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Wrecked 1969 Plymouth Road Runner

This 1969 Plymouth Road Runner appears to have had multiple bad accidents. First, the front and rear ends are all crumpled up, so that’s serious. Second, the roof and side pillar on the driver’s side have been flattened by a boulder or something equally heavy, so that’s fatal. This once proud muscle car can be found in Coraopolis, Pennsylvania and here on Facebook Marketplace where it’s either being featured by a FB Mopar group or is free to whoever is willing to come haul it away. Not even an attempt to sell for parts, which may be few anyway.

Most everyone knows the story of the Road Runner, Plymouth’s low-buck, mid-sized entry in the muscle car race in 1968. It was highly successful, sold well and the first generation continued through 1970. The nameplate would live on during the detuning and insurance headaches of the 1970s, and the last Road Runner would simply be a trim package on the 1980 Plymouth Volare (ugh). This forlorn 1969 Road Runner appears to have been finished in Rallye Green and we’re told it has just 3,000 miles on it.

This beast has the desirable Air Grabber hood and air induction system, which was available on the 383, 440 and 426 Hemi. As the 440 in the Road Runner that year was a 6-pack and surely this isn’t a Hemi, the likely engine in what’s left of the engine bay is a 4-barrel 383, which saw production of about 45,000 units that year (we can’t break down by transmission because we don’t know which one is there).

I for one would be interested in knowing just how this car became the crumpled mess it is today and how long has it been in the barn that it currently occupies. Had this car not met with misfortune and kept in pristine condition, it could fetch in the high-five figures today. As it sits right now, free sounds like the right asking price if it’s for sale, although a few things may be salvageable for another project. What would you do with it?

Comments

  1. Avatar JACKinNWPA Member

    Did you notice the line at the beginning of the listing that says “1969 Just showing it not selling”?

    Like 5
    • Avatar Russ Dixon Staff

      It also said FREE. So I indicated both in the review.

      Like 4
      • Avatar JACKinNWPA Member

        I know but free in FB market place is just click bait.

        Like 12
  2. Avatar Howard A Member

    So typical. They sure went a lot better than they handled or stopped. The reason these muscle cars get so much attention these days, is probably 75% all met this fate. Not to have a theme, but these were beaters, $500 bucks tops. After a night of partying ( or after a Packers game),,”oak tree you’re in my way”, and provided you survived, another could be found no problem, and it repeated itself until insurance got tired of paying out, and the shenanigans stopped. As bad as this is, I see a lot of good parts for someone.

    Like 25
    • Avatar William

      Howard, you are so right. Horribly dangerous cars then, and today. These cars with a standard six or 318 were good solid reliable cars. The addition of a high performance V8 without decent handling was a recipe for disaster. I never did blame insurance companies for charging so much more for these, because it meant less the more responsible people had to pay. I was somewhat young in those days and I remember more then once being congratulated by my insurance agent for not being tempted to buy a car like this and “making the correct choice”. Who knows, the choice, might have kept me alive, a lot of young people were not s lucky. I wonder if anyone went winging to the great beyond in this particular machine. If someone died in it, like in Christine, maybe it is possessed. Wouldn’t that be fun!

      Like 17
      • Avatar Gremlin X

        Sure, if it can restore itself like in the movie. Otherwise I see nothing fun about this wreck.

        Like 14
      • Avatar Robert Washburn

        I had a 1970 Super Bee with drum manual brakes and manual steering That many of times I had the 150 speedo buried. I never felt the car to be unsafe and it handled well. Yes, the engine was built and the car lowered with wider tires.

        Like 1
      • Avatar Terry

        If this could be restored like Christine in the movie, you’d have to back it up clear across the country.

        Like 1
    • Avatar Russell

      Anyone else just have a brief flashback of these nearly two ton vehicles rolling on all four drum brakes after a heavy rain… those first few seconds of “nothing” when one hit the brakes hard.

      Like 13
    • Avatar Dan H

      It was so much fun in the late 70s when the V8/4spd/posi cars from the 60s were 8-15 year old cars. We’d been through 2 gas crunches, interior & exteriors were starting to fade (or rust in some parts of the country) and these cars were CHEAP.

      If you took care of yours and didn’t try to move a tree with it, you probably saw you friends rotate through a Camaro, Chevelle, GTO, Charger RT, Dart GTS, Fairlane GT, Mustang Mach 1, etc. All for very little money, because these were just used cars that mostly appealed to teenagers.

      Like 16
    • Avatar David Hunt

      I’m a coming
      ….. I’m a coming!

      Like 0
    • Avatar CJinSD

      Sometimes it seems like every Mopar muscle car has survived, perhaps because the threshold of what constitutes a surviving car is so low.

