DECEMBER 2024: 1967 GTX—HE WANTED A BEASTLY VERSION OF HIS FIRST GTX

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There’s always that one car in a car guy’s life.

The car that left such a big impression you miss it to the point where you want it back—or a car just like it back in your life.

This ’67 GTX is one of those cars because it represents the past—on steroids.

Jerry Sutherland

Bruce Erickson bought a brand-new GTX back in 1967 because he was drawn in by the appeal of a Mopar muscle in an era when horsepower came in many forms. The GTX was a business-only form of the reliable B-body Belvedere platform and it was definitely a player in the 60s muscle era.

That car—like many muscle cars from that era disappeared when life moved on to a point where a ‘67 GTX didn’t make much sense.  Years went by and when the time was right, Bruce was ready for another ’67 GTX.

He didn’t pick the easiest project. He found a GTX that was a donor car for another project, and decided that was the car he wanted to rescue even though Bruce said, “It was a basket case”.

Bruce’s original GTX was a 440 big block car, but he wanted to take GTX 2.0 to another level with a 2nd Gen hemi. They made far fewer with the hemi option, but this project car ’67 GTX freed Bruce from the numbers-matching hamster wheel.

He chose an aftermarket 572 cubic inch hemi for the project because he wanted even more punch under the hood than he had with his original GTX. Bruce said this car is in the 730-horsepower range—that’s like going from Warp Five to Warp Ten.   

Bruce added a five-speed manual to the formerly automatic transmission-equipped GTX because he wanted to manage the track-friendly 4:30 rear gears.

The GTX’s body was a huge challenge because Bruce believed, “Part of it was underwater at some point”.  That meant the GTX was a mess from the floors up, so some magic had to happen to bring this car back from the dead.

The car needed new front fenders, rear quarters, floors, and rockers plus Bruce found a replacement rear clip. He had to use a Super Stock-styled hood because the intake was too tall for a stock GTX hood. That’s a big list for a project, so Bruce bought the car in 2006, started the project in early 2007, and had it completed on July 1, 2010.

There are other tricks under the skin of Bruce’s GTX. It has a coil-over front suspension and other upgrades you wouldn’t see on a factory GTX. Bruce wanted to define this car as a reasonable street machine—even with a monster under the hood.

Car guys like numbers at the track and Bruce said his GTX ran an 11.89 ¼ mile at 125 miles per hour. Bruce added the car was capable of more, but traction—in every gear was a big problem. Bruce admitted he’s gone through three sets of rear tires on the Magnum wheels.

There was another number that was also important to Bruce. His car gets 18 miles per gallon, with an rpm of 23-2400 at highway speeds. thanks to the five-speed and a well dialed-in big block. Bruce is considering a change in the rear gear to a more sedate highway gear to make it work even less on the freeway.

This GTX has done 25.000 miles since its rebirth in 2010 because Bruce wanted to drive this beastly version of the GTX from his past.

That’s how this story ends—happily.

Jerry Sutherland

By: Jerry Sutherland

Jerry Sutherland is a veteran automotive writer with a primary focus on the collector car hobby. His work has been published in many outlets and publications, including the National Post, Calgary Herald, Edmonton Journal, Ottawa Citizen, Montreal Gazette, Saskatoon StarPhoenix, Regina Leader-Post,  Vancouver Sun and The Truth About Cars. He is also a regular contributor to Auto Roundup Publications.

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