The Road Runner began in 1968 as Plymouth’s budget-minded mid-size muscle car. It caught on fast but peaked in sales in 1969 (84,420 copies). Shortly thereafter, insurance premiums on autos like this spiked and led to a downhill slide. By 1972, Plymouth could find only 6,861 buyers for the Road Runner that year. This ’72 Road Runner looks to have been sitting in the woods for a while, and Mother Nature has whacked it good. Located in Fountain, North Carolina, this rusty relic is available here on Facebook Marketplace for $5,000. A salute goes to “PRA4SNW” for the tip.
Chrysler redesigned its B-body intermediates in 1971, so the Road Runner participated in the all-new “fuselage” styling. By the time the 1972 model year rolled around, some of the powerhouse engines were gone, specifically the 383 cubic inch V8, 440 6-Pack, and the 426 Hemi. New to the mix was a 400 CI V8, and the small-block 340 was also offered. The 400 produced 255 horsepower SAE net as detuning had begun and output was now measured using a different stick.
The seller concedes this Plymouth will need a lot of work (“bunch” is quoted three times). The body has to be rusty as heck, and the white interior may not be much better. We’re told the 400 is there along with the transmission (TorqueFlite?); also, the rear end (what size?) is still tucked away, too. The saving grace here is that the Plymouth’s title has survived. Sorry the pics aren’t any better than they are.
You will have to read the brief listing multiple times because punctuation was excluded. Also, the seller may be grouchy if you message him, as we’re told, “don’t message me with some stupid mess,” implying the famous line, “I know what I have,” applies to the asking price. As a parts car, this Plymouth may come up short. So, would you try to restore it? Compared to the ‘69s, there can’t be that many ‘72s left.
A truly bushwacky offering. How much of the shell could really be useful?
Russ, the question here is “how could you restore it?”, with the answer being “spend so much money that you could possibly buy 2 of these for the same amount”. Like these a lot but it’d be cost prohibitive to rebuild it if that were even possible, short of jacking up the VIN plate and put a new car around it.
A shame that the only thing in the photos seen worth salvage is maybe the front bumper.
LOL“Fair condition” as noted on the ad.
$5000?
Um, NO.
“ “spend so much money …..buy 2 of these for the same amount” should read “spend so much money that you could possibly buy 2 of these restored for the same amount”
Looks like Mother Nature has taken over. I would brush the leaves and pine needles or pine straw off the hood (depending on what part of the country you might be from) and take a few good pictures. Take a minute out of your busy day and if you are old enough to remember, think about when Chrysler, Ford and GMC made some of the most badass muscle cars on the planet. Long story short, leave it where it is.
Is that a dog with a chain around it’s neck taking a dump in the second picture? Even the dog has it’s opinion. LOL!
Might be peeing on the door!
comes with a good supply of “you cut” firewood, easy loading to since it is already growing in the trunk, just cut and let it drop. Nice offer, will be right over.
What a joke, I should reply to the ad and tell him no, it’s no where near 5g. Maybe 500.
What a joke is exactly what I thought. It wouldn’t be worth the effort to get it out of there if it were free. Another clown who takes a car prone to rot badly, and leaves it out to marinate in the woods with no windows for a few decades, then wants what it would be worth in decent, driveable condition. The only positive thing about it is that evergreen trees like iron, so as it literally rusts into the earth, there’ll be some healthy evergreens that remain.
Hard to see a car worth the asking price under all that debris. It looks like it’s been sitting a long time.
Steve R
But it’s a Mopar, which apparently is like a Ferrari to a redneck.
What a shame.
Wile E will have no trouble catching this RR
Not sure about the 73 or 74 hood…but I sure miss my 72. Tor red, 400 4speed. Aur grabber….miss her everyday. I would play The Raspberries Go all the way and do a burnout . It was a time machine.
Don’t know what’s more disturbing, the $5000 asking price, or the 3/8 inch logging chain around the dogs neck
I’ll haul it away if they’d pay me $400
Do they have this Road Runner parked next to the still? And have they been sampling their product?
Its worth more then 5g,they don’t make them like that anymore, I would be asking more.
Yet another travesty. We’ve seen a # in the past 30 days on BF’s. They’re only salvageable & worth the work & $$$ once be4 they go to the point of no return. 🎶
If someone were to try to restore it, good luck sourcing all the parts it’ll need. The grille insert was a one-year-only offering, and as has already been pointed out, it’s got the wrong year RR hood on it, which makes me wonder if it is a genuine factory RR. About the only thing it has going for it (and I’m being generous here) is that it’s already set up for a big-block engine, so a swap to something with more power is an easy option, as long as numbers-matching is not a concern. Me personally, I think this one is way too far gone to even be a decent parts car. Most definitely not for the ask, that’s for damn sure!
