Say what you want about racing, but racing improves the breed. These days, we see the manufacturers duke it out on the racetracks and superspeedways, but back in the day, American automotive manufacturers had their hands in all forms of racing to gather important information about their product, as well as making a name for themselves–even street racing. However, street racing, in all of its illegalities, brought one thing that racing in an organized sanctioning body couldnāt bringāstreet cred. Thatās where the Silver Bullet GTX comes in, as showcased here in a classic 2004 episode of āDream Car Garageā.
Itās no secret that GM, Chrysler and Ford used local street racers to āfield testā many of their performance parts, then came along Jimmy Addison, who ended up with a full-tilt ā67 Plymouth GTX race car directly from Chrysler. The stories vary, from Jimmy purchasing the former test mule for $1, complete with 440 and installing a 487cid Hemi five months later, to Chrysler flat-out giving Jimmy the car already equipped with the elephant motor. Either way, this beast made it to the streets.
As mentioned before, it was an original 440 car that had a 487 Hemi dropped into the engine compartment. This behemoth featured Chryslerās magnesium, cross ram intake, and the spent gasses left the Hemi through a set of custom headers that dumped into a unique 4-muffler exhaust to keep it relatively quiet on the streets.
The car was lightened up from the factory with fiberglass doors, fenders, hood, and trunk lid. Also, you can see that the rear seat is gone, and the original seats replaced with a pair of Spartan buckets from a van. The GTX also went with drag-specific Cragar SS wheels, with a pair of meaty slicks stuffed under the slightly flared rear quarters. This combination was good for mid-10ās all night long on Woodward Ave. Rumor has it that Addison never lost a race.
Today, the formidable GTX is owned by Troy, Michigan Mopar collector, Harold Sullivan, who tracked the car down and restored it to āas racedā condition. Sullivan has also built a twin to the original Silver Bullet, called the Silver Bullet IIāthat way, he can race the car for all itās worth without risk of destroying a piece of history. Thank you, Harold, for bringing this one-of-a-kind terror back to the streets.
Living in Richmond, Texas, PJ Rentie has been in the automotive industry for more than 30 years. This former Assistant Editor at Vette Magazine also spent time with companies like NOS, Edelbrock, Hillbank Motorsports, Classic Industries, and was an automotive instructor for Cypress College for ten years. In his spare time, PJ hopes to one day bring his Fox Body Mustang out of the back yard and back onto the street!
