'71 HEMI GTX Pilot Car - Serial #00008. Images: Barrett-Jackson

“Pilot” cars are also known as “tooling cars.” These early production models are used as guinea pigs for different trim packages, wheel and tire combos or performance parts and/or testing. There have been all sorts of famous pilot cars that have gone on to greener pastures, but these two Mopar pilots shown here are a bit more unique than others. The ’71 GTX and ’70 Coronet R/T are both currently part of the Brett Torino Collection and each have a story worth mentioning.

The Ralleye Red ’71 GTX is Serial # 00008 and is a true HEMI and is backed by a 727 Torqueflite 3-speed automatic.

It was built in the late spring of 1970 in St. Louis, MO and was used for reference and part descriptions in the 1971 Direct Connection parts catalogs. Believe it or not, the first time this car was sold to a member of the public was on a used car lot in Oklahoma. A lucky college student bought it and held on to it for 10 years.

The ’70 Dodge Coronet R/T convertible has a little more interesting history than the GTX: touting serial number #00004, it’s equipped with a 440 6-Pack, 4-speed, and it’s one of seven built with 4-speed manual transmission. The sheet metal it wears was literally built up just for it, and like the GTX it served duty as a reference for Mopar  assembly manuals and parts catalogs.

Since it was an extremely early production car is does have a few 1969 parts in the interior, but those parts still remain and are correct to the car. While the car is red today it actually started life wearing EB5 Bright Blue Metallic, but was re-painted EW1 Alpine White to help in the color contrast requirements of the assembly manual photos. After it left Dodge it was repainted red and then sold on a used car lot in Detroit.