I am finishing my five year restoration on my 73 RR GTX this was the car that was in a storage container in Sacramento for 20+ years cosmetically it was beautiful not seeing the light of day all those years but we did have a lot of mechanical work to do! I realize there was a RR GTX in 72 also my question is why did they combine the two variants?

In '72, The 'GTX' was an option package on the RR...

The GTX as a separate model ended in '71...

There was never an option called "GTX" available for the Road Runner in '72-74. If you ordered a 440, the model name becomes "Road Runner GTX"
Gas shortages/prices and insurance costs killed the sales numbers for vehicles with large displacement engines in the early seventies.

I like that 72 Roadrunner GTX 440 - 6 Barrel Option Myself

Really???

Funny, I see the word 'option' in your highlighted 'description'...


The 280 hp (209 kW) 440 engine was the basis for the "GTX" package (the GTX was no longer a separate model) available on Road Runners from 1972 to 1974.

Fact is, the notion that an option or package could be ordered titled "GTX" by the factory for a '72-74 RR is a myth, as it is not listed in any factory ordering documents from the day. Whatever the source of your quote, that statement is simply inaccurate, no option or package called "GTX" ever existed officially. The document posted is the official announcement of the changes to the Plymouth b-body line-up for '72. The 440 engine options are what determined the dual name change nothing more. The 440 engine options were packaged with the same additional hardware required as years prior; ie, torque boxes, Danas with four speeds('72 only, all 212 of them).

Believe what you want...

All you're doing now is playing semantics...


It's right there, in black and white...

Or what's NOT there in black & white on the factory documents. Show me the GTX package, order code for it?

This subject of what constitutes a GTX in '73 or '74 comes up periodically (never seen it before with a '72 though). I think you have to look at what the order sheets actually say. Admittedly there is no coded option for a GTX. If there were I'd guess it'd say something like '440-4v mandatory' or something like like that. But there isn't. What is there is the fact that if you ordered a 440 in a Roadrunner, it is now called a Roadrunner GTX. So how do you get a GTX in '73 and '74? Order a Roadrunner with the 440. I think it's just as simple as that.

BTW, I have a '74 440 Roadrunner GTX so I do have some exposure to this.

Charger SuperBee, 440 Road Runner GTX, the import Japanese Challenger, the new 4 door Charger , the Daytona truck and on and on. Mopar has always regurgitated nameplates and bastardized their origins trying to help sales.

Not so sure I would classify the Road Runner GTX, or the old school Charger Superbee, with the other models mentioned that were much more far removed from their original name sakes. IE, there is very little difference mechanically between the U-coded '71 GTX (Satellite GTX as referred to by factory advertising from the day) and the U-coded '72 Road Runner GTX.

Just a matter of opinion.

I see no difference between Mopar slapping GTX emblems on a Road Runner than I do them slapping Charger emblems on a 4 door sedan. Both bastardize the nameplates.

If someone wants to argue that one is a bigger bastardization than the other, then fine, one is worse than the other.

Agreed, matter of opinion. Way I see it, combining what was two mechanically similar models into one dual named model in a consecutive model year is very different from say, what became of the Road Runner name. Eventually nothing more than a dacor group for the Volare.

The 440 was the option, not the GTX.

I think it's a simple misunderstanding of the literature. The way it is written can be confusing.

A 72-74 RoadRunner became a RoadRunner GTX when the 440 was specified.

There is nothing on a 74 order sheet that even mentions GTX.

It's a matter of badging, not options or models.

For example, If you ordered a N96 hood, you got certain decals (badging) with that option.

IF you order the 440, THEN you get the GTX decal. It's not a model, it's not an option, its not a package. It's a decal.

No option, no package, but this particular model name change is very clearly defined by the official factory ’72 model change description. Right there “In black & white”.

BTW, wasn’t a decal for the ’72-74 Road Runner GTX model discussed here, they are badges, three of them. Similar badging as previous Belvedere GTX and Satellite GTX models.

You make the opposite argument with that post. The GTX model was discontinued. In other words, what it had always been was no more. It was no longer a stand-alone model, but an emblem on an option on a model.

As to the reference to the Satellite GTX, that was to define the platform source. The GTX was a model of the Satellite platform, rather than part of an option on a model.

Again, for '72 the GTX was no longer a model, but was merely an emblem. Before 1972, when you ordered a GTX, you got the 440 (unless optioned otherwise). After 1972 when you ordered a 440 you got the GTX (emblem). That is not the same thing at all.