Car of the Month
For past car's of the month scroll down below this picture & text
This month's feature GTX proves that these cars have fans
all over the world. This beautiful FK5 painted GTX is owned by Jim Chandler
of the United Kingdom.
Jim Chandlers
"Car of the Month" Burnt Orange Metallic 440-4bbl GTX backed by the
HD 727 automatic transmission with floor console.
. Here is what Jim has to say about his 1970 GTX: I first bought the GTX from a friend of a friend in November 1987. It was burnt orange metallic (FK5) with a Satellite hood and a 6 pack scoop painted flat black attached to it. The car rolled on Centerline rims on the rear and American Racing mags on the front. I drag raced it like this for a couple of years in street class running consistent high 12's. Then I parked it to concentrate on other projects. Then in 2000 I decided to race it again with a different setup and ran a best of 12.1 at 113 mph. Soon after a friend made me an offer I couldn't refuse so I sold the car to John, who planned to restore it back to original. I knew it was going to a good home. However 4 years later, I resisted no more and bought the "old girl" back from John who had started doing a very nice job on the restoration. The standard had been set high so I had my work cut out for me but fortunately I had some very good friends including John, who helped out a lot.
The interior was pretty good, just needing a carpet set and a center console, which turned out to be harder to find than I thought since it was Burnt Orange in color. Also the shifter was missing and console brackets had been cut off but apart from these issues the car was in excellent shape. The engine bay and front crossmember had all been stripped and painted by John. Also he sorted out the transmission, axle and engine. I needed to find 1970 exhaust manifoldds, valve covers, and air cleaner. I know it will never be perfect but I wanted it to look right. I needed to find a 1970 Roadrunner or GTX hood... not the easiest thing to find in the U.K. but I managed to locate one in the highlands of Scotland. I live in South East England so it was a bit of a trek to get the hood. I took a couple of trips to the States to buy a few essentials that I couldn't get in the U.K. These I found when I took in Mopars at the Strip and the Spring Fling.
The body needed to be stripped back to bare metal and a few repairs were needed
to the lower rear quarter on the driver's side as well as the joint on the sill
of the passenger side and both rear corners around th rear window which had
most of the clips rusted out. The body ws prepped and primered in my garage
and then driven to a local paint booth for the top coats of paint to be applied.
Then it was reassembled with all my nice new shiny bits. I had new bumpers installed,
and the door handles, driver's side mirror and all badges rechromed. I also
refurbished the 15 x 7" ralleye wheels with new trim rings and tires. The
spare wheel and tire and the original bumper jack was also refurbished. The
window felts, stripe kit and wheel lip mouldings turned up the day before I
was taking it to the 2006 Europena Mopar Nationals so they were fitted in a
bit of a hurry. But all worked out O.K. as the car was voted runner up "Best
of Show".
Jim's GTX is one of the 750 1970 GTXs painted FK5 burnt orange metallic. Also Jim's car is one of 1971 that were ordered with air conditioning. There are 88 GTXs documented in the 1970 GTX registry that were FK5.
June 2007
Past Car's of the Month
Ron
Knorr's EF8 with white interior 4bbl GTX
Dave Hechler's FE5 now 6bbl 4spd GTX
Dave
Chisholm's modified TX9 GTX
John Borzych's FJ5 GTX race
car
Rick Richard's EB5 6bbl 4 spd GTX
Don
Collom's FT6 4 speed 440-4bbl GTX
Bob Thompson's GTX 440-4bbl automatic
Joe
Petrungaro's FC7 automatic 440-4bbl GTX
Darren Phiipp's FE5 automatic
GTX
Mark Sillar's EB7 A/C auto
GTX
Norm VerHage's EB7 4 speed GTX
Chris Akin's FC7 automatic GTX
Steve Lester's FE5 automatic GTX
Ed Aprile's EB5 w/white vinyl top & side stripe
4 speed GTX
Ron Simonar's FC7 4bbl auto GTX
Fred Gilmore's Ivy Green GTX w/ Hemi engine
Brian Moceri's black 440-4bbl 4 spd GTX
Dave Kruszewski's TX9 GTX w/ white interior
Mats & Eva's FK5 6bbl. 4 spd GTX
Doug Dufour's EW1 4bbl GTX w/AC
Frank Forest's FK5 6bbl. 4 speed GTX
Chris Lobascio's EB5 automatic 440-6bbl. GTX
Mike Doddo's 440+6bbl. 4 speed GTX
Russ Carpenter's EB7 4bbl. 4 speed GTX
Ivan Kron's FE5 6bbl. 4 speed GTX
Nick Pieramico's FK5 6bbl. 4 speed GTX
Chuck Brunell's FJ5 GTX
Steve Coe's EK2 4 speed GTX
Dave Drozdowski's FJ5 GTX