear Polyglas GT tires and
now-replaced 15-inch Rallye wheels. Of course, inside are houndstooth buckets
with a six-way driver’s seat, console and Pistol Grip shifter, tachometer, rear
window defogger, Strato-ventilation, Light group and Drivers Aid group, inside
hood release, aforementioned stereo and upholstery, and rim-blow steering
wheel.
Well-known and celebrated in the Mopar community, this car was
featured on the cover of “Muscle Car Review,” and it is a one-of-a-kind example
of this final year of the Hemi. A cornerstone of the Wellborn museum collection
for many years, Tim’s extensive research on Hemi Sunroof cars has revealed that
fewer than 10 Hemi Mopars of all models were built with a sunroof in 1971.
Offered to the public for the first-time ever, this special sunroof Hemi GTX is
sure to please the most discerning and serious buyer of true American muscle.
