Plymouth introduced its budget mid-size muscle car, the Road Runner, in 1968. It was an instant hit but was only available at first as a coupe (pillared or hardtop). When 1969 rolled around, they added a convertible which saw 1,890 copies, most with a 383 cubic inch V8. The latter with an automatic transmission reduced the total to 1,111. This example may have been a nice convertible at one point, but it was involved in a serious front-end collision that may be terminal (we hope no one was hurt). If you disagree, the Mopar is in Paramus, New Jersey, and is available here on Facebook Marketplace for $14,900. Thanks, Mark F., for your first tip I’ve seen.
If this Road Runner could talk, it would probably have a sad story to tell. Its VIN decodes as having the 383 engine which is likely original given the 60,000 reported miles. But it was going down the road one day and hit something extremely hard in the middle of the front end – or something hit it. Hard enough to bend things enough such that the doors won’t close, the steering column is askew, and the front bench seat is out of alignment with the rear. Also, the dashboard is mangled, and the windshield got busted out. A tearful ending for a vehicle that may only have a couple of hundred contemporaries still out there.
I see a lot of red flags sitting here, yet the seller says it’s a “great project car.” Also, the box that says “the vehicle has no significant damage or problems” was inadvertently checked. But at least the seller does acknowledge the Plymouth as being in “poor condition” when it was listed two months ago (no takers in all this time?). Despite all its cosmetic problems, we’re told the engine runs but the radiator was likely broken, and all the coolant ran out on the pavement.
Twenty years ago, this car would have ended up in the crusher without a second thought. But given the value of these muscle cars today, the seller believes someone will pay close to $15,000 for a project with visions of restoring it. From what we see here, do you see any hope of a second life for this forlorn Mopar? And does it come with a title (salvage) or a bill of sale?
wow. just, wow…
I second that emotion…wow.
(parts car)
What a shame. I recall am episode on GYC where they straightened a bent Cuda.
Perhaps this would make their appeal for a number matching project
if this has a clean title, then it would be a great repair. i have done worst
If anyone is willing to pay $14,000 for that car, please contact me, I have a few parts cars I’d like $20,000 for!
I have 2 headlight bezels for only $140,000 each. Cash only, will not trade.
I know…right? Another one of those..Barrett jackson syndrome moments..
Oh my, I think it might be totally worth the money. That’s sarcasm! Realize it is a rare car, but good grief there may not be a straight panel on it.
“…yet the seller says it’s a ‘great project car.’”
To be fair, Russ, this IS a “great project car”-
this thing is going to cost so much to redo right that the new buyer will most likely wind up having to live in The Projects before it’s done..
That’s hilarious but I was thinking that this hails from The Pj’s already.
There’s a man named David Freiburger I heard tell he knows a thing or two about wrecked 1969 Plymouth Roadrunners…
Oh yes he does, did you see that episode?
The Wreck Runner LOL.
Yes, I remember that t-boned one that he somehow was able to get running. 😄 That was a’68, if I recall.
Looks like somebody’s right foot got bigger than their left one.
I love how the seller ‘inadvertantly’ checked the box saying,” the vehicle has no significant damage or problems”,….
Sellers are getting more and more blatant when it comes to selling wrecks like this,..
He was originally asking $28,000 lol. That looks like a job for Mark Worman at Graveyard Carz.
So my collector insurance if totaled will pay me and give me the carcass back.
Looks like this is the same deal.
GLWS and hope its put back
I think with the David Fieburger theme this would be a fun road kill garage fix. Then burn out time..
Better call Mark Worman from graveyard carz
Your comment may be a joke but that is the absolute truth. He has the frame alignment jigs and knowledge to put it straight and this is nowhere near the worst that I have seen him realign. Being 1 in 1100 this may well be worth restoring at that price (if that engine is original).
With lots of time and money …………..Never mind.
Looks like Wile E Coyote finally came out on top! Ouch!
I suspect it was the Coyote who was driving it.
