The Plymouth Road Runner was a mid-size muscle car built between 1968-80. It was targeted at the budget-conscious buyer with a lower level of trim and price tag than its upscale cousin, the GTX. This first-year edition is a post-coupe that comprised two-thirds of production in 1968. It has a non-running 383 V8 and no transmission and needs a lot of cosmetic work. Located in Morgan Hill, California, this Plymouth is available here on Facebook Marketplace for $8,000.
First-generation Road Runners were based on the intermediate Belvedere and built from 1968-70. They were designed to be spartan performance machines (at least initially). The cars came with basic vinyl bench seats and rubber floor coverings, while the options list was limited to keep the car separate from the posher GTX. But Plymouth wanted the cars to be fun, too, so they paid Warner Bros. $50,000 to use the Road Runner name and likeness from their Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner cartoons (development of the “beep, beep” horn cost another $10,000).
Although Plymouth thought they might sell 20,000 Road Runners a year, the number was 44,300 in ’68 and nearly double that in ’69. The coupe outsold the hardtop at 29,000 copies and 13,700 of them had the 383 cubic-inch V8 and 4-speed manual transmission pairing like the seller’s car. The motor was rated at 335 hp and 425 lb.-ft. of torque. The only engine option was the 426 Hemi which saw only a few hundred assemblies.
This ’68 Road Runner is a project that will require sourcing a new 4-speed manual transmission and figuring out what it will take to get the motor running again. It’s likely been some time since it moved around under its own power given the lack of things like radiator hoses being hooked up. The mileage is unknown (placeholder used) and there’s rust present as both rear quarter panels look to have been cut back (likely to remove corrosion). Views of the car are limited so we don’t get to see what condition the interior is in. Perhaps the seller can provide more information and photos to parties who express genuine interest in the car.
What a wreck. someone should be ashamed to offer this. I bid about 35 cents if they deliver it to the crushing yard for me.
spoken like a true Ford and Chevy guy.
They’ll get the money. And this will break somebody’s heart.
Ran better derby cars and they ran…this is junk
No tranny, non runner, looks to have been dragged from the bottom of a lake…a steal at only $8k. Ugh
Man, this poor car looks so tired and about to give up the ghost, it really is sad. I never will understand people, and there is no F***king way I would burn 8 large on this. Some idiot will until his bank account gets hit hard, and then patience runs out, and reality sets in. Skip the middle man, and buy something that’s not so beat up. Your blood pressure and significant other will appreciate it.
No one has stepped up and paid the asking price, yet, and hopefully won’t.
Sellers with out of touch asking prices is nothing new. In the early-80’s me and a couple of friends would look through our copies of the weekly Auto Trader and joke about sellers like this. Today, people nearly have a stroke over similar ads, even though they have no interest in the car that’s being advertised. Nobody has a sense of humor any longer, that’s too bad. Overpricing a car is not the end of the world, it never has been and never will be.
Steve R
Often the overpriced car is considered a bargain a couple of years later. Like 2019 – 2021.
Best case scenario it has a VIN tag to stick on somebody’s Satellite.
Sucks to get old, even 10 years ago I would have tried to snatch this thing up and and restore it to at least driving quality but now if I want one I will just buy a original or restored one and enjoy it because I just don’t have the energy it would take to get this one back on the road
what is up with the weird things in the grill? Don’t remember ever seeing a RR with a grill like this.
That’s a partial, semi-correct grille. That’s a Belvedere/Satellite grille that’s had the entire center of it cut out. The Road Runner shared the Belvedere/Satellite grille, except that on Road Runners it was painted Dark Argent, a textured dark grey to give it a “blacked out” look.
There is a saying that you never pay to much for a 32 Ford or parts for one, you just bought them early. This poor thing was apparently imported from the Great Salt Lake or Ohio from the looks of it. Couple a grand tops in my book.