In the late 1960s, the Plymouth Road Runner was one of the hottest cars around. Not only in terms of performance, but also in the sales arena. Born in 1968, sales peaked the next year, but demand fell off in the 1970s. With a redesign in 1971, the 1972 Road Runners were little changed, and a 340 cubic inch V8 engine was the starting point (instead of the 383 in the ‘60s). With just 28,000 miles, the seller’s car seems mostly original and well-cared for. Located with a muscle car shop in Eldon, Missouri, this Mopar is available here on eBay for $47,500.
All-out performance at Chrysler peaked in 1971. After that, the 440 V8 with a “6-Pack” was gone along with the 426 Hemi. And starting in 1972, emissions controls started to rob performance and engine output would then be stated in SAE net terms. Only 6,870 Road Runners left the assembly line in ’72, and of those, 1,839 had the 340 with a TorqueFlite automatic transmission. If that wasn’t enough juice for you, you could get a 400 (which replaced the 383) and a 440 4-barrel if you bought a Road Runner GTX, as the latter was no longer a separate series.
Finding an original 1972 still wearing its factory paint and just 28,000 miles is almost unheard of. These cars were usually ridden hard and were seldom seen as future collectibles. But the car’s current and/or previous owners apparently did, as this car seems to have avoided being molested over its 54 years. As a dealer of sorts is sourcing the sale of the car, little history is offered, though photos provided show the build sheet and MSRP sticker. The photos were all taken indoors, which makes the groovy Tawny Gold paint look black unless you zoom in. Which is a shame as this is probably a usual color on the car.
The Mopar’s appearance is contrasted with correct white stripes and an ivory interior, which has a bench seat rather than buckets. And the automatic is column-shifted, eliminating the need for a console if it had single seating. Options are typical, just as power steering and power front disc brakes. We assume the car drives as good as it looks, and this should be a fine addition to any collector – if the price point is correct. Heads up to “Curvette” for the tip!
Neat car, wish I could read that order sheet. Thanks for the article Dixon.
This might be the nicest ’72 Road Runner I’ve ever seen, or at least in a very long time. The Tawny Gold paint is still beautiful after 54 years, and it’s so unusual to find one with such low miles that hasn’t been beaten on. If it were half the price, I might have to consider flying to Eldon and driving this one home! Fantastic find, Curvette, and excellent post, Russ- thank you both!
Not sure I believe it’s as nice as it looks. There are no pictures of it on a lift, yet some of their other listings show the undercarriage while the car is on a lift. The description is light on details and up close pictures of rust prone and high wear areas, I don’t need to see two pictures of the keys on the dashboard.
If you want to sell a car for a premium price, write an ad to justify that price, this is a dealer, they should know better. This ad comes across as cut and paste, fill in the prompts. They spent 3 times as much space talking about their dealership than on the description of this car. That leaves a bad feeling that this car won’t stand up on its own.
Steve R
Just ask Brock Yates & Neil Castles what happens when those keys end up in that defroster duct. There is a tragic story about what happened to the dash of a ’71 Plymouth rental car when the keys ended up in the defroster in Yates’ book “Sunday Driver”…
WOW! What an amazing color!!
Another bucket list car for me. I have always loved the ’71 and ’72 Satellites / Road Runners / GTX.
Looks like I should have acted on that dream about 10 years ago, since the prices are riding the coattails of there immediate predecessor.
I forget how ugly some of those wheel covers were, though we all had them as dealers charged so much for factory wheels. Any guesses how long these covers will last with the next buyer?
My ’73 Barracuda that I bought in ’78 came with those same wheel covers. They were gone and replaced with Cragars as soon as I saved up enough money. First the backs, then the fronts.
I use to hate wheel covers. But, as I age. I suppose I look at things thru a nostalgic lens and I must admit, in a sea of Rallyes, Magnums and poverty caps, it is kind of refreshing to see a muscle car with wheel covers. They actually don’t look half bad with the Polyglas tires. There’s a high probability though that they’ll be the first things changed by the next caretaker.
Same here, Mike. I always thought that the wheel covers that came on the early 70’s Corvettes looked nice, but you never see them, all being replaced by rallye wheels.
I’d rather have a set of vintage mags, slots/dish, if you choose the right size they look great on cars of this era. Magnum 500’s and some of the other rally style wheels have been over used and played out.
Steve R
In 71 the 340 was an option the 383 was still standard. Our 72 had the 400 with a 727 air grabber, no tripes full vinyl top no go wing. It was basin street blue black top black interior.
This almost coke bottle shape is one of the best shapes ever. It seems like an Italian designer had to have a hand in it.
Always loved the ’72 due to those huge tail lamps. Look like afterburners.
Super sweet car…kudos to whomever preserved it. Would make a perfect daily driver. The lack of a Sure-Grip Differential shows a lack of care on the part of whomever ordered it at the dealership but, most uninformed buyers wouldn’t have noticed. Too bad. This car is priced well but is probably only going to bring the high thirties due to how it’s optioned. The 1972 was the best-looking year for any Road Runner and, the lowest production year. These cars will continue to go up in value, unlike many other makes and models from the same year.
I am slightly perplexed as to how the original keys have so much wear from only 28K miles of use.