I bought a 69 Hemi GTX new.I guess looking back the paint wasn't as nice as cars now.Fit & finish were nothing to write home about.But it was very comfortable and rode very smooth on the hiway.Of course with the puny bias ply tires you couldn't punch it without going sideways for a couple blocks.Somehow that never seemed to be a problem.LOL.The first time I ever tried to burn rubber,I pulled away from a stop sign turning right & stood on it.The next thing I knew I was facing the way I had come & my heart was beating so hard I thought I was gonna die!It spun completly around & scared the beejazus out of me.From then on I made sure I was pointed straight,had lots of room & a firm grip on the wheel before I hammered it.
The first modification I did was stuff some L50's under the rear to give it a little more bite.Then came headers.Finally I slipped a Racer Brown cam in it.There was nothing that could touch that car.They didn't even make bikes that fast then.Say what you will about new cars,That GTX was the only new car I've ever owned.I currently have 4 vehicles and the newest one is my daily driver 76 Dodge Warlock.Cookiecutter cars don't interest me in the least.These cars are rolling works of art.and as far as lasting is concerned I had a 68 /6 Valiant that had 460,000 miles on it when I sold it to a buddy.The front end had been rebuilt several times,the tranny twice,but the motor never had the head off.The original owner I bought it from was an accoutant who kept records of everything he did to the car.He was a oil change fanatic.It had 265,000 when I got it & I drove it for better than ten yrs.I called it the U/68 the MissUsed.I also called it Prince Valiant Cuz it was a Prince of a car