By 1972, the muscle car frenzy of the late 1960s had begun to wear off. Sure, muscle cars were being made, but with smaller or less powerful engines to appease the insurance companies and growing federal and state emissions control standards. Plymouth was still building the Road Runner, but at numbers that were a fraction of just a few years earlier. This ’72 Road Runner looks like a beauty and is either an amazing survivor-quality car or has been painstakingly restored. Located in Santa Rosa, California, this Lime Light-colored Plymouth is available here on eBay. At $36,900, the reserve has yet to be triggered.
The Road Runner began as a budget performance car in 1968 and Plymouth sold more than 164,000 of them before the first generation concluded in 1970. Chrysler’s mid-size autos were redesigned for 1971 and – while the new look was distinctive – and yet sales declined to under 14,000 copies. With the GTX gone after ’71, the Road Runner was upgraded in trim and only mustered 6,800 cars in 1972. Of those, just 906 were equipped with a 400 “Hi-Performance” V8 with a 4-barrel carburetor and 4-speed manual transmission. Despite these smaller results, the second-generation Road Runner would soldier on through 1974.
We assume the seller of this ’72 Road Runner bought it for the car show circuit and has only owned it for about a year. A back injury has prevented him from enjoying the car, so it’s up for sale again. While the car is striking in appearance, the paint appears to be one of Plymouth Hi-Impact colors, Lime Light, from 1970. Perhaps the car was special ordered in this color as those paint schemes were retired after 1971. Or what may be more likely is the car has been restored, right down to the paint in the engine compartment as well as the trunk.
We’re told this Road Runner has been “gone through” which can imply most anything. The seller says the motor has been repainted and the front suspension has new components. The front seats were reupholstered, but the rear seat was just fine the way it is. New carpeting has been installed and aftermarket wheels with fairly new Cooper white-lettered tires sit at all four points. The seller has a new set of rear leaf springs for the Plymouth, but it may be left to the buyer to install them.
The mileage claim here is 46,000, which could point to things being original, but the car simply looks too nice to be so (to me) after 50 years. According to online sources, the second-gen Road Runners don’t fetch what the 1968-70 editions do, but $40,000 is not unheard of for the right car. Is this Road Runner one of those?
That car sits way to low to the ground, who did the work on it? Not that I care all that much about originality, but that Tuff wheel is incorrect for the year. The Magnums are nice, but they are 1968 style and they are 15 inchers, not the correct 14 inch ones. Finally, could you even get an air grabber in 1972? I don’t remember that, but heck, I am a senile geriatric and I forget things all the time. Just this morning I took a leak and didn’t zip up my fly.
I’m sure nobody noticed.
Love the car. Love the stance. Remember ” I’m a road runner honey” ? Good song, good car.
“I’m a road runner, baby!” Jr. Walker & The Allstars
https://youtu.be/SSosQRiXiPw
Yeah it is a little low in the front, but maybe the owner likes that look. Or maybe he doesn’t have a 3/4″ socket, or doesn’t know how to go about raising the front ride height 🤔
Sits a little low in the front for my liking, but a beautiful car. It would be a blast to drive with the 4 speed.
I am a Mustang guy, but would take this for the price over the 68 Fastback at over 60 grand.
California tilt.
Yeah it is a little low in the front, but maybe the owner likes that look. Or maybe he doesn’t have a 3/4″ socket, or doesn’t know how to go about raising the front ride height 🤔
Also, tuff wheels are cool on any mopar, as are those chrome rim 15″ magnums 500’s, original or not.
Does this glow in the dark? Sellers feedback number (0).
The GTX wasn’t gone after 71, it was changed to an option as opposed to a seperate model.
I went to high school with a guy that had one of these in mus-turd gold . 400 , slap stick automatic , no air grabber , my 69 442 400 4 speed would get him by a car and a half or more every time we ran , which was many times . He claimed my car was quicker because of the stick . My Olds was all stock with factory 391 gears , he had headers , glasspacks with turn downs before the rear , an Offenhauser intake with a 750 Holley and he claimed 411 gears . This was 1978-79 when you could buy clean “gas hogs” for under a grand . Quickest car at school was a 66 Chevy 2 SS , L79 , 4 speed and #2 was a 70 T/A Challenger , 340 six pack , automatic . I was #4 or 5 depending on the outcome of the weekend races . A couple of the rich kids were in newer stuff , a 78 Trans Am Bandit , a 79 Cobra 2 , a 77 Monza Spyder (the Monza was pretty quick) and the biggest douche had a 78 Pace Car Corvette . Us poor boys would whoop up on em all . We lived in one of the best times ever to be a kid with a license .
Made it to $37,100 but didn’t meet reserve.