1972 was the beginning of the end for classic muscle cars. A few years later they would all be gone, victims of crippling insurance rates, the fuel crisis, clean air standards and changing tastes. Fortunately many models still kept their aggressive appearance during the decline, even if what was under the hood wasn’t what it once was. This 1972 Plymouth Road Runner from Stratton, Colorado is an example of that era. It is listed here on eBay and the auction ends soon!
The seller provides little information on the car, so we’ll have to go by the photos alone. Let’s start with the body – from this pic the iconic loop bumper and font end trim looks decent. The fuselage styling of the B-bodies (introduced the year before) still looks as aggressive as ever.
Not surprising, floorpans need attention – decades of wet feet and carpets took their toll. On the upside, the passenger side looks much more solid.
Likewise, the quarters have some typical rust as well. There are some dents on the right side and rear bumper also. Still, we’ve all seen much worse examples out there.
The car appears to still be wearing the original Rallye wheels, and remnants of the roof strobe stripe likely indicates original paint.
The little information in the listing states that the 4-speed transmission is numbers matching, but the 400 engine we see here is not. Who knows how long it has been sitting outside with no carb – the intake could be home to lots of rust and little creatures by now. And the blue overspray on the coil and choke is probably evidence of a sloppy rattle-can touch up sometime before it went into hibernation.
The interior needs a complete restoration. The pistol grip sifter is nice, but the yanked ignition switch isn’t always a great sign.
Ma Mopar provided collectors with increasingly detailed fender tags as the years went by. This tag indicates the car started life pretty much how it stands today: 400/4-speed, silver metallic exterior, B5 blue bench seat interior. There are many fender tag decoders online, such as this one, to decode the rest of the tag.
On the plus side this car seems very original, and hasn’t rusted to pieces or been hacked up by decades of wanna-be boy racers. But pretty much everything needs attention. While the second-gen beepers don’t have quite the following of the ’68-70 originals, they are still very popular and supported by a healthy availability of resto parts. And as of now the bidding is still quite low, but the reserve is not met. Would you throw your hat in the ring to bring this beeper back?
Is it free to whoever will haul it away. Still not interested!
These do no Justice to the 1st generation
This is a good example of how auto designers think they have to “improve” an already good design to sell cars, and then they royally screw it up. It happens with every American car maker. Start with a decent design, then a year or two later, tweak it here, tweak it there, until it’s so damn ugly, people want to gouge their eyes out with a fork after looking at it. This design reminds me of a beached whale soon to be attracting flies. I’m trying to be generous here.
Oh come on. You want ugly? Look at a Nissan Juke. If everyone wouldn’t compare this car with earlier versions and just looked at it as an individual design, they aren’t bad at all. And this trashing malaise era cars is not relevant anymore. Do you still believe many of them have smog stuff on them?That was 45 or so years ago. Let it go.
I have never liked the style of these.
It didn’t matter what was under the hood for me.
They always looked weird and I never considered buying one.
I guess I should have considering there are people that actually pay big money for them.
This is definitely RRINO.
There are exceptions, though. The first one the comes to mind is the Fiero. Assuming that one likes a Fiero to begin with (as I do), GM finally got it right in 1988 mechanically, didn’t mess with the styling, then killed it.
Why is everyone so down on these 2nd generation Mopars? Look what happened from 1975 on you want to piss and moan, but stop complaining. These cars still had some performance and they had the upper hand on GM and Ford in the looks department. They couldn’t make 1969 Chargers and Super Bees forever. It was the begining of the end but it was no where near to what it was to become.
You think this looks better than a 1972 Chevelle?
I certainly don’t.
And that is your opinion. Which you are certainly entitled to.
70 was really the only good looking Chevelle. Just my opinion of course.
For 72, the Cutlass Supreme was probably the best looking car.
2nd gen Roadrunner definitely a better looking car than any year Chevelle. But hey, you’re entitled to your opinion. I had a brand new ’71 Roadrunner. I could have owned any muscle car at the time. Didn’t even consider a Chevelle. Today I have a 440 ’72 Duster. Plum Crazy and if can ever find a ’71 that is in comparable condition to my Duster I would swap.
chevelle was a good looking car from 64 to 72 with my favorite years being 66 and 68. at least this beast has the pistol grip and four speed!