      Like 2
  3. Avatar DayDreamBeliever

    Looks to me like it is just on FB so that members of the M.O.P.A.R. club can look at it.
    Parts car at best.

    Like 4
  4. Avatar Fred

    Jeff Spicoli. … IT’LL BUFF RIGHT OUT

    Like 12
    • Avatar William

      That’s right! His Dad was a TV repairman and had this ultimate set of tools! Call Jeff pronto.

      Like 18
  5. Avatar Ken

    Needs a little TLC

    Like 6
    • Avatar ellen dyer

      And a good wash and wax. LOL

      Like 3
  6. Avatar JoeNYWF64

    & i thought the “Gone in 60 secs”(’74 movie) mustang was in bad shape at the end of the movie. lol

    Like 6
  7. Avatar Jeff

    Hey Pilgrim, That There Is A Six Pack Air Cleaner

    Like 14
    • Avatar Gus Fring

      No, it’s not, lol.

      Like 3
  8. Avatar I’m Just A Shattered Rolling Stone

    To late i just snagged it up.
    I amazingly started up with a mini gas can feeder. It was a lil sluggish on expressway but once those boulders fell off going up a hill it was pretty peppy.

    I felt bad for the lil Coyote color Prius that couldn’t clear the boulders but Other than that i am happy it made it home.

    Like 13
  9. Avatar Joey V

    1973

    Like 2
  10. Avatar Terry

    it ran when parked

    Like 9
    • Avatar Gremlin X

      Or when it was driven off the edge of the cliff.

      Like 5
    • Avatar Farhvergnugen Member

      …on the fifteenth floor of the now-collapsed barn.

      Like 5
  11. Avatar Tooyoung4heyday Member

    What a shame…. I’m surprised it is still around being in this condition. Someone is hanging on to a bad memory…

    Like 12
  12. Avatar Phlathead Phil

    Is this one of those “Where’s Waldo” photos?

    Somehow, I don’t quite see a car.

    At least not anything complete. If there is a car in there, shouldn’t they have washed it first?

    Like 4
  13. Avatar Timothy Phaff

    Clean it up and send it off to a muscle car museum. No sense in let it site.

    Like 1
  14. Avatar Robert May

    The mileage claim is intriguing. That looks like a factory battery under the hood. The Six Pack parts may still be usable and maybe the engine, trans, and rear axle, too.

    Like 10
    • Avatar Poppy

      Must have been wrecked in its first year. Polyglas tires look original too. Lots of low mileage mechanical parts and interior bits on this one.

      Like 4
  15. Avatar Dave

    OK, no VIN code but a possible Six-Pack car. Possible. Did they come with vinyl roofs? I don’t believe so but I could be wrong. Looks like it has fancier wheels too. So…if the engine is a true V-code then maybe it came out of another wrecked car? Looks like whoever “drove” this wadded it up pretty good. There is a saying in engineering that if you haven’t solved a problem you haven’t thrown enough money at it. IMHO, this “car” needs a trip to the crusher after anything serviceable has been taken off of it. But from what I read, the owner is just fine and dandy with a pile of junk…memories and all that. Leave it there, your kids will deal with it after you die.

    But…the fact that this car exists is a testament to how clean the air is around Pittsburgh. There used to be a 1964 LeMans convertible parked beside a repair shop on PA 51 just south of Elizabeth. It took many years, but the body and frame returned to the soil from whence they came. On the other hand, a 1969 Impala parked off PA 51 just north of the Elizabeth Bridge is still in good shape and now people have begun robbing parts from it.

    Like 3
    • Avatar Gus Fring

      First off, yes, ’69 1/2 M-code cars only came with 15″ X 6″ steel wheels and the most certainly could have a vinyl top…lots did. Secondly, V-code didn’t appear until 1970. Third, this is a 383 4bbl. car, not a 440-6bbl car.

      Like 7
  16. Avatar Dave

    You can actually see the Impala on Google Earth Street view.

    Like 3
  17. Avatar Dave

    You can see what remains of the LeMans too. Just find the GetGo and the cars just south of it and it’s in front of a white sedan.

    Like 3
  18. Avatar Dale

    I believe it to be in the hayloft, 2nd floor.

    Like 1
  19. Avatar snarky

    Looks like Road Runner finally got snagged by one of Coyote’s Acme traps!

    Like 9
  20. Avatar piston poney

    i know a guy that is looking for a 69 road runner project maybe he will want to take this one on. LOL i’ll let y’all know what he says

    Like 2
  21. Avatar AMCFAN

    Years ago I was asked to haul a abandoned car off a property a friend purchased. When I got there the car had apparently hit something head on. It was complete and sitting in a shed. It was hit so hard even the force disfigured the trunk lid. Once out in the daylight on the trailer the story emerged. Once a clean 1967 Fairlane GT 390 4 speed.

