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Sitting For 33 Years: 1968 Plymouth Roadrunner

This 1968 Plymouth Roadrunner has an interesting story, as it was supposedly parked for 33 years in storage, and in that time had several key components stolen off of it. It’s surprising it went into storage at all, as a 1968 Roadrunner is generally a car that is prized by collectors. Regardless, the seller has since removed it from storage and addressed some of its needs, with the stolen parts replaced and the car now running and driving. The seller notes it runs just well enough to make sure all major systems are functioning, but that it will need more TLC before it’s road-ready. It has some minor rust concerns but its needs look largely manageable. Find it here on craigslist for $28,500.

The Roadrunner lost its carburetor, seats, and radiator while it was in storage. You really have to wonder what sort of a scumbag would steal parts off of a car knowing the owner isn’t around to check on it daily, but this sort of thing happens far too often. The Roadrunner presents well in photos, but the seller includes a photo of the build sheet which indicates it left the factory wearing silver paint. The chrome bumpers look good, and the old-school Georgia plates tell you it’s been a spell since this Plymouth has seen the open road. The Roadrunner appears to have a vinyl roof (I suppose it could be painted?), so hopefully, there are no rust issues in the C-pillars.

The Roadrunner left the factory with the four-speed floor shift as you see here, so fingers crossed that and the engine remain numbers matching. This is a sweet setup, especially with the powerful 383 under the hood. The dash appears to have been messed with, with at least a fascia and some other panels missing; the seller doesn’t specify whether these pieces were also stolen. The car did leave the factory with a black vinyl bench seat, so that much remains correct. The doors appear to have been painted with the same color as the exterior, so whenever the respray was done, it was fairly extensive.

The engine bay looks correct as well, and logic would say it’s a decent runner if it can come out of long-term storage and still fire up without too much effort. The build sheet indicates it left the factory with a 3.23 Sure Grip rear end, tachometer, AM radio, driver’s side mirror, and last but not least, the black vinyl roof. The rust the seller mentions has already been repaired but will need finish work to consider it a job done. Overall, this is a Roadrunner you can drive, or take it all the way back to showroom condition. Which path would you choose? Just make sure you find a secure storage solution when it’s done.

Comments

  1. Avatar angliagt Member

    Located in Rossville,Georgia.
    What does “N.B.S.P.” mean?

    Like 3
    • Avatar TimS

      “No bulls_it please.”

      Like 4
  2. Avatar Mark

    68 Roadrunners have always been my favorite. Kind of doggy with a 383 though.

    Like 1
    • Avatar Dave

      One thing learned early on with the Mopars I had, was that if you just floored it from idle you could stall it out with a huge bog. Give the engine a chance to keep up by squeezing the loud pedal instead of mashing it.

      Like 1
  3. Avatar Gary

    Mark you may have never driven a well tuned 383 4spd. Back in my wild young days my buddy had three of these and they all ran like crazy, besting the Ohio State Patrol on numerous occasions. They were somewhat light for a large car and a 335 hp 383 will propel them quite nicely. They ran almost as good as my R/Ts with the 440’s. One of the better muscle cars back then.

    Like 14
  4. Avatar jimjim

    I had a 69 Charger with a 383 in high school that my uncle bought new and let deteriorate. The car was held together mostly by rust and bondo, but that motor was a beast. It’s amazing we didn’t kill ourselves with that thing. How would one tell if this had the original motor. It’s not too far from me. I may need to go and take a look.

    Like 6
  5. Avatar Arkie Member

    This Plymouth looks identical to one I saw on Atlanta Craigslist a couple of months ago. It was advertised with a ridiculously low price, and sadly, no longer listed by the time I responded. I was prepared to fetch it home, then and there.

    Like 1
  6. Avatar Angel Cadillac Diva Member

    My sister had one of these in 1968, same color blue, no vinyl top. 4 on the floor, probably a 383.
    She rolled it about 4 times Christmas Eve 1969. Just a month after my mother rolled her 1967 Checker Marathon. Yeah, that was an interesting year for us.
    After she wrecked it her boyfriend replaced it with the AMC Rebel Machine.
    He was a hotrodder and so was she.

    Like 7
    • Avatar Dave

      68 RR only had 2 engines: the standard 383, and the 426 Hemi. The 440 joined the fun in 1969.

      Like 0
  7. Avatar Phil D

    While an aftermarket intake could have been installed in situ, 383s of this vintage were never painted red from the factory. That engine has been out of this car, so it wouldn’t be a shock to find that it’s also not original to this car.

    Like 0
  8. Avatar bone

    The engine bay isnt completely correct ; it should be painted the same as the body color , not black. The air cleaner is obviously not original either. The metal parts of the inside of the doors should be painted the same color as the door panels as well.

    Like 0
    • Avatar Mark

      The inside of the doors are not always matching with the exterior paint. Graveyard cars just spoke of this on a recent episode.

      Like 1
      • Avatar DON

        True, but if the interior is black, they would be black no matter the cars exterior color. , if the car was blue and the interior was blue, then the inner panels would match the exterior , not a blue door with a black door insert . Some of the hot colors that had a darker interior would have them painted to match the interior, not the outside. For example, I had a 72 Basin St. Blue duster with a dark blue interior. the inner panels were painted B5 blue to match the darker blue vinyl . I think the only ones that aren’t matching with these cars is white interiors with the inner panels painted black ..

        Like 0

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