Wearing a white hat, white interior, and Mist Green paint, this fancy Plymouth would have been perfect for Easter Sunday, or any pleasant drive on a sunny day. Currently located in Vernon, Vermont, this 1972 Plymouth Road Runner had begun the sad transformation back to the basic minerals from which it came. Ashes to ashes, rust to rust. Thanks to “AMXBrian” for spotting this mint green ground-pounder. Thankfully it’s up for sale here on craigslist in Vermont BEFORE becoming one with the Green Mountain State soil. Though the motor’s locked up, this fairly complete and solid-looking Plymouth could be yours for $7500.
Plymouth’s Road Runner answered the working man’s need for a potent budget muscle car, and the GTX usually satisfied the buyer looking for a high-optioned muscle machine. Therefore it’s ironic that the GTX became the “Road Runner GTX” for 1972, sort of like calling your car the “Basic Deluxe.” Luckily I’m guessing this Plymouth hasn’t spent every Vermont winter outdoors since 1972. Let’s hope seller and buyer come to terms and get this green machine on the road to recovery.
To my eye these monochrome interiors always looks classy. The bench seat and column shifter combination compliments the Road Runner’s low-budget theme. The seller holds a clean Massachusetts title, and perhaps the car’s merely stored in Vermont and the seller lives in Massachusetts. If not the seller might plan to “skip” the title, i.e. not register it in their name before re-selling the car, a practice that (according to my friends at the Virginia DMV) is illegal in all 50 states.
Lower compression ratios and the change from gross to net horsepower numbers sucked some real and paper horsepower from all engines for 1972. Along with these changes, Chrysler transformed the iconic 383 for 1972, producing this 400 cubic inch “B” block V8 making 190 HP, only 25 less than the available 440 cid “RB” block engine (thanks to allpar.com for some details). Sadly this engine is locked from years of inactivity. Aside from the rusted-out battery tray area things don’t look bad here for an early ’70s muscle car partially sunk in New England muck. The car has power disc brakes, and the seller claims the odometer never exceeded the 76,370 miles shown. Though perhaps not the generation most people picture when they hear “Road Runner,” this body (in Dodge Charger form) did well for “King” Richard Petty who drove them from 1971 through 1974 and in fact they made Popular Mechanics’ list of Daytona’s Top Ten NASCAR Stock Cars. What price would you ask for this interesting-colored classic?
I’ll give him 10% of his asking price. That’s only if he delivers it too. LOL
Every old farmer has suddenly decided that old car they dumped out back of the cow pasture is suddenly worth a fortune. Anyone that pays any more then a tenth of the asking price is just reinforcing that bad delusion and shame on them for their small part in ruining this hobby.
He can ask whatever he wants, doesn’t mean he’ll get it. The silver lining in your comment is that maybe cars that might have been left to rot, will instead be available to be restored, if the price is right.
Agreed. The rent is too damn high!
Glen, someone has to break the cycle and stop this madness. Very few people would put the 50 or 60K into this to restore it because it will never be worth anywhere near that. Those who do will have a lifetime of regret. I loved these cars when new, but they were reasonably priced and we had nothing else to choose from. You can buy a mighty fine brand spanking new sports car for like 25K right now that will run circles around this thing when over restored. Why do we drive anyway? If it is for the pleasure of driving, then this sure a’int the car to buy, take a new Miata for a spin, or a Civic Si. If a hobbiest could pick this up for the cost of removal, then put in a lot of labor themselves and maybe 4 or 5 grand more in parts, then the hobby is restored and it all makes sense, but if not, lets all just grow up and forget the madness..let the rich boys boast and we can see them at shows and on TV, and that will more then enough for this old boy who will drive away in his affordable and ever so pleasurable Miata. I am sad that this late middle aged college educated middle class man can no longer afford a car of his youth, but if that means his eyes have been opened to now, the greatest age of the automobile, then it has all been for the better.
I’m going with what I said above.
Glen, are you a flipper? They are a big part of the problem.
Looks like this bird needs extensive rust repair, complete interior and an engine re-build. From the first picture, it seems to have been sitting in that spot for quite some time, parked on dirt, so the underside is probably well rusted. $7,500 seems to be way too much for a car that needs so much work.
