Given the growing popularity of muscle cars, Plymouth surmised there was a market for a budget model. So, the gimmicky Road Runner was born in 1968 and found enough demand to prove to Chrysler execs they were right. This 1969 Road Runner was one of 82,000 coupes assembled that year, enough for Dodge to lobby for and get a green light for the Super Bee. It comes with a 440 V8 that may need some coaxing. Located in Walnut Creek, California, this Mopar project is looking for its first $12,000 bid here on eBay with a reserve set beyond that.
The B-bodied Road Runner was based on the Plymouth Belvedere and came with few frills. A 383 cubic inch V8 was standard fare, but you could opt for a 440 6-Pack (no 4-barrel; that was reserved for the upscale GTX model) or a 426 Hemi. The seller’s roughie lost its 383 to a 440 4-barrel and an automatic transmission. We don’t know when the motor swap took place, and the TorqueFlite is also a replacement with a stall converter, having seen just 2,000 miles.
There’s a good chance this Plymouth has been a Left Coast car all its life. Piecing the car’s history together, it hung out in the backyard before the year 2000. After getting fixed up a bit, it was a daily driver for a while and then went back into hibernation 20 years ago. We’re told the “Bird” was never raced, which would have likely sent it to the automotive graveyard sooner.
No timetable is associated with the 440 engine, but it was apparently more potent than the stock exhaust could handle, so that was changed. It sports forged pistons and a HiPo camshaft. The paint is older and a darker version of the blue the car was originally finished in. There is ample grey primer, and the interior will need an extreme makeover. The bucket seats aren’t from the factory, and what’s left of the upholstery does not match the plain rear seat.
It appears as if Wylie Coyote finally caught the Road Runner.
Have you seen Seth MacFarlanes rendition of the coyote finally catching the RR? It’s humorous at first, in Family Guy fashion, but things don’t end well for the poor coyote.
No, no, no, I realize being the sites biggest kvetch about automatics, I’m not a total doofus, and some things should remain sacred, like a 4 speed RoadRunner. I understand, automatics can be a total buzzkill, reducing the zing considerably. Not much compared to the excitement of power shifting a 4 speed big block Mopar. When I “reviewed” the ’69 Mach 1, comparing it to cars of the era, the Road Runner was left out. Why? The RR was an all out nuts and bolts tin can, that was extremely fast, but lacked just about anything else. The Mach 1 was good at everything. Not to sell the RR short. Fun cars and probably half the cost of a Mach 1, but was no Mach 1. At $2945, even your Bar Mitzvah money could buy one. Few survived. I think they’ll be looking for that “1st bid” for a spell.
Seats appear to be out of a Mustang II. This thing has been beat to death.
All automatic transmission torque converters have a certain stall RPM. But the only reason that you would raise the stall speed would be to get to the power band quicker. (usually just at or after launchon the drag strip) So installing a higher stall speed converter and not take it to the drag strip just means street racing! And as much as I prefer to shift for myself. Automatic transmission technology (even for the older hydromatics and torqueflites) the shift v/s auto debate is almost a dead issue. (Notice that I said almost) And if you are running a bracket drag racer. An automatic is the way to go for consistency.
Ok, I’m done here.
Never been raced my *ss. What do you think happened to the original 383? That things was ridden hard/put away wet many a time before it got any rest.
That car looks really worked over
Looks like a set of bucket seats from a Pontiac gt…
Golden Hawk ?