Beat me too it.
Wonder if it still goes “Beep Beep”?
I mean, C’mon… really? That thing is toast.
More like burnt toast.
I like toast, but not burnt.
Come on down to Texas, the scrap yard by me is paying $50 a pound for lost causes like this. Sad thing is this car is ugly no matter its condition. Dear ugly beyond hope wrecked car, please contribute to society and become recycled steel for an upcoming built in America Honda Accord that will have twice your horsepower with three times the MPG and redeem your miserable exitance already. You, ugly Plymouth have been offered a way to atone for your sins.
1st, yes, luckily, your opinion does matter here, it’s what makes the site unique. 2nd, your post wreaks of inaccuracy, and clearly were perhaps just a gleam in your parents eyes in ’69, but the ’69 RoadRunner ragtop was probably THE most wanted car in warm climates. It had a following perhaps you may not understand and has a huge following today as well. It was far from ugly and the last thing on our minds was MPG.
Also, according to your scrap price quote, this car theoretically should be worth $200,000 as is. ($50×4,000 lbs) and more like $120/ton, yep, even in Texas. And lastly, Japan bought OUR scrap steel, like these, for their cars made in Japan. Ironically, I bet American made Asian cars are made from scrap Asian cars, if anything left of them, that is.
Well said 👍
Of course your opinion matters Sir Blake, just as everyone else’s on here does…to varying degrees.
It may not have occured to you that comparing a vintage Road Runner with a modern Accord is a bit challenging…like comparing a campfire with a microwave. One roars with colors and warmth, the other is a very efficient appliance. Many of us here can appreciate both for what they are.
$50 @ lb. I live in Texas and I can start scrapping tomorrow if you can tell me where this scrap yard is located. Hello
Yee-haw, see how Hollywood tends to bleed over into real life? Pretty clear to me, someone did a Dukes of Hazzard and was probably one heck of a ride, before the loss of control. And I’m not crying for the insurance companies, but this was so common back then, the cars were usually gotten cheap, and trashing them was part of the fun, for some, provided they didn’t kill themselves in the process. If, and a mighty big if, someone does take this on, well, I can’t finish this post without some negativity, so I’ll say, a stark reminder to those not there, it’s why we don’t see these cars anymore.
Part out the drivetrain and weigh the rest.
Painful to look at. Yes Worman could get this back to original but 5 years and 150k later and you’d still have a maybe 50k car? This is a tough one as I can’t see anyway not to be underwater fixing it, its too historical to destroy, I just don’t know. Must have frame damage so not sure how many home mechanics could take it on. Tough one. I wouldn’t be surprised if it spent the next 20 years under a tarp.
Unitized construction, no frame.
Worse yet its a convertible
I’d think that 383 is worth something but not the current asking price. What a shame this happened to this car.
Read the seller reviews on Marketplace.
This never should have been posted on Barn Finds.
I wonder if there’s an accidental extra zero in that price, because that thing will never ever drive straight again.
The things the human body can do to a dashboard. Yikes. Hope they made it without permanent injury.
As far as the car is concerned, $4 a pound seems like a lot. Though I’d be curious what readers in the know think it is worth as a parts car–and which parts are even salvageable.
Yes that dash and the missing windshield tells me someone went through no doubt removed and cleaned the blood off the jagged edges, the driver had some rib troubles by the looks of what’s left of the steering wheel. I hope they all made it out alive. Those Dukes of Hazard jumps just look so darn easy on tv…
I do think this one is even worse that Roadkill Garages WreckRunner.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KF6uK7KuiF8
That said, perhaps a swap into a Satellite might be in order? Can’t predict Mopar pricing anymore, there is an ass for every seat.
It just needs a good replacement body, which effectively doesn’t exist.
Somewhere out there is a Satellite or Sport Satellite convertible that’s about to become a Road Runner.
