1 of 347: 1974 Plymouth Road Runner

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Plymouth’s Road Runner was the muscle car phenom of the late 1960s, giving buyers a lot of power in a budget package. Over time, the car would become less but sales would suffer as the market sector fell in decline in the 1970s due to rising insurance costs and higher fuel prices. From the Road Runner’s second generation comes this ’74 model, which looks to have had a nice view of a New England lakefront for some time. It’s said to be a one-owner car, numbers matching, and comes with a donor vehicle to help fix it up. From Eliot, Maine, this “Bird” is available here on Facebook Marketplace for $7,500.

After a successful three-year run, the Road Runner was redesigned for 1971 and changed to a more rounded “fuselage” style which was in keeping with then-current Chrysler trends, including a steeply raked windshield, hidden cowl, and deeply inset grille and headlights. Departing from before, the B-Body 2-doors shared little sheet metal, glass, or trim with the 4-door bodies. Aerodynamics was greatly improved over the first-generation Road Runners.

New sheet metal arrived again in ’73-74, with more conventional squared-up front-end styling and changes to the rear that looked more like the 4-door models than the ‘71-72s. Production of the Road Runner fell short of 10,000 units, a far cry from a few years earlier. Nearly 1,700 had the new 360 cubic inch V8 and – when paired with a 4-speed manual – the magic number was 347. Like the seller’s car.

This yellow ’74 edition is said to have 81,000 miles on the clock, and we’re told the drivetrain is what came with the car at the factory. We don’t know when the car was parked and left to nature, but the title should be coming from the car’s original owner. All the lower extremities of the Plymouth along the driver’s side look to have rust, so we’d guess the other side is similar. The trunk also contains rust and perhaps the donor car will have better panels to transfer to this one.

Besides the carpeting, the interior looks okay with a basic bench seat instead of buckets. The Pistol Grip shifter for the 4-speed is certainly a nice touch. The seller does not refer to the mechanical condition of the car, so we assume it does not run and may need a lot of work. A topflight Road Runner from 1974 can still fetch upwards of $40,000 according to Hagerty. This car has some low production numbers and we wish we could see what the donor car looks like to gauge if taking two cars and making one will be a good idea.

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Comments

  1. RoughDiamond

    Okay MOPAR or no car enthusiasts please chime in here. Is this ’74 Roadrunner worth restoring even being a factory four-speed and with the donor car the Seller chose not to include pics of? I believe this barn find has been partially submerged in water at some point looking at the carpets and carpet rot around the shifter bezel not to mention all the sheetmetal rust. I could see an engine, transmission, rear axle and Hurst Pistol Grip shifter of value and not much else.

    Like 9
    • Bmac BmacMember

      If this was the 71 or 72, I’d offer 500.00. Not much left!

      Like 2
    • Dave

      This one, unfortunately, is a lot closer to “no car left”.

      Like 4
    • PRA4SNW

      With no rear window and located in Maine, I would assume yes, the interior has been submerged in water. Unless the seller can prove that it had been previously stored indoors.

      Like 0
  2. FordGuy1972 FordGuy1972Member

    This car seems to be a little too far gone to restore unless you’re keen on replacing both fender, both quarter panel, both doors, a complete floor pan and trunk pan. And that’s just what can be see. Like RoughDiamond pointed out, the only thing of value is the complete drivetrain and maybe a few other bits. The seller should have posted some pics of the donor car to justify the $7,500 price. Though in my opinion, the yellow rust bucket should be the donor car. If the other car has terminal cancer as well, I’d pass or wait until the seller comes back to reality with his price.

    Like 3
  3. TimS

    I’d like a 70’s Road Runner. Just not this one.

    Like 4
  4. Driveinstile DriveinstileMember

    This has the same paint and stripe scheme as Daisey Dukes, except i dont think hers had a vinyl roof.

    Like 5
  5. Terrry

    A top notch Road Runner may fetch $40,000, but one where half of it has already returned to the earth is barely worth the cost of having it hauled away.

    Like 5
  6. Slantasaurus

    I think the seller mistyped the decimal point in the price. $750 for this pile and a donor might be realistic (depending what the donor looks like and how much it would cost you to haul it home).

    Like 5
  7. George Mattar

    So 1 of 347. So what. The 360 is a pig I like 73 and 74 RRs more than the ugly 71 and 72 models. But these pile of rust is not worth saving. Does AMD make panels for this?

    Like 3
  8. Mike

    I’m surprised that it’s a FB ad and the seller took the tarp completely off, not just pulling it back enough to show a fender proving that there is a car underneath.

    Like 2
  9. Mike StephensStaff

    Look at the black stripe and see how far the front fender has dropped from the door. I think the coyote could catch this one.

    Like 6
  10. rustylink

    They are way optimistic on getting 7 large. Given the amount of rust, missing glass and the fact it needs everything on a less then desirable RR year – the only thing it’s got going for it is it’s complete and a 4spd.

    Like 1
  11. Bob_in_TN Bob_in_TNMember

    The CB radio and FM converter are kind of cool. Show them to a teenager and ask them to explain what they are and what you did with them. And then, ask them what “CB” and “FM” stand for.

    I’m wondering if this car has been sitting in the elements for 30-40 years.

    Like 5
  12. JC

    Looks like it spent time IN the lake..smh…

    Like 0
    • PRA4SNW

      That is the Piscataqua River which empties into the Atlantic.
      If this spent any time in that river, there would be nothing left of it.

      Great Striper fishing.

      Like 1
  13. Joe Sewell

    Like many of the ads presented here, I want to see an image of Alfred Newman compared to the image of the person offering their relic for sale…..

    Like 2
  14. Jack Barley

    This is not a 68-70 (or even at least a 71-72) so it not worth the kind of restoration it needs.

    Like 1
  15. Leslie Martin

    I personally prefer the earlier 71/72 “coke bottle” Fuselage bodies, but the later 73/74 cars seem to be the ones everyone wants right now.

    As a Mopar guy, I’m sad to see this one so far gone. If someone saves this puppy, it will be out of pure love of the car, because you’d always be upside down in it. But who knows maybe If you are handy with a welder and can get enough useable sheet metal from the donor car, you just might be able to afford to do it. And yes, AMD makes some panels for these cars, but not many.

    If I was that ambitious, I’d still park the 360 in storage and build a nasty 69 or 70 340 for it. A fully restored 4 speed car nicely optioned would still be worth more with a drivable motor than keeping it original with that crappy 360.

    Like 2
  16. Howard

    I thought the 74 had a solid stripe across the roof ?

    Like 0

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