1967 Plymouth GTX Electromod: Is removing the V8 as bad as giving the Mona Lisa a boob job and lip fillers?

Electromodding is where you ditch a combustion car’s fossil fuel-gulping motor and replace it with a battery-fed electric one.

For hardcore enthusiasts, you may as well be burning down churches or allowing The Wiggles to cover Nirvana.

At the 2024 Las Vegas SEMA Show, Mopar displayed a 1967 Plymouth GTX sans V8. In its place, a 250kW electric motor and four battery packs (three in the boot and one under the bonnet), totalling 73kWh for an estimated 400km range.

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Fascinating stuff, but there’s not going to be universal love, is there?

As Trump prepares to return to power and MAGA’s in full “Yee-haw!” swing in the States, culling big displacement V8s in classic muscle’s not exactly reading the room.

The European lot at Stellantis – owner of Chrysler, Jeep, Mopar et al – may need to duck and take cover. The auto giant’s already culled the HEMI V8, while new-gen launch editions of the fabled Dodge Charger will be electric only.

Cue much chewin’ tobaccy spit hitting porches across ‘Merica.

If you want an enjoyable few hours, grab a cold Bud and read online comments surrounding this electromod story.

“A sin before God and man,” and “Like a Hollywood celebrity – beautiful to look at but with no soul,” were a couple of clean ones. Other commenters were seemingly preparing for all-out war.

Whatever your thoughts, the most interesting aspect is this ’67 Plymouth featuring Mopar’s “conceptual Mopar e-Crate propulsion package.”

This forecasts a future battery-electric vehicle conversion kit – a factory off-the-shelf product “For enthusiasts to build or convert classic and current cars and trucks into BEVs.”

Much like you can order a new V8 crate engine for your classic muscle car (bringing nice things like more power and improved reliability), a Mopar-stamped EV conversion kit has its merits.

But it’s a contentious topic. Some say removing a classic’s combustion engine is ditching its heart and soul, and I’m not about to disagree.

But electromods I’ve reported on and tested do have benefits. For starters, owners tell me their inherent reliability means they use them more often. Some every day.

It’s a sad fact that even perfectly maintained 50- or 60-year-old petrol engines can be a bit fussy about things like cold starts or staying cool in traffic. Most of us classic cars owners are on first name terms with tow truck drivers.

Anyway, back to the rear-drive 1967 Plymouth GTX Electromod. It’s been lowered, given wider wheel arches and the bumpers shaved, tucked-in and trimmed to the fenders. It’s painted Frostbite Blue with satin black trim, and rides on 18-inch BTG bronze alloys with Wilwood disc brakes behind.

There’s a carbon bonnet, carbon front splitter and custom low-profile rear spoiler, while the signature 1960s-70s flip-top fuel cap’s been updated to function as a charge-port door.

Caution, sacrilege coming. Under the hood is an integrated dual-charging module, and it features a custom cover to mimic a Hellcat supercharger seen on piston Mopar muscle machines. Proper purist teeth-kick there.

Move inside and there’s an EV-suitable driver interface with custom gauges. This includes a 160mph analogue speedo, battery charge level, drive motor current and readouts for the battery and motor coolant temperatures.

The old three-spoke round steering wheel’s been ditched for a more modern leather-wrapped flat-bottom item; seats are modified Jeep Wrangler buckets, and there’s a Dodge Durango rotary shift knob.

At least manual window winders remain, and to be fair, this ‘67’s cabin does look a delicious and successful blend of old and new.

But who’d want to be the SEMA stand Mopar representative when a group of good ol’ boys rock up to inspect a 400-volt, 250kW electric drive module bolted to a sacred muscle car’s frame?

You sense most would be as keen to give up their V8s as they would assault rifles, cheeseburgers and an orange felon in the White House.