I kinda figured this would get people talking. Is it worth fixing? No. Is it worth anywhere near the asking price? No. But it does have some good parts if the seller comes down to reality. What I find amazing is that with all that damage it still appears to have all 4 wheels undamaged. Other parts that are still good are apparently the drivetrain, the trunk lid, rear bumper, tail lights, passenger side quarter panel seems to have escaped damage, the seats seem to be good. Interestingly enough the hood doesn’t appear to be that badly damaged, only the front edge is pushed back so a good body person may actually be able to save that too, but that’s only a maybe, would need further inspection to see if that’s possible. I’ve seen a couple badly rusted and incomplete road runner convertibles here on barn finds that basically needed everything but a vin number, and this actually is a complete car so I guess it’s worth more than those cars were, but like those rusted examples will end up as rebodied cars, I suspect this one will too.
Rebodied=Fraud. The only honest thing to do is sell it without a VIN as scrape. It can be parted out, so put no reserve on an auction.and sleep beter at night. Someday, all will be judged, do you want to have this bit of dishonesty on your record?
I agree a rebody is illegal, but I’m also a realist and we all know that it happens way too frequently. You always have someone out there that justifies it by saying they used all the usable parts from the original. But the frequency of rebodied classics is just growing as they get older, that’s why the big money cars are always documented from day 1. I was never advocating a rebody, just being realistic that it will probably happen.
All too many won’t let their judgement stand between them and a dollar. As stated the most valuable part of this one is the VIN.
Why is rebodied fraud? If you use a donor two door for everything but the convertible parts to make this whole again, whats the difference?
This is for Eric, it wouldn’t let me reply to you directly.
Rebody is fraud because the VIN is assigned to a particular chassis/body. Removing that number from a chassis and welding in another number does not make the car instantly an original rare model. The reason it is illegal is because someone could steal your perfect condition car, cut out the vin and weld in a new one, and then title, tag, or sell it and the motor vehicle association, police, original owner would never know. There was a time were a large portion of rebodied cars were stolen cars before the value was so high that it became financially beneficial to actually purchase cars like this one (though not at this price) and buy another lesser model and create an “original rare car”
This is for Mark F. Thank for the rebody explanation. I get how just changing a VIN plate on a stolen car is a crime, but with 50-60 year old cars like this one tons of parts may be replaced along the way as it is. Maybe almost everything. If the plate and firewall are the only original parts and the rest came from donor cars – whole drivetrain, every body panel, all the trim, the whole interior, even a replaced frame is the frame gets damaged – aren’t we still talking about a “restored” car? I have 2 1962 Bonnevilles that have things from 4 other parts cars. So at some point this just ends up being semantics as to what is restoration and what is “rebody,” even when the body panels or other parts came from a car lower on the naming scale (Biscayne vs Impala for example.)
Ok Eric, I see where you are going here, if everything comes from different parts cars at different times it’s not technically a rebody. It is also not technically a rebody if you used aftermarket or NOS parts that were never part of a complete car before. A rebody is when the majority of a car comes from a donor and you are basically just using a drivetrain and a few pieces of the car that the VIN number belongs too.
It should have said that most comes from a single donor car. You know, one that had its own VIN before.
Since you mentioned Impala I will use one of my own cars as an example. I have a 1970 Chevelle Malibu in my garage. It is a 350 sport coupe. If I were to find a numbers matching LS6 454 drivetrain and VIN and put that in my Malibu, then try to pass it off as a numbers matching 454 SS that would be a rebody and fraud. If I just used the drivetrain but never changed the VIN and never tried to pass it off as an original, then it’s just a well done clone.
Chrysler’s rally wheels didn’t appear until 1970, so those wheels definitely aren’t original to this car, and may well have been bolted on since the accident.
It would actually be interesting to see just how straight a modern frame/body machine could get this car, as there are a number of decent panels left on it, but such an attempt would have to start at a price with fewer zeroes in it.
At $15,000, I think it would be difficult to fix or restore this vehicle and make a profit. Unless, you have the same Road Runner with significant back end damage!
