1967 Plymouth Hemi Belvedere I

The most amazing Mopar Hemi car showed up in our listings this week. This 1967 Plymouth Hemi Belvedere I 2-Door Sedan is not only just one of four such non-RO street Hemi cars to be discovered, it is the best one found to date. In fact, the story of how this “barn find,” unmolested original 1967 Plymouth Hemi Belvedere I was discovered is worth retelling.

The 1967 Plymouth Hemi Belvedere I was ordered by a Wisconsin man who unfortunately died in an auto accident in 1975. His brother tucked the car away in a garage in Iowa in 1977 and it did not return to the road until 35 years later. A young Iowa Mopar enthusiast spotted the Belvedere in that garage. For 13 years he hoped that this car could someday be his. As it sat there the car had just over 31,000 miles on it. (Today they say it still has only 32,000 miles.) When our treasure hunter was able to purchase the Belvedere sedan from the brother he discovered that this barn find had a street Hemi in it. After doing some research he realized it was the fourth such Hemi Belvedere I sedan that had been discovered. (Three were 2-door sedans and one was a 4-door.) Fortunately, in the glove compartment he found the original broadcast sheet, order form, Certicard, manuals, old registrations and receipts for work on the car. This was the real deal.

Because Chrysler never offered the Hemi option in the Plymouth Belvedere I model for 1967 it was assumed that none ever existed. However three other street Hemi Belvedere I’s had been discovered prior to this one. One of them was even a 4-door sedan which we saw a few years ago at the Iola Car Show. As the history goes, the Belvedere I, Belvedere II and Satellite were all available with the street Hemi in 1966. Then when Plymouth came out with the GTX in 1967 it was reported that you could only get the street Hemi in the GTX model for that year. Then they decided to produce 55 RO code Super Stock Plymouth Belvedere II hardtops with Hemi engines in them. Then the factory photos of the 1967 Plymouth Satellite come out and it had Hemi badges on it. Uwwwps!

When Mopar Action magazine did a story on this car it called it a “one of none.” Today we know that this 1967 Plymouth Belvedere 2-Door is one of four sedans to be produced with a non-RO code Hemi motor. The Belvedere I was the lightest and least expensive B-body Mopar to ever have a Hemi motor.

Take a look at this website: Harms Auto.com. You’ll find Scott Smith’s account of the 1967 HEMI Plymouths he knows about. He has not included this 1967 Plymouth Hemi Belvedere I we are talking about here, but he does describe the first three “one of none” Belvedere sedans which were discovered.

The car has just been put up for sale on the Cars On Line.com website. It remains all original and unrestored. The owner surmises that because the car had been packed in blankets the original paint job has been amazingly preserved. He says all that was done to it was to give it a good wash and wax.  He describes the interior as brand new. Of the three other sedan bodied Belvedere I’s that have been discovered this is the only one that is red. It is also the only one that has not been modified for racing.

As any Mopar collector with a car this rare should do, he has had it authenticated by Galen Govier.  In a 34-page report he notes that this car comes with 4 broadcast sheets, the original bill of sale, Certicard  and the order form. It remains the only factory original example in existence.

The seller describes it as a pristine, unmolested and unrestored survivor. Of course, he points out, it has an original, untouched street Hemi and transmission as it came from the factory. This is a Mopar collector’s dream come true. It truly is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Click the video window here to see a video taken when the car was first discovered in Iowa and trailered home by the Mopar treasure hunter who found it: