The 1970 Plymouth GTX 440 Six Pack, recently offered on eBay, could be the world’s only big-block car using Mopar paint code FM3, known as Moulin Rouge pink. The hot pink GTX is a car for extroverts and very much a product of its time.
If you’ve seen a “Plum Crazy” Mopar from the 1960s, you know about the performance brand’s dazzling tints. Plum Crazy Purple had stablemates such as Go Mango, Top Banana, Sassy Grass Green, Green-Go, Sublime, and Panther Pink. But there were two pinks at the time. The other one is the FM3 Moulin Rouge, as seen on the GTX, offered just below $300k.
Hard to Miss
Mopar’s High Impact Colors debuted in 1969. Sometimes Mopar only briefly offered the color choice. Panther Pink and Moulin Rouge made it on the official options for 1970 but they were off the list by July.
Vintage ad for the Challenger in Panther Pink
La Shirl Turner, head of colors and materials at what is now Stellantis, told us:
Impact colors really speak to Dodge Heritage. Providing the customer with a color that is eye-catching gives them what they want—to get noticed.
Moulin Rouge, a purplish pink, was not a popular color. Mary Kay salespeople weren’t ordering Plymouth GTXs. Anyway, it was the wrong shade of pink.
Read this: A Lovingly Restored 1957 Cadillac Seville in Mary Kay Pink
The seller of this ’70 hot pink GTX (also offering a Sublime Green Challenger) believes that 232 big-block Dodge and Plymouth Moulin Rouge cars were produced in Canada and shipped to the US. Only 11 of them had the 440/Six Pack configuration. Six were Challenger R/Ts, two were Charger R/Ts, and two Hemi ‘Cudas.
That makes this four-speed manual GTX (“Grand Touring X”) a one-of-one car. That explains the lofty price, which is also inflated by it being a loaded example.
It’s a meticulous, top-drawer restoration with 10 miles since. The GTX was delivered to its original owner via Keith Beadle Motors in Langley, British Columbia. Eddy Bulfone of nearby Trail was the lucky buyer, and he kept the car for 30 years.
Checking (Nearly) Every Box
Bulfone went crazy with the options list, choosing these goodies:
- Super Track Pack 4:10 Dana rear end
- Center shift console
- Tinted windshield
- Rear-window defogger
- Hood hold-down pins
- Rallye wheels with Goodyear Polyglas GT tires
- Air Grabber Fresh Air Hood and Performance Hood Paint
One of the few things he didn’t order was an AM/FM radio. So he paid $4,376.35 against a base price of $3,535.
Blufone kept his Plymouth out of the Canadian winters. He retained all the literature that came with the car, including the owner’s manual, warranty brochure, and plenty of maintenance receipts.
Harold Sullivan, the second owner, commissioned the restoration. Although the car was garaged, it still had minor rust issues on the lower quarter panels, the trunk, the driver’s side floor, and the lower rear glass.
Well-known restorer Vance Cummings brought back the car’s original glory, and it has barely been driven since. All the original panels are still on board, and the fake-wood-heavy interior looks gorgeous.
Near Perfection From Tire to Top
The only flaw in this otherwise impeccable restoration is the missing original engine. That factory-supplied power plant is the 7.2-liter V-8 with a trio of two-barrel carburetors, producing 390 horsepower and 410 pound-feet of torque. The 440 under the hood is date-code-correct. But when Bulfone rebuilt the engine, the shop somehow gave him a different but similar block. The original engine is reportedly being used in an old powerboat in Vancouver.
To this day, Chrysler/Stellantis offers unusual colors to spice up their lineup. For example, the Modern Charger and Challenger models use throwback hues, and the ever-popular Jeep Wrangler comes in limited-time colors like purple and pink.
Most drivers are not nearly as daring. Year after year, the most popular car colors are white and gray. Meanwhile, a powerful muscle car in mesmerizing Moulin Rouge pink only comes around about once in a century.
Read this next: Why Are Pink Cars So Cool?