Paint it blue with a Callahan auto parts sticker and just cruise around
…and to add insult to injury it looks like they left it out in the weather after the wreck.
I wonder if he lives near an Earl Scheib?
Richard what did you do?
As my dad used to say, that things been hit everywhere, but the ashtray!
Hit everything but the lottery.
It has more hits that the lottery!
You can tell this was someone’s pride and joy. This car was loved…loved to death.
I saw a converted 70 Charger convertible on Hemmings recently. It looked great. This should donate its top to a build like that.
That must have been interesting! Never seen a 70 Charger conv before!
Ooops! Converted . . .
my bad.
dang glasses slipped.
At least the air bags didn’t deploy…that could be expensive!
As my slightly daffy cousin used to say, that’ll wax right out.
How is the top ?
You can rebody if you move the whole cowl, if you leave the rivets in place and put this numbers cowl on a Donor body, you can keep everyone happy? YesYes? No no?
Popping the rivets and transferring changing the Vin is not legal
I thought this was my chance to get into a car cheap, it’s still way to expensive.
Gonna take a warehouse full of AMD parts.
Wow , this is a fun one, especially the comments!! lol
Someone call Jay Leno, he’ll bring her back!
It looks like it would make a great donor car if you have a good body to start with. 68 69 RR Satellite. Either would do and you would pay this much for all the parts you can get off this car if you bought them individually but he or she really is asking “TOP” dollar for a parts car. I just don’t see putting this back together. The only way it would happen is sentimental reasons and the only person that would have such a connection is trying to sell it so that isn’t going to happen. Hope the seller comes back to reality and lets it go reasonable enough that someone can use it and at least put another one back on the road.
Graveyard 🪦 Cars recipient needs to get out of the ICU ASAP! 😳🥺🙏🙏🏦🏦🏦
Looks like the Coyote got the Road Runner 🏃♂️ that time!
It’s probably no surprise, I enjoy Family Guy, I think MacFarlane is a comic genius, but he did a short cartoon on where the coyote finally gets the Road Runner. Posting a link sends the comment to Hades, so I won’t do that anymore, but look it up, it’s hilarious, yet kind of sad too.
Russ,
Thanks for posting.
“I see a lot of red flags sitting here.”
Priceless.
WHAT! Is this a bad joke?
Could this possibly be the same car 2 years ago, and in much better shape? Has the same and as someone else mentioned incorrect wheels on it.
https://www.autoevolution.com/news/out-after-34-years-rare-1969-plymouth-road-runner-convertible-is-a-fantastic-time-capsule-185700.html
Sure looks like it
VINs do match.
Sad.
Looks like it was in a demolition derby……AND LOST!!!!
That was a long read through the comments, and it’s still a parts car.
Someone Hit The Dash.
OMG. No Air Conditioning !!!!!!!!!!
Does it come with a Chief E-Z Liner frame machine cause your going to need one tot fix this WOW is being nice
That’s a crying shame that’ll turn your brown eyes blue.
Start bagging and tagging all the fastening hardware and whatever else you can scrounge and crush the rest.
Don’t forget to grab the beep beep horn. Wow, when I commented early in the string and was a first poster about this car being a lost cause and scrap metal, I got chastised and sent to crucifixion!
You really don’t get it do you? You were not chastised for suggesting it was scrap. It was the comments that you made about it being ugly in any condition and comparing it to a Honda Accord in fuel mileage. I could compare your Accord to a Tesla on fuel mileage and it would look ridiculous because they are two different types of cars. A 1960’s muscle car was never designed to save fuel. And what you think is ugly others find beautiful. I am not a fan of the looks of most economy cars, but they were not built with appearance as their main focus. Also your value of scrap was way overrated.
Oh, BTW, that scrape should buff right out
if your a true car person, you never scrap old rare desirable autos anything can be saved. depends on how much can do yourself and money. i would like this very much , except he is starting price way too high.