The Plymouth Road Runner was one of the hottest muscle cars of the late 1960s, providing plenty of power for budget-conscious buyers. Fast-forward nearly a decade later and it would become a shadow of its former self. As an option on the newly minted Volare, the Road Runner of 1976 to 1980 looked fast but the largest engine available was a detuned 360 cubic inch V8. The seller’s car is a nice 1977 edition that has had some tinkering done under the good that’s said to make it a better performer. Located in Tampa, Florida, bidders have raised the ante so far to $16,000 here on eBay.
In 1976, the Volare was introduced to replace the aging Plymouth Valiant (and Dodge rolled out the Aspen as they were retiring the Dart). The F-body platform was new and Chrysler had a lot of growing pains with it, racking up a slew of recalls in the early years of the Volare/Aspen. Just as Pontiac had done with the GTO in 1974, Plymouth moved the Road Runner from mid-size status to the Volare body (Dodge’s version would be called the Aspen R/T). The new Road Runner would be largely a trim and graphics package, as the engine choices most years were either a 318 or 360 V8 engine. At one time, even the Slant Six was standard equipment. My, how times had changed,
Buyers were not impressed by the new Road Runner. Fewer than 19,000 were built over the five years combined, with 1977 (the year of the seller’s car) being the second largest seller at 7,000 copies. By 1980 – and the end of the Volare line – fewer than 500 Road Runners were built. The listing for the seller’s car indicates just one previous owner, so we assume it’s being offered by its second caretaker.
The body and paint on this Plymouth look quite good and given the car’s low production numbers, this one could easily be one of the nicest left. We’re told the bored-over 360 V8 runs great paired with a 3-speed TorqueFlite automatic transmission and a throaty exhaust. No mention is made of any issues with the vehicle, so we assume this is a turn-key car that you could enjoy at Cars & Coffee. It could attract a lot of attention – at least until a ’69 Road Runner with a 440 or Hemi shows up.
Interesting car but missing the original true line of the Road Runner.
If the RR never existed one could give kudos to tidy interior and decals.
Good luck on the sale and hope it finds a good home.
The EBay last line did give me a good laugh.
“SERIOUS BIDDERS ONLY as this car deserves only qualified buyers. ”
So were vetting the new owners?
Can they own Fords and Chevy blood lines ?😜
The fact these things were badged under the legendary Roadrunner banner is a travesty.
The same can be said of the 80s Challenger , the 80s and up Charger , the 74 GTO and the last Holden based one , the late 70s 442 , the late 80s Skylark GS , the Hornet based AMX , just to name a few. Its just a name. The new Dodge Dart was nothing compared tot he old Darts , they just brought the name back the name to attract buyers. They wouldn’t build a big block muscle car in the “energy crisis” late 70s , they just wouldn’t sell, so most muscle car names became a trim package.
At least this package could be had with a 360 in it, at the time that was about as muscular as you could get .
I imagine it would still draw a lot of attention at one of the shows, even with a “real” Roadrunner nearby. The previous generation of Road Runner is all over media. People have seen lots of those. Several people who look at this may not even know there was a Roadrunner after the fuselage bodies.
I grew up with mopars,my stepdad owns a 69 and a 70 Roadrunner,has had them almost 40 yrs.These late model dress up” Roadrunners “were always seen as a joke in the face of the 68-71 models and still are by many mopar enthusiasts and collectors.
You grew up with them, but for some reason you still write Road Runner as “Roadrunner”?
How petty. And I don’t mean “Petty”.
Excuse me for the grammar,professor!
Have to include 1972, still could be had with a Big Block in it and a 440 in a GTX Option, and had way better taillights
But what about that free-wheelin Bronco in the background?
Nice looking one here. The E-Body style hood scoop was not factory here. It does, however look good on this car. The Sister to this was the Aspen R/T. Not long after this Plymouth had a Richard Petty Tribute version with “43” on the doors and 360 on both sides of the hood. A NASCAR tribute car. Not too many if these around either. You can make this car really move with the available Mopar parts, or leave as is. Nice car.
Well of all the “appearance package” cars from the malaise era, the Volare RR was certainly one of the most visual! I know the build quality wasn’t great, nor was the performance. But as a grieving Mopar fan in the 80’s, I still liked these cars. I have to say I’ve never seen one with a shaker hood scoop. Extra points for creativity on that!
I had a 70 Super Bee new.If I was younger,I would consider this one.Fun car.
The “nice thing about a 360” is with a cam, heads intake & pushrods and rocker arm swap, using Engine Quest’s excellent CH-318B Magnum Heads (with the LA series intake bolt pattern) and an Edelbrock Air Gap RPM intake, the “little 360” easily makes 480HP at 5500 rpms. It’s a giant killer.
Yuck!!! I still have my original ’69 RR, all matching numbers, 383 4spd, no accidents. Looking to sell.
Maybe he’ll trade you this sweet runnin’ ’77 for it? Just kiddin’.
I Like the Shaker.
Was that Factory?
No.
I want the bronco in the background.back in the 90s I had a 74 road runner 318 at. It was pretty lame but it attracted alot attention good and bad .
No it was not
Iv got a 76 just like it. One repaint. No bondo it was appraised at $20,000 5 years ago.
Since the purists don’t seem concerned with defending this era of “muscle cars”, why not buy and have fun with it? Either upgrade it old school with a stout 340 the or 440? Or really upgrade it with a modern 392, larger wheels and big brakes? You’d have a rare ‘bird’ (Road Runner) that could really fly!
16 for a Volare? I know it’s nice but man, that really seems like a lot to me given what these have historically sold for. Not sure how good a long term value proposition that is, but good luck to whatever buys it. I would drive the wheels off it instead of just salting it away hoping it goes up.
Nice Volare,
I’m going to have to pass, however I do like it. Even with a stock 360 it should be somewhat snappy. Chrysler tried with the F-Body but failed miserably. Still, they did try. It’s a shame that the build quality was so poor on these. With the extra options these had compared to the A-body, these could have been real winners. An opportunity missed for sure.
Wow, that has to be a rare car. Most of the Aspen/Volare twins are now toasters and microwaves. Always liked the styling those years, but they were very poorly built and didn’t last long. Ford and GMs those same years didn’t fare much better.
Sold for $18.4k. Someone must have liked it!
Go find another one. If the milage is correct as listed at 4200 it’s the best one left on the plant. The only draw back is if something happens you’ll never find parts for it and you certainly couldn’t restore it for that kind of money.
Had online the eighties. Didn’t take alot of work to make it eat IROCs. Don’t sale the little 360 short. Bore 30ths and a storker crank. Aluminum intake holler 850 carb hooked headers try piston and rods. Of course a 300hp nose system. Never had a problem with anything but a big block Chrysler.
This might interest a collector of Looney Tunes memorabila….
16k for a plastic disposable car. Get the matchbox version and it will be worth more lol
SOLD for $18,400.