    A friend of the former owner of the property who lived by filled me in on the rest of the story. Seems the car belonged to the property owners only son. He was killed in it. The property owner had the car brought home and put in the shed only never to open it again.

    The man died with a broken heart.

    Like 12
    • Avatar Phlathead Phil

      Very sad story.

      There are many like this one.

      Reminder: Speed + carelessness kills!

      Someone just mentioned to me the other day that 70% of donated organs come from motorcycle accidents.

      Stick with four wheels and watch the curves!!!

      Like 5
      • Avatar Lyle

        I knew a doctor that referred to motorcycles as donorcycles.

        Like 2
  22. Avatar Joseph

    I am having a 1969 Road Runner restored right now. Those bucket seats and that Air Grabber mechanism are parts with considerable value.

    Like 7
  23. Avatar PairsNPaint

    rock on!!!!!!!

    Like 1
  24. Avatar Carl

    These cars handled so horribly and didn’t stop well for simple reasons; they were designed to go in one direction … straight and fast! 😉

    Like 3
  25. Avatar Jasper

    Yeah, here’s what happened!

    https://archive.org/details/joy_ride

    Like 7
  26. Avatar Dan H

    Dukes of Hazzard boys had their car in the shop for repairs and got this as a loaner car.

    Obviously they jumped it off a ramp into a hay loft.

    Like 1
  27. Avatar 370zpp Member

    Just waiting for a driver ed. movie

    Like 0
    • Avatar Dave

      You reminded me of a photo accompanying an article about riding a motorcycle across Asia. At the border of one country sat a wadded -up car to warn of the perils of drunk driving. I don’t know if the one on the West Virginia Turnpike is still there.

      Like 0
  28. Avatar ACZ

    No one mentioned the awesome patina.

    Like 2
  29. Avatar Angel Cadillac Diva Member

    Jeez! This looks ALMOST as bad as my sisters ’68 Road Runner. She did the same thing, rolled it a few times. And it was only a year old.

    Like 2
  30. Avatar Rusty

    Come on guys, where is your sense of adventure. The before and after pictures could not be measured in dollars or cents.

    Like 3
  31. Avatar Bill Voss

    Maybe some rubbing compound and a buffer could bring this car back.

    Like 0
  32. Avatar Steve Member

    Look at that battery. That car has been off the road forever.

    Like 3
  33. Avatar Scott

    A six bbl in 1969 had a fiberglass lift off hood held on with 4 hood pins. Actually a 69 and a half as it was only offered as a half year production. The air cleaner is simply the one that came on a car with the air grabber option. 4 bbl 383 also.

    Like 1
  34. Avatar Karen Bryan

    To the crusher, James, and don’t spare the horses!

    Like 1
  35. Avatar Dave

    “Listing not available anymore” This car is about an hour from me. There is a long rumored ’69 road runner from this area, supposed to have less than a thousand miles on it. 18 year old kid was killed in it, and this just may be it.

    Like 4
    • Avatar R.Lee

      Living Large on the Edge of a Razor Blade

      Some make it

      Some don’t

      So far I am still here… I Live for the ROAR of 8

      Yaya con Dios

      Like 0
  36. Avatar Queequeg

    The mystery deepens…what killed the kid? The impact from the crash or the boulder from above?

    Like 0
  37. Avatar Dave

    IF this is even the same car. IF it is, it was the crash, at least the story I always heard.

    Like 0
  38. Avatar Kenn

    Maybe this was parked in the barn and the barn collapsed. That would explain the low miles too.

    Like 1
  39. Avatar R.Lee

    19 year old Man back from the NAM

    Like 1
  40. Avatar Stan Marks

    WOW!!!! I can’t believe all of the comments, about a POS, the owner was too cheap to haul it away himself. That barn doesn’t look too healthy, either.
    If the owner wants to give it away, for free, he should have offered $100, for someone to take it to the car crusher.
    I live 50 miles north of Coraopolis.

    Like 0
  41. Avatar Dave

    I have a ’69 road runner, and would gladly take that as a parts car. More than $100 there. But that’s all that is…a parts car. This is as bad as the guy from Zelienople that had the ’68 Coronet that was rotted as bas as this runner.

    Like 0
  42. Avatar Stan Marks

    Interestingly, Zelienople is just down the road from Coraopolis.
    It’s considered the rust belt of Pa. Lots of steel mills, back in the day, in the Pittsburgh area.

    Like 0
  43. Avatar Dave S.

    I would consider turning it into a sub compact.

    Like 0

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