Classic cars that have spent decades in storage usually have rust issues, stuck engines, and missing parts. Some, however, get the maintenance they need while not in use and re-emerge as all-original time capsules. The 1971 Plymouth Road Runner you see here is one of those rigs.
Rescued by classic car prospector Dennis Collins, this Road Runner was last driven in 1989, so it spent a whopping 35 years off the road. That’s long enough to turn a perfectly good vehicle into a pile of scrap metal, but this Road Runner was lucky enough to get a proper roof over its head. Kept in a garage rather than a barn, it took more than three decades of storage like a champ.
And by that, I don’t mean it’s a classic worth restoring. Nope, this Mopar is a fully-fledged survivor that’s as original as they get. The Road Runner still sports its factory GY9 Tawny Gold, which is surprisingly clean for a vehicle this old. It does have a dent on the passenger-side door, but it looks like the paint will shine almost like new with proper cleaning and buffing.
Additionally, the body is free of rust, all the chrome is intact and in solid condition, and the C-pillars and the roof still bear the iconic strobe stripe decals.
The interior is just as impressive. Apart from some wear and tear on the front bench seat, the cabin shows minimal weathering, and it’s not missing a single feature. The fact that the dashboard is not cracked after all these years is downright amazing.
Mr. Collins found yet another nice surprise under the hood: the Road Runner retained its numbers-matching engine for all those years. It’s also a bit of a rare rig because it packs a 340-cubic-inch (5.6-liter) V8. Chrysler added the small-block V8 to the engine lineup for the 1971 model year. Up until then, the Road Runner was a big-block affair.
Even though it was the least potent mill at 275 horsepower, the four-barrel 340 wasn’t the base engine but a more fuel-efficient yet still high-performance alternative to the ubiquitous 383-cubic-inch (6.3-liter) big-block V8 (335 horsepower). The lineup also included the 440-cubic-inch (7.2-liter) Six-Barrel and the 426-cubic-inch (7.0-liter) HEMI, which were discontinued that year. These units delivered 390 and 425 horsepower, respectively.
While it’s nowhere near as desirable and rare as the Six-Barrel and the HEMI, the 340 V8 is much scarcer than the 383 unit. Specifically, only 1,681 Road Runners of the 13,664 sold in 1971 were ordered with the small-block V8. That’s only 12.3% of the total production. The automatic gearbox makes this Mopar one of only 1,243 produced with this drivetrain combo.
In addition to all of the above, this Road Runner is also a low-mileage classic. The odometer shows only 65,306 miles (105,100 km), likely a contributing factor to the car’s excellent condition.
Our host also discovered an interesting fact about a couple of options. Noticing that the optional strobe stripe isn’t listed on the fender tag, Dennis checked the available documentation to see if it was aftermarket. The papers revealed that both the stripes and the Rally Road wheels are dealer-installed rather than factory options.
The crew also managed to get the 340 V8 running once they returned to the shop, so the Road Runner is well on its way to becoming a drivable classic. This calls for a “hurray!” for yet another old-school Mopar saved. Check it out in the video below.