It’s still hard for me to believe that 1975 was over five decades ago. The mid-1970s weren’t kind to the muscle car era, with the gas crunch and all sorts of government regulations for emissions and safety. That being said, there’s something very appealing about this 1975 Plymouth Road Runner, at least for me. It’s listed here on eBay in Guttenberg, Iowa, and the seller has a $19,500 (!) price listed, or you can make an offer.
I think this is a killer body style, based on Chrysler’s B-body, which gave us the Cordoba, and the redesigned Dodge Charger and Coronet, and also the Plymouth Fury, which the Road Runner was based on, at least in this era. With just 150 horsepower, though, this is not a Road Runner of yore, as nobody says anymore unless they’re trying to make a point, and even then, most people scratch their heads. Yore? Da_uk does that mean, SG? The seller doesn’t mention rust, and it looks as solid as possible, even underneath. We’ve only seen four 1975 Plymouth Road Runners here on Barn Finds, weird.
The third-generation Road Runner was made from, well, actually, it was made just for the 1975 model year. I hear you; I noticed the white-wall tires, too. Believe it or not, they were offered on the Road Runner, but usually with the 15″ Polycast Urethane Road Wheel or with the optional wire wheel covers (noooo!), not the 14″ Rallye Wheels as seen here. These wheels typically received white-letter tires. It’s hard to find white-letter tires anymore, at least for a somewhat reasonable price. The Road Runner decals are still here, and they look fantatsic. Speaking of that, here’s what the trunk compartment looks like.
The Yellow Blaze paint and graphics look great, and the interior also looks nice, if not better than nice. I only see a couple of small seam separations on the black vinyl bucket seats, but they look almost perfect both front and rear. A cool plaid fabric (is that an oxymoron?), Sundance cloth would have also been an option. Speaking of options, there aren’t many here. The Road Runner was typically a bare-bones, no-nonsense muscle car, and even in the posh, white-shoe era of the mid-1970s, power steering, power brakes, and air conditioning were optional. Out of those three, this car only has power steering, at least from what I can tell.
This 440 six-pack… hey, wait a minute. No, remember this is the mid-1970s, and this car has the base engine: a 318-cu.in. OHV V8 with 150 horsepower and 255 lb-ft of torque. It does have a console-mounted shifter, but in this case it’s a TorqueFlite three-speed automatic sending power to the rear wheels. Your new minivan will blow both doors off of this Road Runner, unfortunately, but then again, you’d be driving a minivan. I mean, not that there’s anything wrong with that as a nice, modern commuter or road trip vehicle. Now about the price: I was surprised by the seller’s asking price until I looked at Hagerty’s valuation for a 1975 Road Runner. They’re between $15,733 and $21,333, and this car looks like it’s at least in that middle range, so the seller’s asking price seems right on, as nobody said anymore by 1975. Any thoughts on this one-year-only Fury-based Road Runner?
I like it! Personally, I’d detail the interior, swap the Rally wheels for Magnums, and add earlier OEM exhaust tips, and cruise. The pricing may be in line w/ current valuations, but I think that it’s going to be a bit of a stretch, UNLESS someone really wants this body style. GLWTS!! :-)
I like it! The “Star Wars” trunk decal still looks cool; I’d personally detail the interior, swap the Rallye wheels for Magnums, add earlier OEM exhaust tips and cruise. The pricing may be in line w/ current valuations, but for what it is,
(IMO) it’s going to be a bit of a stretch UNLESS it’s a nostalgia buy.
GLWTS!! :-)
Oh RoadRunner, or Accelerati Incredibilis, look what they reduced you to. Ah, the last you say? Nope, there was another, ( in my best Yoda), the 1980 Volare was the last. If this didn’t exemplify what was going on in the 70s, nothing will. Punks that bought the original, grew up some, got a haircut and a decent job, but Chrysler knew what the name envisioned, and eventually, under the hood didn’t matter anymore, these were actually really nice cars. I read, only 7183 of these were sold, even though they were a grand less than a Cordoba, but only $100 more than a Fury( $3820) I guess people just didn’t want a muscle car anymore. It’s a rare find, meep, meep.( yep, still had the horn)
Not a muscle car by any stretch. To be fair nothing was at that time. Its a Cordoba with stickers plan and simple. Neat car that it has survived this long but certainly not worth the money in my opinion.
Super nice RR, and for s reasonable price. The underside,the body, and the interior all look clean, and nary an aftermarket item anywhere to be found. It even still has the original radio. Who gets this gets a real gem… and a seldom seen one at that.
I owned one of these in the late 80s/ early 90s but in black with the magnum wheels and white-lettered tires. I really liked the car, but I’m also a sucker for some of the malaise-era vehicles. I sold it to a high school girl and the last I heard she still owned it. This car is tempting, especially since it’s only one state over from me. Hmmm. GLWTS!!