- A daring marketing program
- Voted Car of the Year
- How the Road Runner performed
These cars were among the hottest of all muscle cars
Acceleratii Rapidus Maximus is Latin for “Road Runner” and back in the late1960s, these cars were among the hottest of all muscle cars to roam the streets of America. “The Road Runner is the simplest, starkest, most brazenly pure, non-compromising supercar in history, and in this case, its simplicity is a welcome virtue,” stated Motor Trend Magazine when they tested it early in the 1968 model year. Normally the “high-brow” M/T publication didn’t get too worked up about performance cars back in the day, but the Road Runner by Plymouth they particularly liked. The “Muscle Car” moniker had not really caught on yet for these factory high-performance brutes, hence the usage of the term “super car,” which was a popular early description of factory high-performance cars from Detroit in the general automotive media.
The formula for the Road Runner was “back to the basics,” as in cheap, affordable performance! Plymouth achieved this by combining a stripped-down intermediate Belvedere2-door pillared coupe body with a hopped-up big block engine and bulletproof drive train and eliminating the fluff. It was done in a no-frills manner. “A total lack of unnecessary doodads, gewgaws, and falderal,” is how the early advertising campaign’s copy read. And the Plymouth folks did like this new budget-muscle machine complete with a sense of humor, with cartoon characters of a flightless bird affixed throughout. A daring marketing program to say the least, and the gamble paid off with huge dividends.
The base engine was a big-block 383-cid “wedge” that was factory equipped:
- with 10.0:1compression ratio pistons
- crankshaft wintage tray
- 440 high-flow cylinder heads
- a hotter hydraulic camshaft:.450/.465-inch lift, 276/292-degree duration
- Carter AVSfour-barrel carburetor #4428S
- unsilenced air cleaner
- blocked-off heat risers
- 440 exhaust manifolds
- 2 ¼-inch dual exhausts
This was good for 335 horsepower and 425 lbs./ft. of torque.
Road Runner’s attractive body was slab-sided and devoid of chrome trim pieces. A pair of “GT” style flip-out rear quarter windows were fitted, and the car was considered a “coupe” , because the B-pillars were used in the design. The interior came with a standard rubber mat instead of carpeting, and a vinyl bench seat. Nothing fancy, it was a “taxi-cab” specification arrangement and it added to the plain-Jane theme of the car.
With a base price of $2870.00, it was a true bargain. Especially when you consider it came with:
- F70 x 14-inch“wide boot” rubber
- 11-inch brakes, heavy-duty torsion bars
- beefy .94-inchstabilizer bar
- heavy-duty shocks
- stiffer rear springs
- standard fully synchronized 4-speed
A heavy-duty column-shifted Torqueflite transmission was optional, the car did get a performance-themed “GTX” hood with simulated side scoops and a blacked-out grille.
“The Beep-Beep sound seemed to be exactly the kind of good vibration America’s keenest car nuts were waiting to hear, and the Road Runner turned bird-watching into a national sport overnight.”
When the Road Runner was first launched it simply had a black-painted “Beep-Beep” horn under the hood, but the Chrysler-Plymouth dealerships were flooded with enthusiasts that came in that wanted to see and hear it in person! They were a bit disappointed that it looked like a regular production horn, so in the mid-model year, 1968, the Road Runner’s horn got painted lavender and decaled “Voice of Road Runner.” They still sound cool today!
There was only one engine option: the almighty Hemi with 426 cubes, 425 horsepower, 490 lbs. / ft. of torque. Big hemispherical heads and two inline-four barrels. It was a race engine detuned for the street. The Hemi came with .490-inch lift, 292-degree duration, solid lifter camshaft and 10.25:1 compression pistons. This engine was nicknamed “King Kong” and it was the quick way to get your insurance rates jacked up.
“Ask our engineers what makes a hemi-powered anything the one to beat, and they'll probably give you a lot of talk about volumetric efficiency, heat dissipation, flame travel, gas flow and that sort of technical stuff. Don’t believe it. You can't make an engine like the Hemi with figures and formulas alone. It’s gotta be voodoo, baby!
The initial concept of the car
Car and Driver Magazine’s Senior Editor, Brock Yates, can be credited for coming up with the initial concept of the car, although his vision of an economy “Super Car” from Plymouth was not as “graphic” as what the Road Runner turned out to be. It was early in 1967 when—according to a Road Runner road-test report in the C/D January ’68 issue—Yates had proposed his version of an economy street racer carto management at Chrysler / Plymouth.