2700.00 would be a stretch
He can pay me to haul it away.
being a Mass. car originally, and now a VT car, doesn’t look half bad, would have to look VERY closely before buying it for some reason, the seller comes across half baked about the engine .. though I wasn’t crazy about them when they were new, I would ” consider” one just because it is unusual .. sounds like he started the work, then gave up .
I almost forgot about Mopars in this green with a white top. It was fairly popular across the range.
One of those colors that rust sticks out from like a sore thumb.
Seems kinda steep to me too. Too bad they let it season so long.
Oh boy looks great to buff out and put some mysterious magical oil additive to recondition the engine too.
Sorry but what we have here is a possible 2500 dollar car as this car has the rust termites or cancer everywhere !
Don’t be fooled by the “de-tuned” 400. Had one of these in Sebring Plus form, and it ran very strong!
Too far gone. Year snd engine no good.
Price is silly
It should have a selling price of half what the seller is asking. Or less. This is one of those North of $60,000.00 restorations.
I believe the 400 had a shorter stroke than the 383, bigger bore. That seems backwards compared to the other smog engines of the times, never hear about that engine much at all.
Hopefully this rig will be brought back to life again, not perfectly, just up and running again instead of wasting away needlessly.
I am not going to gripe about the price, heck, everything is too expensive nowadays.😎
383 and 400 crankshafts both had a stroke measuring 3.38″. The increase in bore size to raise displacement to 400 ci was done to help offset the loss of performance in the 383 due to lowering compression ratios to allow the use of low lead and unleaded fuel.
I read an article in Hot Rod way back when where they had a build using the 400 and some GM parts with crank work to stroke it and get 500 cubic inches out of it.
Yep, I did not realize that about the 400. It in fact has ever so slightly larger bore than a 440 engine, sounds like an interesting engine. Thanks for the heads up👍.
It looks like a Sattelite Sebring Plus.
The small blocks always will be a better bet. They at least can go around a curve without making you crap your pants. If all you want to do is drag race, squeal tires like a child, or just plain show off…by all means go for a nose heavy big block. The small blocks were the educated and reasonable choice by far. My opinion, take it as you will. Even in those primitive days, there were differences in car safety and handling. A 340 would give you 9/10 of the performance, better insurance costs, and a nicer all around car. Better yet, go 318 and get the mileage, standard insurance rates, and less temptation to do something foolish. I remember trading in my 88 Shelby Turbo Daytona in 1990 for a standard subcompact. My insurance agent stood up from behind his desk to heartily shake my hand and said, “Welcome to adulthood!” I was 30 years old at the time. He was so right, we all need to grow up sometime.
🙄🙄🙄smh. This sounds like something a frustrated wife would say!!
Allpar is not the best source for information. They state the 400 was new in 71 with only a 190hp 2bbl offering. The 400 was new in 72 with either a 190hp 2bbl or a 255hp 4bbl which this RR has by looking at the dual snorkle air cleaner and the obvious 400 4bbl script. My 72 Satellite Sebring Plus had the latter and faired pretty well but that Carter TQ was one temperamental gas thirsty beast.
I’m replying to your earlier comment about the stroker 400 here, since I can’t reply directly.
As you mentioned, early strokers were often made using a 400 block, desired as Troy S noted for their largest Mopar RB bore, and a forged 440 crank turned down on the mains to fit the block. Then, the rod journals were offset ground to fit the smaller big block chevy rod, getting the total stroke around 3.90″. I think there was maybe an Olds piston that would fit with a custom bore job, and some material needed to be taken off the crown. I believe this combination was good for around 480 ci.
Then the aftermarket got involved, and soon came the inexpensive Chinese forgings. A friend has a 1969 Road Runner with a 498 ci engine based on a 400 block, which looks just like a 383. A 4.15″ crank with a .030″ bore job yields that number with an off the shelf kit. That’s the biggest stroke that can be used in a stock block before running into internal interference with either the oil pickup or camshaft, I don’t remember which. His car is crazy fast, and looks like a stock Road Runner all day long. Lots of fun.