One of Plymouth’s most well-known nameplates, the Road Runner, has been produced for a total of 12 years, spanning three generations. The third generation of the car is utterly forgettable, according to antique car enthusiasts, therefore they could have simply constructed two generations.
Although the early Road Runner models, which were based on the Belvedere, were relatively primitive in many ways, it doesn’t mean they weren’t successful. In fact, Plymouth sold almost 45,000 cars in 1968 alone, placing the Road Runner behind only the Chevrolet Chevelle SS and Pontiac GTO as the third most popular muscle car in its class.
The Road Runner is also thought to be directly responsible for Dodge hurrying up and building a “variant” of their own, in the Super Bee. Anyway, let’s just jump straight to the 1969 model year Road Runner, which kept the same appearance as the original, but featured a slightly different grille, taillights, and side marker lights. These cars were also available with bucket seats, plus Road Runner decals.
Another modification was the addition of the Air Grabber option, which had a fiberglass air duct assembly affixed to the hood’s underside. Additionally, it included unique stickers, such as a Wile E. Coyote decal. Yes, they made a sincere effort to pay respect to the cartoon character Road Runner. Although most people tend to forget the first portion of the title, the cartoon’s actual name was Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner.
Now, what we’ve got here is a stunning 1969 Plymouth Road Runner, one that’s been with its current owner for some 17 years. The exterior is wearing Performance Red (R4) which makes for the most delightful shade of orange. It’s both (red and orange), yet neither of the same time.
The car also has the Air Grabber hood, black hood stripes, a driver’s door-mounted mirror, dual-exit exhaust, Hemi and Road Runner badges, plus a set of body-color steel wheels with chrome hubcaps and F70-15 Firestone Wide Oval Super Sport tires. This car is so “original”, it still has its four-wheel drum brakes setup, which is definitely worth restomodding, if you catch my drift.
The front and rear bench seats are made of black vinyl, and the door panels, headliner, and carpets are all color-coordinated. A heater, front and rear lap belts, floor mats with the Road-Runner logo, and a three-spoke steering wheel are included as amenities. It’s hilarious that the advertisement claims that this car also has a “Voice of Road Runner” horn.
As for performance, there’s a 426 ci HEMI V8 under the hood, with twin four-barrel carburetors. This bad boy used to be factory-rated at 425 horsepower, with everything going to the rear wheels via a three-speed TorqueFlite automatic transmission with a Sure Grip differential.