His idea was for the automaker to take a stripped-down “business coupe” and fit it with a large production engine, like the 440 Super Commando or even the Hemi. He said to them:" also offer a detuned version of the car, fitted with a smaller mill like the 318-cid small block". Both versions were to look perfectly innocent and rather inconspicuous in outward appearance
The magazine writer told them the car should not have any hood scoops, racing stripes, chrome flashes and razzle-dazzle trim, however, it was to be marketed “cool” primary colors. His econo-racer would cost $2800.00, ready to hit the streets. He also talked about a malicious-looking interior with simple, Stewart-Warner instrumentation, and possibly tinted windows all around, all reminiscent of “Gas Coupe” drag cars from the past.
Yates gave his ideas for this proposed car to Plymouth and was told that the current 1967Belvedere 2-door sedan was “too ugly” for the theme but was given this teaser information: “Wait’ll you see the ’68 coupe—that’s the perfect basis for your car!”
When the magazine staff tested a new Plymouth Road Runner in this January 1968 issue, they pointed out the differences between Yates’ theme and the actual car that the factory produced. With a base price that came within $70.00 of the figure Yates proposed, the Road Runner was indeed affordable. If you wanted the big Hemi, it was an additional $714.00, but well worth it if you were after victory on the stoplight circuit. Just the wow factor alone—when opening the hood—justified the extra cost.
While it came in price-wise very close to the proposed cost to the consumer, the C / D article with the review of the Road Runner was critical of all the “hokey” touches (their words) but stated this sarcastic comment: “Plymouth will probably sell more Road Runners than they ever imagined—and congratulate themselves for being right on target.”
Prior to the debut of the Road Runner, Chrysler’s green eyeshade bean-counter types projected that only some 2,500 would be sold in that first year. But these guys didn't know the minds of street racers… some 44,599 Road Runners were produced in 1968 and for the 1969 model year, that figure was nearly doubled! They under-estimated the budget performance appetite of the youth market, and in a big way. When the sales of the “Beep-Beep” hit the big numbers, they then saw that Brock Yates had been on to something with the idea of a low-cost performance car for the masses.
Called the "Road Runner”
While Yates’ initial idea of a factory hot rod was great, the car’s chosen name, as well as actual tie-in to Warner Bros. – Seven Arts, Inc., was absolutely brilliant! Legend has it that a Chrysler Product Planner employee by the name of Gordon Cherry (who worked for Chrysler/Plymouth product planning manager Jim Smith) was watching the Saturday-morning cartoon channel with his young children, and when the Looney Tunes “Road Runner” program came on, the idea hit him. Call this new car “Road Runner!”
A quick check with the Motor Vehicle Manufacturing Association verified that the “Road Runner” name was in fact available, so it was soon registered. But it was also felt that in order to get the full effect, the actual cartoon character from Warner Bros.- Seven Arts, Inc. (with their permission and blessings) should appear on the car. A meeting was set up with the attorneys, a deal was made, and the rest is history.
Car of the Year
In its second year of production, the 1969 Road Runner was named the “Car of the Year” by Motor Trend Magazine. The announcement came in their February 1969 edition, where they called the machine “clearly the car of the times” in their story. The staffers all agreed that the “Beep-Beep” won top honors in their competition.
A Hemi will out-perform the 383
The Motor Trend staff tested the base 383 Road Runner with a 4-speed transmission and 4.10 gears and got a 14.35-second elapsed time with it, and breaking the 100-mph barrier with it as well, in fact, it went 101.58-mph down the quarter-mile. A TorqueFlite-equipped version (with 3.23:1 rear gears) delivered a 14.70 e.t. at94.63-mph, showing the advantage of lower rear gears and a manual transmission.
Champion driver Ronnie Sox got behind the wheel of a stock 383 ‘Runner and, after Bill “Farmer” Dismuke, from the National Hot Rod Association was there to make sure everything was legit, the car averaged a 14.01 e.t. with the average trap speed being 101.26-mph. The carburetor, intake manifold and cylinder heads were all removed so the compression ratio, valve size, combustion chamber volume and porting could be checked and measured. The car was deemed legal, pure stock.
Evocative artwork was a trait of Mopar advertising in the muscle car era, and besides colorful renderings of their products, the ads listed the drag times and details of test runs, some of which came via legend driver Ronnie Sox.
