Plymouth found a niche in the late 1960s performance car boom – the budget-minded muscle car. The gimmicky Road Runner debuted in 1968 and quickly proved to be a top seller with more than 81,000 copies in 1969 (its best year). The seller has a fixed-pillar coupe from ‘69 that once called home for a 383 cubic inch V8 and a Torqueflite transmission. The V8 is long gone, replaced by an ample amount of corrosion, no doubt from an extended stay in the great outdoors. Located in Wylie, Texas, this ambitious project is available here on eBay, where the opening bid of $5,000 has been elusive. Thanks for the heads-up, Barn Finder Mitchell G.!
Reports are that Chrysler paid $50,000 to Warner Bros. to use the likenesses of Wile E. Coyote and his peek-a-boo prey, the desert Road Runner. And the “meep meep” horn sound supposedly cost another $10,000 to develop. The gimmick helped Plymouth to grab a top spot on sales charts, though short-lived as muscle cars began to fall out of favor in the early 1970s (market saturation, rising insurance premiums, tightening emissions controls, and – finally – spiking gas prices did a serious number on demand).
The seller’s (likely) Frost Green ’69 Road Runner is a coupe with a solid door pillar and pop-out side windows. 13,200 of those were built with the 383/automatic combination. That’s according to the VIN and the crusty cowl tag. A dealer is behind the sale of this iconic car, so we don’t know the history of this once-fast bird. However, the salvageability of this vehicle will be in the eyes of the holder.
Surface rust is rampant, and some of the close-up photos show things as being much worse. The interior seems to be a collection of pieces piled together. And replacing the drivetrain and associated components will not come cheaply. And whether the car would serve well as a donor is up for discussion. If you’re looking for a Gen 1 Road Runner to restore, should you be looking elsewhere?
This is the 3rd B-body Muscle Car In the last week or so featured by the same dealer. I used to watch his YouTube’s postings every Friday, but the became repetitive and commercialized, but for a while they featured really interesting cars. This and the other two cars recently featured here are basically junk, I think the GTX with a Dana rear end didn’t receive one bid, I wouldn’t be surprised if this one gets any either. It has some value, but probably not that of the opening bid. Persistent and patient buyers, especially if they aren’t married to a specific year, make and model will be able to find something much better.
Steve R
It’s a competition between this and last week’s GTX to see which of Dennis Collins’ Mopars are the junkiest.
Agree….Dennis is the Marc Worsham of Texas….
Does the mop come with?
Does it still have the anchor chain attached? Toss ‘er back in…
First thing I thought of when I saw this was: Looks like somebody dragged it from the bottom of a lake.
Test message…
Here’s a RR Wiley E. would have no trouble catching.
Body looks basically complete and quite straight; the doors appear to line-up nicely. All the vin tags appear to be present. Chassis looks solid. Could actually be a good starting point for someone who has access to a parts car.
What’s the story on the early Vette in the pic ? It looks more promising than the Road Runner ?
I’m sure Dennis will list it soon enough, at a price tag that no one would ever pay.
Parts.
Anyone else hearing Areosmith?
this one brings up. don’t fear the reaper.
Anybody need a 1969 road runner hood?
I’m going with a hard NO it’s not worth fixing. Save what little hard to find parts you can and crush it
N96, I bet none of the parts are there. Dennis is a money grubbing jerk with an ego the size of Texas.
looks like Collins is trying to clean out his back 40. he has listed nothing but s*** buckets on ebay the last 2 weeks. most aren’t even worth parts. people with deep pockets really get me
FWIW – this was a factory 4-speed car, not an automatic. Note the D21 on the tag and still present transmission minus the bellhousing…..
poor thing. I always hate seeing them like this.