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1979 Road Runner: Beep Beep!

1979 Plymouth Road Runner

While this Road Runner is a far cry from the late ’60s/early ’70s versions with their huge V-8s, this is still a nice package compared to the stock Volare it was based on. This survivor has been winning car shows since at least 1994 based on the trophies, is located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and is up for auction here on eBay.  The car looks to be in truly stellar condition in the pictures, with no obvious flaws at all. A buy-it-now figure of $9,995 is only slightly above the opening bid amount of $9,500 – a lot of money for a Volare! As a period piece, this Road Runner represents the emasculated power levels of the late 1970’s perfectly with a Slant-6 225 cubic inch engine rather than the previously available 360 V-8. According to the seller, only 464 Road Runners with this engine combination and air conditioning were manufactured, and with the propensity of this body style to rust, I doubt that there are many left. Less than 20k miles are showing although the seller states that the mileage cannot be verified with any documentation. Of course, the iconic “beep-beep” horn is standard equipment! Are you interested?

Comments

  1. Avatar Dave at OldSchool

    If you like doing car shows, this is probably THE BEST ‘top car’ under 10 k you will ever find….
    .
    The value of a true ” Survivor”, ( ASSUMING THIS IS ALL ORIGINAL,) is as a show car, not a daily driver … therefore the six banger is not much of a negative.
    .
    If you want to ‘play’ with the car, it would be fun to acquire all the optional go fasts for this respected motor, just like it would have been ‘ back in the day’
    .
    If I was a bit younger, it would already be sold ……..

    Like 0
    • Avatar Duffy

      I would want it for a driver, not a show car.0

      Like 0
    • Avatar Duffy

      I would want it for a driver, not a show car.

      Like 0
  2. Avatar MH

    Not nearly worth 10K. Maybe 5K. The rarity does not help the price because it is not desirable. There alot better cars out there for that kind of money.

    Like 1
    • Avatar Bobsmyuncle

      $5000? How can you be a subscriber here and not know what $5000 will get you these days?

      As for desirability, while I ‘get’ it, I can go to ANY meet, or show and see an early Road Runner, they don’t even turn heads any more.

      I’d bet a LOT that this would draw a bigger crowd at Cars and Coffee any day of the week.

      Like 0
  3. Avatar Dave @ OldSchool

    LOL Hi Bob, I too, am still laughing at the comment by MH ……….. So FUNNY,
    I probably won’t stop thinking about it for months…. ‘maybe’ 5K ……Cracks me up….. Hahahahahahahahahahah ….

    Like 0
  4. Avatar sir mike

    I forgot how ugly a lot of 70’s cars were…look at those bumpers..porno bumpers we used to call them when they were first ”forced” upon us by our gov’t starting in 1973…as for the car..

    Like 0
  5. Avatar JW

    IMO and that’s all it is I class this roadrunner as I do the Mustang II, it was the sign of the times. Comparing them this car looks better to me than the Mustang II but I would take the Cobra’s 302 over that slant six any day. I think his price is about correct and yes you could use it as a driver and a car show cruiser on the weekend. Those trophies mean nothing to me we have plenty and you have to dust them darn things. Here’s a pic of 1/3 of them.

    Like 0
  6. Avatar I (don't) love the 70s

    Hmmmm. I guess you got to say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. What was it my old dad used to say ‘to the male hippopotamus – the female hippopotamus is a most appealing sight…” but for me, it is hard to think of this as a desirable car. I am quite a fan of the cars from Mopar’s heyday but I think the glory days were pretty much over by what …..1973/74 ?

    The whole point of the original Road Runner was a rumbling big-block hi-po motor, beefed up driveline and suspension in an otherwise stripped-down no-frills car. A non-nonsense high-performance car at an affordable price. By 1979 all that was left was a pale imitation of that concept.

    I also agree with Sir Mike. You might be able to blame the hideous bumpers (and the lame emissions strangled motor) on the Government but they didn’t make Chrysler style the rest of the car. I guess it just shows how fashions change with time – as no doubt some of this styling cues that now look so gaudy and cheesy were though of a cool once upon a time. It’s funny though, when I look at most American cars of the sixties I think they look great – yet sixties clothes fashions now look very dated and often plain weird, somehow the automobile styling of the time still looks pretty sharp? How did it all go to hell so fast in the 1970s ?

    This being possibly the finest example of a 1979 Road Runner you’re likely to find is a bit of a “tallest dwarf” claim. Still, there’s a bum for every seat as they say. This will probably make someone very happy.

    Like 1
  7. Avatar Ed P

    Road Runner stickers on a 6 cylinder Volarie? Badge engineering at its best.

    Like 1
  8. Avatar pontiactivist

    I would half bet this car will be at my hometowns annual mopar car show next weekend in albion pa. If anyone would like a pi and its there I would be more then happy to do so.

    Like 0
  9. Avatar pontiactivist

    I remember an orange one of these rotting away outside of sugar grove pa. Never a big fan but would be kinda cool on cruise night. I say drive and enjoy it for a few years. If for nothing other than for the experience and the new friends you might make during your travels with it. Cause afterall isnt that what its about when you still play with cars?

    Like 0
  10. Avatar Chris Buchaniec (@CBuchaniec)

    still beats the so called new camaro and rustang……

    Like 0
  11. Avatar Jason

    “Are you interested?”

    Reminds me a little of Jimi Hendrix, but the answer here is No.

    Like 0
  12. Avatar Bob

    I (unfortunately) owned a 1978 Volare` 2 Door when I was 21. My Dad bought the car new in late 1978 because he was a died in the wool Chrysler/Plymouth man and absolutely refused to concede that Chrysler was in a whole lot of trouble at that point.

    So when it was 3 years old, I got it with about 15K miles on it (it as not his daily driver).

    Although well taken car of and residing in a dry state (Colorado) the car started to rust behind the rear wheels about that time. The 318-2V Lean Burn motor would ping like a blender filled with marbles on even the best gas you could buy and to say the interior quality was cheap was the understatement of the century.

    Had I had the money then that I have now, I would have taken that piece of junk to a field and torched it just for the satisfaction of watching it burn and also to know that nobody else would ever have to suffer the fate I did for 6 years.

    This car listed here – $10K? LOL I wouldn’t give him $10 for it. You can polish a turd, but it’s still a turd. :-)

    Like 0
    • Avatar Ed P

      Bob, I had a ’78 Asspain wagon I bought new. Like your father I was a dyed in the wool Mopar fan. Driving that car was exciting. You never knew what would break next.

      Like 0

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