These days, finding abandoned vintage cars in a field is not remarkable. Millions of cars are rusting away in the open, and the majority of them are not particularly desirable. Occasionally, however, treasure hunters come across extremely uncommon automobiles. Among such autos is the rust heap you are currently viewing.
It appears to be nothing more than a pile of trash on top of an old trailer. Many of us would simply overlook it, especially given that it resembles an automobile from the Malaise era. However, this damaged shell was formerly a 1971 Plymouth HEMI Road Runner built to NASCAR specifications.
The race car belonged to Ramo Stott, a not-so-famous NASCAR driver who raced part-time in the competition from 1967 to 1977. Stott had 35 NASCAR starts and scored 17 top tens and a second-place finish at Talladega. So how did the Mopar end up like this and why is it no longer a 1971 Road Runner?
Well, Ramo owned it for many years and made updates to the sheet metal to keep it legal for both the NASCAR and ARCA series. The Road Runner was updated to 1973 specifications after the 1972 season and then, it received a third-generation body in 1975.
Raced in that configuration until it was wrecked in 1977, the Road Runner was reassembled as a Plymouth Volare for the 1978 campaign. Additionally, the chassis was shortened slightly to make room for the new body. Unfortunately, the vehicle had a serious collision once more, and the group decided to give up. After being dismantled, the vehicle was stored in a barn and vanished for several years.
In the 2000s, the damaged Road Runner reappeared, this time in a field owned by a different party. The Mopar, as documented by “Auto Archaeology,” has been completely exposed to the elements for the past 20 years, so it should come as no surprise that it is in fairly poor condition.
But even though it’s missing vital components, including the original 426-cubic-inch (7.0-liter) HEMI V8 engine, the car still has its original race-spec chassis. The latter might just be salvageable, but will this NASCAR gen be restored to its former glory?
It will be extremely expensive to rebuild a 1971 Plymouth HEMI Road Runner practically from scratch, so I don’t think it will, but it’s still great to see a classic racer standing after so many years off the track. Even if it’s merely a dilapidated Volare that nobody is interested in these days.
But maybe it will share the fortunate destiny of another Mopar found decades ago behind Stott’s store. I refer to the inaugural 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona, which had a top speed of 200 mph (322 kph). The automobile was found with a 1973 Charger body and was rebuilt to factory specifications.