Sadness was the first emotion to enter my mind when initially checking out this 1970 Plymouth Road Runner convertible here on eBay, followed by just completely lacking understanding of how anyone could permit what began life as such a fine Mopar to deteriorate to the point where it’s going to take such a tremendous amount of effort to try and save it. But others must feel differently and see some potential here, as 22 bids have raised the price up to nearly 11 grand thus far, so if you’ve got high-level automotive restoration skills in nearly every department imaginable perhaps this might be a viable B-Body project for you to consider tackling. Plan on heading to Brockton, Massachusetts to check this one out if you want to see the car in person.
We literally get zero information about this Plymouth’s past or the circumstances that led to the condition we’re seeing it in now, and while The Bay State is an absolutely beautiful area of New England the climate is not very friendly for sheet metal, so I’m wondering if the car has spent most of its days outside and exposed to the elements in this part of the country, possibly combined with a leaky roof canvas. That’s one seriously corroded quarter panel on the driver’s side, although the door here looks reasonably good, at least from the outside.
There’s plenty of rust on the passenger side as well, and I’m speculating that whatever panels aren’t replaced will require some tedious effort to get them strengthened. The seller does mention that he has a good set of quarter skins, but they’re going to cost the buyer an extra $500, although a rear frame rail and trunk pan will be included with the sale. Some good news is the fender tag is still present, which indicates the Road Runner actually started out in an FY1 Lemon Twist color.
Another positive is that the N96 Air Grabber hood is a factory component, and from what I can tell it appears many of the parts to make it functional appear to still be intact. The 383 is said the be the numbers-matching engine, but there’s no word on whether or not the motor still turns or any other information regarding it. The A727 TorqueFlite is also stated as the original factory transmission.
Things inside haven’t fared a whole lot better, with many of the interior parts having been pilfered and what’s still there needing lots of attention. Another detail the seller mentions is that his car is a 1 of 6 example, but there’s no explanation of what combo makes it such a rarity in Road Runner land. This one’s way beyond my capabilities for resurrecting, but I’m thankful it appears others are showing interest in eventually getting this B-Body back on the road in some form. What are your thoughts here?
Seen a video on Ytube about a place the has several conv mopar muscle cars in a field, in need of some work though..
Another lazy seller. Complete. He needs a dictionary. Another pile of crap. I looked at buying a 69 RR conv in western PA in 1980. It looked this bad then. Gotta love the salt. Needless to say in 1980, there wasn’t much aftermarket stuff around.
It was an auto archaeology.
Maybe worth $ for parts only!
This is an easy to understand story. Car blew an engine in the late 70s, already rusty. Sat in a field, some parts were yanked over the years, and it sat and sat. An ugly eyesore. Now that the value has soared, the smug/lazy SOB of an owner tells the world how smart he is. As much as I would like to see this restored so someone could see it pass by on the road some sunny afternoon, the back story pisses me off.
You mean the backstory that you made up?
Yep. Confabulation is one of the benefits of senility in old age. Just paraphrasing the same story told in real life by so many deadbeats of the past.
He made it up but I bet he’s not far off!
Nailed it.
The only people who could take this on are Mark Woman’s crew on Graveyard Cars, LOL! in the process, you’d likely spend $150k to restore a car that may or may not bring that much at auction. Not a great investment IMHO, but some people restore these out of love and passion, not for money. I’m glad that some people have pockets that deep, I’m just not one of those people!
I bet you could not get close for 150 at grave yard cars, they do great work but they are going to be high price.
There are several shops and individuals that would be more than capable of saving this for a small fraction of your estimate they’re just not television celebrities. Contrary to the general public’s perception Graveyard Cars is not the only shop that specializes in Mopars.
They charge by the hour 100 to 150 per hour, at least 800 per day labor plus materials surpass 150 quickly if paying to have it all done.
GH resourceful people aren’t at the mercy of those shops. Old Mopars have been my obsession since the early 80s. I’ve recently done a e body in similar shape for considerably less than 30K only farming out body and paint. This road runner doesn’t have to be a quarter million dollar project. Turn off the television!
Mopar Mike – Most average people do not have the skills or the 600 hours to spend on just getting the body right. Nor do most average body shops. I tried to get a 4″ x 4″ rust spot on an ’01 Lexus RX300 fixed recently and got tossed out of three shops practically on my ear. “We don’t Fix rust!” I was abruptly told. 4″ x 4″. The hole under the gas pedal on this alone is bigger and more daunting!! I imagine there’s a reason they didn’t want to take it on. Rust is a bear to fix.
I mean, if someone has 15k to spend on something like this, my sympathy factor would be pretty low if they put in 2 or 3x what it’s worth. But I sure wouldn’t touch it.
Don’t tell me all that, I have a 69 road runner owned since 74 put quarters and trunk floor ext and wheel houses in myself. You were referring to a shop doing it earlier that was what I was talking about. If it goes to resto shop at their prices you will have more than 150 for everything,your not the only one that knows mopars.