I will say after looking at the auction it’s one rusted MOPAR that will not sell for 5 figures or it just won’t meet reserve and the seller will have to come down to reality.
This seller is also listing the Pontiac station wagon which was featured earlier today.
This car is in the middle of nowhere, shipping could be cost prohibitive. That is if you can get beyond the rust, lack of coherent description and unimpressive pictures enough to make a bid generous enough to clear the unknown reserve.
Steve R
Just lookin’, the grille is a Satellite grille and the VIN plate reads RM23, which is Satellite. RM21 is code for a Road Runner. My guess, Satellite Sebring (or SS plus) made up to resemble a RR.
Also when I see that an ignition has been ripped out of a car, I know it hasn’t been taken care of at all, so it is a hard pass.
These came out when I was a little kid and I always liked em. Thought they looked much better than the previous generation which looked like a decaled up Satellite sedan to me. This generation looks nothing like the sedan/station wagon. And there was still some ‘go’ available if you knew which boxes to check.
Guess we could compare it to a 71 up Mustang…..
I think the Barracuda would compete with the Mustang.
This might compete with the Torino maybe.
I have to agree with Tom. Chyrsler/Plymouth really built one of the ugliest cars in their history when these made it to the public. They cannot compare to even a Ford Torino in my opinion, and how can this behemoth stand against the smooth lines of a GTO, Firebird, Camaro, Javelin/AMX, Chevelle or Grand Prix or Monte Carlos of the same year? I liked the Gremlins better!
The previous years of Roadrunners, GTX’s, Daytona and Superbirds were some of the most awesome cars ever designed.
You’re all out to lunch. These cars look wicked awesome. Beautiful streamlined styling. This body style was a 2 year run only 1971-1972, the 1973-1974 restyle is ugly if you want to see ugly.
As a stand alone. This is a really nice bodystyle liked the lines. Liked the overall appearance. As I said as a stand alone. It holds it own
Just about any car from 1972, is better looking than a 72 Chevelle.
I would take that car in a heart beat
There always seems to be something that will split a camp, in every brand despite loyalty. In this case it’s a question of looks, some people really hate this body style despite being hardcore Mopar fanatics while others prefer the wedge styling here, or simply enjoy all of it. Hemi versus 440, etc, etc… Luckily, it never ends as it keeps things alive and interesting.
not a 72 grille.
It’s missing the 72 Road Runner grille, replaced with a Satellite or 71 RR grille. Replacing it with the correct one will run over $2,000. I hope the next buyer knows that. These are great road cars. I’ve had 2 71 GTX’s, and at speed they are unbelievably stable. Took my ex to about 140 and started slowing down. She said it felt like we were doing maybe 70 -80 MPH.
looks like a trip to AMD
Auction just ended at $6,001.00 Reserve not met.
Ugly is a 61 Valiant……….some Hondas look like a toaster going down the road, how about Pontiac Aztec……..Not as pretty as a Javelin but? or a 71 Charger.
Love fuselage but this one is a goner
I think Chrysler/Plymouth/Dodge have always thought outside the box with their cutting-edge designs. I preferred the ’68-’70 RR, GTX and Super Bee styling overall, but as Nick has provided the visual proof of above, there’s no denying this body style could certainly look super sharp and menacing too.
6,000 dollars and reserve not met? This is what I find aggravating. Someone sees how much these vehicles go for at auction then they figure what they have is worth at least half of that. Never mind the money,parts and labor the buyer will have to put out to get the vehicle to that point.
The ‘72 was always one of my favorites.
Step1: grow a mullet (required for the next steps)
Step2: buy this car
Step3: buy old but running Blazer, preferably with the largest Super Swampers available
Step4: remove Blazer body, plop down Roadrunner body on to 4×4 chassis
Step5: list for sale on Barn Finds and prepare for even more complaining about this car!!! 🤣😂 ;-)