Car of the Month
For past car's of the month scroll down below this picture & text
This month's feature car EB7 colored 4 speed GTX is owned by Norm VerHage of Michigan. This car was built in October 1969 at the Lynch Road assembly plant with a 3.54 geared Dana 60 with suregrip, clock/tach, power front disk brakes, woodgrain steering wheel, and AM radio with rear speaker. The charcoal bucket seat interior was accented on the outside with the black side sport stripes and 14" Road wheels. The following is Norm's story about this car:
This GTX was sold new by VerHage Chrysler Plymouth October 24, 1969 to Gary Pritchard of Holland, MI. All of the original documentation for the vehicle is still in our archives today and copies are on display. The second through fourth owners after Mr. Pritchard included Larry Haveman, an unknown owner and Mr. Michmerhuizen, former owner/operator of Reliance automotive of Zeeland, MI. Blaine VerHage, a partner of VerHage Chrysler, purchased the car from Michmerhuizen in 1986 with the engine disassembled because of a cracked piston, which occurred around 1974, when the GTX was last driven. Blaine VerHage rebuilt the engine with the machine work done by Challenge Racing Engines in the late 80's, as well as gathering up every possible NOS and reproduction part he could find for the future restoration of the car. During the ensuing years the car was stored with little or no progress made because of priorities at home. In 2000 Blaine traded the project to VerHage LLC for one third of the stock in this new land holding company. The plan next was for the VerHage of Holland Inc. to expedite the restoration of the GTX soon after it was placed in its collection with the resources available to the corporation. The GTX was stripped to a shell in early 2001 by Norm VerHage and went out by May that year to Midwest Stripping and Cummins restoration for the body and paintwork. The freshly painted vehicle was returned as a rolling chassis to the Dealership in September 2001 for final assembly with all the matching numbers drive train and restored sub-assemblies completed during the time the bodywork was performed. The interior of the car is mostly the original 32-year old trim, which just needed cleaning and detailing. The final assembly work was all done in the dealership shop by Norm VerHage, with the assistance of service technician Kevin Faust and nephew Matt VerHage. It was completed in July 2002 and had its debut at the Mopars at the Red Barns show July 27, 2002 winning second place in the '68-70 B-body class. Since then the GTX has had nearly 450 miles put on attending various shows and in September 2002 it was raced at the Pure Stock Muscle Car Drag Race at the Mid-Michigan Motorplex where it ran a 14.49 @ 96 mph.
Norm's GTX is one of 22 in the 1970 GTX registry painted in EB7 (Jamaica Blue) paint and only one of 7 that was ordered with the optional 4 speed transmission and pistol grip shifter.
(Dec. 2003)
Just
email me at
1970GTXregistry@gmail.com with your picture and I'll
make your car the feature car on this page for a month!
Past Car's of the Month
Chris Akin's FC7 automatic GTX
Steve Lester's EV2 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