I’d get a backhoe pull the engine then flatten it and bury it! LoL!
Yeah, why waste your time selling it for 15K and still climbing when you can simply crush it.
There is a GT40 flattened and burried in a racers back yard. Those are 5 million dollar cars and the burried vin tag is probably worth a million. Metal detector anyone?
I am buying a lottery ticket today, with this one as a $100K goal.
I had the same car back in 1989. Paid 500 for it and sold it a week later for 1500. Yep if I only knew then and it was in a little better shape. Back then finding parts especially body parts was next to impossible. Did I mention mine was a 4spd pistol grip console air grabber number matching car? Found out a couple months ago the car has been professionaly restored to the plum crazy white interior factory colors. And to top it off it’s only 5 or so miles from where I live. Car is beautiful! To bad Crystal balls aren’t real. Mopar = more optional power after redline.
Lol, same old cheap seat nay Sayers who probably have not purchased a muscle car in the past 30 years, nor have accepted the fact nor ever will where this market has transitioned to. It is not about what you see, it is about what you do not see, and the rareity not of just this muscle car, but all remaining muscle cars that remain, which have not been picked up or restored! Basic economics apply here, too much of any commodity equals low value, rareity equals high market value, and that applies to all markets! You do not have to like it, but geez accept reality! Take care.
The “powetr” top is certainly a plus. So it’s got that going for it. And why are the body panels that the seller has no use for extra? I hope I’m wrong but the eBay listing just turns me off, the one of business always smells of someone with an exaggerated sense of the car’s realistic value.
Yes, I just sold this one and the B5 blue project and all the parts as a package deal. They were both featured here on BF about 2 months ago. Sold for market price.
But in hindsight, I probably should have crushed them, would have made so many folks here oh so happy..LOL
If anyone is interested in the REAL story of this car, just ask and I’ll include it.
Don’t want to waste anyone’s time and BF’s bandwidth with a long spiel.
It is 1 of 6 though because they only made 6 verts for the Canadian market. Even comes with a plug in block heater.
Please share it! Don’t let a few blowhards on here discourage you. Thanks!
Ok Jesse, Here goes…
This 1970 Road Runner is just 1 of 6 Road Runner convertibles made for the Canadian market. The data tag shows the Y07 code which is the Canadian market code. It comes with a plug in block heater.
Only 824 1970 Road Runner Convertibles were produced in total. That makes this Lemon Twist Yellow a fairly rare bird. She is numbers matching, original engine, original trans, the VIN number in the trunk is just barely visible. Believe it or not, she starts, runs and moves under her own power.
Unfortunately, the first owner of the car tucked her into a chicken barn sometime after having her painted in Orange Crush and done up with GTX like stripes. There she sat for years, her fate to be covered in almost half a ton of bird and bat guano.
The car was eventually sold to a fellow in upstate NY not long after the car was featured in the Canadian version of “Cars in Barns” – Maple Leaf Mopars.
He started the arduous task of collecting the parts that would be needed to bring the cartoon character back to life. He pulled the seats and had them reupholstered, he ordered floor pans, quarter panels, frame rails, door skins, fenders, new dash pieces, new air cleaner and decals, steering wheel, brakes, mufflers, etc.
Unfortunately he became ill and in 2006 sold the car to the owner here in CT that I helped sell the car for. That owner, lost his job soon after buying this car and another 1970 RR Convertible in B5 blue that also needed work, but a lot less than this one. At that point the third owner parked both cars in his parent’s barn, only to have to move them outside a few years later. Now in the midst of a divorce, the third owner contacted me to help him sell both Road Runners and all the parts.
The current owner, the guy selling it on EBay, just bought this car about 2 weeks ago along with $20,000 worth of parts (in essence 80% of what is needed to make this Orange car road ready again) AND the B5 blue convertible. The B5 blue car came with a 440 block/heads and a 6 Pack set up and an extra Air Grabber hood with all it’s bits.
The guy who bought everything as a package deal does metal and body work. Looks like he’s selling off the numbers matching, 1 of 6 car and a bunch of the parts, as seen on his ebay page, and is going to use the rest of the parts to build a 440 6 pack non numbers matching Road Runner convertible.
The person I sold them for almost broke even from when he purchased everything back in 2006. If this rotted Lemon Twist car sells for close to 20K, the new owner will have cash to put into the blue car for any small bits he’ll need.
and just to think, if we had done what several of these wonderful BF readers would have done, and just crushed them, there’d be two less Road Runners out there… and some sorry chap who would have lost out on over $30,000…LOL
SOLD for $15,100.
There were at least a few people out there that appreciate what this is.
Bick, once again brother, keep posting those comments, they are creating more gold in those hills! LOL..Take care.
thanks for the back story auto arc.
glad to see every one got out ok and 2 more ‘runners will get saved