1969 Plymouth Road Runner

As the 1960s were coming to a close, the performance figures continued to rise and one of the serious players on cruise night was the Hemi-powered Road Runner. Chrysler may have been one of the last automakers to enter the intermediate-bodied muscle car market when they introduced the 1967 Belvedere GTX but was among the select few to offer a low-price performance car with the mid-year B-body 1968 Plymouth Road Runner. It was stripped of all the amenities and frills of its brother, the top-of-the-line and well-equipped GTX. The concept was simple, an affordable and powerful vehicle capable of running the quarter-mile at 100-mph.

The Road Runner was awarded the Car of the Year and gained popularity and publicity thanks to a deal with Warner Brothers that included cartoon character's name and image decals, and a horn that went 'beep-beep!' The Road Runner was a lightweight car fitted with powerful engines and reasonably priced. They did not come standard with many convenience options but had a long list of optional performance features. Body styles included a coupe, hardtop coupe, and convertible with prices that ranged from $2,945 to $3,300. 33,743 examples of the coupe were built, 48,549 of the hardtop coupe, and 2,128 of the convertible. The front and rear wore updated styling and standard equipment included a four-speed with Hurst shifter, heavy-duty suspension and shocks, brakes, chrome engine parts, Deluxe steering wheel, fake walnut shift knob, and unsilenced air cleaner.

The overhead-valve V8 displaced 383 cubic inches and came with a Carter four-barrel carburetor helping to develop 335 horsepower at 5200 RPM. Packages included the Track Pack (a $143 option) and the Super Track Package ($256) which had a four-speed and either a 440 CID (Superbird) or 426 CID V8 ('Street Hemi' - an $813.45 option). 440 CID choices included a four-barrel version rated at 375 hp and a triple two-barrel 440-CID V-8 known as the '440 + 6'. Additional options included Grabber hood scoop, performance hood paint, performance gauges, power brakes, and a solid-state AM radio.

For 1969, the Road Runner decals were now in color. Standard was a 383-CID, 335-hp V-8, heavy-duty suspension, GTX-like subtle hood bulges, and a spartan interior.

by Dan Vaughan

Convertible

Chrysler may have been one of the last automakers to introduce an intermediate-bodied muscle car when they introduced the 1967 Belvedere GTX, but was the first automaker to fill the market niche for a low-price performance car with their mid-year 1968 Plymouth Road Runner.

The concept was simple: use a lightweight car that was inexpensive and fit it was a powerful engine. It was a simple concept, but was nothing new for the American public. What Plymouth did with their Road Runner was to create a muscle car for the public and cloth it in an attractive body.

The Road Runner used the Warner Bros. cartoon graphics on their car which made it easily identifiable. It was a no frills muscle car that was meant for the masses. Standard equipment included plain bench seats and rubber floor mats. The two-door bodystyle sold for $2,945 while the convertibles fetched $3,790. In 1969, Plymouth sold 217,216 examples of their Road Runners and only 2,128 were convertibles.

This Road Runner convertible is powered by a 383 cubic-inch engine with many options, including bucket seats, air grabber hood, am/fm radio, power steering, and an automatic transmission.

Hardtop Coupe

The Plymouth Road Runner was introduced in 1968 as a mid-priced performance car. Not only did it feature the Warner Brothers cartoon character's name and image decals, but the horn also went 'beep-beep!'

Named Car of the Year by Motor Trend Magazine for 1969, the Road Runners were built to be the fastest cars ever produced by Chrysler. While there were not many convenience options included, Road Runners had a long list of standard and optional performance features including a removable fiberglass hood. This Road Runner is powered by the 440 'Six Pack' - a 440 cubic-inch engine and triple two-barrel Holly carburetors, developing 390 horsepower!

This Road Runner remains with its original owner and has just over 3,500 original miles on it. Furthermore, it is accompanied by the original paper-work, dealer invoice, build sheet, special warranty book and window sticker and the original spare tire (a special-sized Goodyear tire that is not being reproduced) has never been on the ground.

Coupe

This 1969 Road Runner was ordered with the W23 (Recall Wheel) option. The Kelsey Hayes wheels were cast aluminum and slated to be released as optional wheels (coded as W23) on 1969 Chrysler Corporation vehicles. The wheels were recalled very early in the model year on September 13, 1968, due to a design defect which caused the lug nuts to work loose, resulting in the centers pulling out.

Quite a few of the wheels actually made it into the hands of Mopar-buying customers, and obviously many of them were not returned during the recall by their owners. The Kelsey Hayes Company also offered this same wheel later as an after-market item, with the only difference being that the rim was chromed on the after markets. Is it possible that the after markets were the same wheel that were returned under the recall and then doctored to look a little different?

The wheel with the flat center was found on a 1969 Plymouth Road Runner. The wheel with the cone-shaped center was found on a 1969 Dodge Coronet.

Convertible

One of 769 4 Speed Convertibles built in 1969, this car was purchased new in Roanoke, Virginia on Dec. 30, 1968 for $3,522. The car was an everyday driver for 10 years. The car has 49,110 miles. It was ordered with Blue Fire Metallic exterior paint, M2X Black C-55 Bucket Seats and C-93 black carpet. It has a C-16 Center Console with Woodgrain Panel, D-21 4-Speed Manual Transmission, E-63 383 CI 4-barrel V-8 high performance camshaft that generates 335 hp. The car was also ordered with Sure Grip Differential and J-25 3 speed windshield wipers.

Hardtop Coupe

There is no doubt that in 1969 drag racing was among the most-watched motorsports ever. The roster of competitive drivers and competition between manufacturers was at a fever pitch.

This car was owned and driven by Don Grotheer, who was having an excellent year, winning the Winternationals in Pomona with his Barracuda. His sponsor, Cable Chrysler-Plymouth, received this new A12 440 6-barrel Roadrunner from the factory for Don to use as a demonstrator. While he never used this car for sanctioned racing, it was painted in Don's livery and used as part of the performance clinics. We all remember the factory-sponsored events at dealerships used to promote the performance product line. With that in mind, Don did competition modifications to the car and would occasionally blast it down the quarter-mile as a demonstrator vehicle.

Coupe
Chassis number: RM23H9G180097

Motor Trend magazine named Plymouth's budget Road Runner as its 'Car of the Year' for 1969. Among the growing list of options now offered by Plymouth was the 440 6-BBL version that was limited in production due to parts availability. This particular example was built by Muscle Car Restorations in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, as a tribute to that engineering code A12 release. This included the installation of a 440 CID V8 engine complete with the Edelbrock aluminum intake manifold and a trio of Holley 2-barrel carburetors under the unique rubber-seal air cleaner. A set of -906 iron heads and a 9.7:1 compression make it suitable for modern driving, along with the modern air conditioning unit that was something never found on the original release. It does have the factory's A833 four-speed manual transmission, a Dana 60 Sure Grip rear end with 4.10 gears, stock-style suspension pieces and drum brakes. The exterior has been refreshed in Sable Bronze Poly with a black fiberglass hood with scoop and 440 6-BBL callouts. The interior houses a bench seat, floor-mounted Hurst shifter with ball-knob shifter, factory AM radio, Auto Meter tachometer, underdash auxiliary gauge set, Road Runner steering wheel and an OEM dash cluster.

by Dan Vaughan