5000 for a title and a vin ??? I’ll take 2 ! Seriously ? Don’t they know this is “Barn Finds “ not yard junk ?
I’ve got a bumper, grill, and rear taillight with a straight bumper if you know someone looking. Sacramento.
Correction. I have those parts for a charger, not RR
Ewww, I cringe when I see a car sitting in the woods for long periods of time with the windows open. If no windows, at least have the decency to get a tarp or something. Looks like it doesn’t even have a drivers rear wheel. Would take a lot of work to bring this one back to life. $5,000 is pretty optimistic. Too bad. Once was a nice car in Basin Street Blue.
The only valuable thing on this car is the title and VIN plate. At anywhere near that price, it will go to someone who is watching a really nice original or restored one. Line up a wealthy overseas buyer, steal the good one, swap the VIN, and ship it overseas before anyone knows it’s missing. I hope the authorities are closely watching whoever is willing to pay anything above salvage value.
this guy needs to go back to school to learn how to write a sentence. that has got to be 1 of the worst adds i have tried to decipher in a long time. cars worth scrap value at this point. not seeing any useable parts. what mess both the seller and the car!
At least clean it off and it looks like the 2 trees grew up by the front door hard to get that door open for about 20 years.
Hmmm… from some of the cars shown here lately maybe this site should be renamed “Field Finds”….
Throw in those cement blocks and you’ve got yourself a deal!
Hey Pa I was out hunt n squirrel’s ran across your old car
Would a person actually restore this car? Maybe…
Objectively, the 400/auto combo in ’72 is only kinda rare. But with only approx 2-4% of 72s being petty blue, it gets very rare very fast…say one of 45 built… maybe. Option combinations could make it unique in the known universe, especially if the numbers still match. Seeing the fender tag would help.
I’d be afraid that hooking up a chain to pull it out of the woods would rip it apart.
No thanks.
lol. I did see a disaster of a 69 camaro pace car get pulled in half once. The buyer was not especially deterred and planned to restore it.
Also, I bought a Challenger once that was two separate cars cut in half then welded together to make one. I bought it for the KEXL (radio station) sticker on the rear glass. If you lived around San Antonio in the mid 70s you understand.
Point is, you can fix about anything.
Parts.
Well since everyone has their own opinions which seem to run in the same projectory, I will disagree. First you do have a sought after car, which does come with a clear title, and vin numbers. That alone equals value in todays market. Second, it seems the car may very well have the original engine, transmission, and rearend, along with a very possible salvageable hood. Third, the car does look intact….so adding everything up, with the price of mopars into days market, and the small number of these cars still in existence, out in the wild not restored (basically all gone) this maynot be that bad of investment at 5K….parts are readily available, and restore at your own pace….or go ahead and modify….or write a 6 figure check….most people cannot afford to do so…..
If it’s a true 400 car it has a 727 and 8 3/4 rear
My Comment…
Our 72 was a 400 auto, basin street blue full black top, air grabber car. I wish I had the funds to restore a 72 like ours. That car after my pop and uncle built the motor with 71 rb heads 484 mopar cam, holley 750 dp edlebrock manifold, headers & 3.91 gears was a friggin great running car.
What a joke at 5K !! You guys see the size of the tree growing up thru the trunk floor pan ? That hulk has have to been in woods 40-50 years !
It’s comical to see how much of this type of junk is listed on FB Marketplace. And then the sellers get pissed when someone reaches out to them? What do they expect? Garbage out, Garbage in.
Fluuuuussssh!
Facebook marketplace attracts a lot of very “special” people.
Scrap
Move on… Nothing to look at here!
Bottom line here is that the seller is clueless… with an attitude. He/She can’t even compose a readable description. I hear banjos and squeals… the car would have made a good prop in the X-Files episode “Home”… The only way to make any cash on this would be to harvest any usable/rare pieces and sell separately. As it is, they would have to pay to have it hauled out of there…
Do you have to bring your own chainsaw?
Two-stroke or four?
Bottom line, nothing brings out that barnfinds.com passion like a cut set from Tarzan the lord of the jungle.
I would not take the dogs only protection from the elements. Between the dog living in the car and the 40 year old tree in the trunk what more could you do to the rats living under the hood.
Jeez they still live in the hills.