Naturally, a Hemi Road Runner is going to out-perform the smaller 383-cid versions, but all things considered, the little wedge could really hold its own! A higher-lift cam, tubular headers, larger four-barrel and a set of better tires were popular upgrades of the day, and with some tweaking, the 383-powered ‘Birds' held their own in street wars back in the day.
While the testing was being carried out on various ’69 Road Runners for consideration for the Motor Trend Car of the Year competition, there was a special 383 car assembled by Chrysler that replicated these typical street-racer upgrades, and the results of this test appeared in the “PLYMOUTH TELLS IT LIKE IT IS.” This multi-page ad campaign that ran in Hot Rod, Car Craft and Super Stock &Drag Illustrated magazines in late 1968.
How fast was their modified 383 Road Runner? Using a Chrysler “284” hydraulic camshaft, an Edelbrock hi-riser (#3412004) fitted with a 780-cfm Holley 4-barrel, plus a set of Hooker under-frame headers, the test car ripped off a best-run of 13.62 @104.52 mph (corked) and 13.60 @ 105.50 mph (uncorked), all runs using a pair of Casler 7-inch cheater slicks.
How did the Road Runner test car with 426 Hemi perform? M/T got the best run of 13.56 @105.38-mph with the car in their 2/69 issue, and that car was equipped with the 4.10:1 ring and pinion and TorqueFlite. Other popular periodicals tested other Hemi Road Runners and the results were nearly the same: 13.54 @ 105.14-mph, Car and Driver 1/69 issue, 3.55 gears, automatic transmission, and 13.38 @108.00-mph, SS&DI 1/69, 3.55/auto. East coast, west coast, in the hands of the automotive media, the Hemi Road Runner rocked!
A shining example of a great car
From Mesa, Arizona’s a fully documented 1969 Hemi Road Runner Hardtop, factory equipped with a 4-speed transmission and 4.10 rear gears, 9.75” ring gear. The beautifully restored machine is driven approximately 2000 miles per year and sees regular duty at local cruise events and car shows. These are particularly rare factory options on this beautiful brute is the
- “C14” Rear Shoulder Belts
- along with bucket seats
- a factory 8-Track system
This car came in the popular color “R4 Performance Red” and what gives the car such a breathtaking appearance is the addition of the (factory installed) “V1W Pearlescent White” vinyl roof and “M6W White Bucket Seats / Black Carpet.”
The Road Runner interior was simple and basic, but in the case of this factory 8-track equipped example, the occupants had the choice to listen to some great tunes, or simply the fantastic tones of the powerful Hemi engine that was sitting under the hood! The R22 Solid State AM Radio w/ Stereo Tape option was $196.25.
When the car was ordered, it came with the standard “dog dish” hubcaps like so many Road Runners did back in the day. Many buyers installed aftermarket wheels on the cars to save money; these standard-issue (AKA poverty caps) wheel covers were chosen to help keep the window sticker figure as low as possible. Today these caps help tell the truth of a “budget performance” story of these famous Mopar muscle cars!
Comp T/A P275/60R15 for rear rubber DOT-approved drag radials provide much-improved traction as compared to original tires. Upfront P245/60R15 radials are fitted.
N96 Air Grabber was standard with Hemi, optional on 383. The under-hood cowling sealed to the base of the air cleaner assembly and provided fresh air to the engine.
“KingKong”426-cid Hemi powerplant wore orange war paint and had Black wrinkle-finish valve covers; A/C was never an available option. However, as in the case with this particular car, when equipped with power steering and brakes a Hemi is slightly more civilized while driving on the street.
“Coyote Duster” was the logo on the air cleaner lid on Road Runners equipped with Air Grabber, further promoting the tie-in to the cartoon series that ran on television.
Dash-mounted N85 tachometer (N85) was available and is a highly sought-after option for Road Runner collectors today.
Road Runner caricatures on either door and another on the decklid gave these cars an identity like no other machine on the road. This concept of using a cartoon character on a production automobile was a stroke of marketing genius.
Carter AFB carburetors were used on the Street Hemi. The 1969 manual transmission version had #4619S front, and #4620S rear.
M6W White Bucket Seats with Black Carpet and C21 Center Seat Cushion with Folding Armrest, is part of what makes this car so desirable. This center “buddy bucket seat” was a great way to provide the girlfriend with a place to sit.
This Car is extremely detailed
Hurst supplied shifters on 4-speed equipped Road Runners, and many owners added a “T” handle to them, replacing the standard round ball.
One of the modern upgrades on this particular car is the addition of a magnetic impulse electronic ignition system, the version featured on later-edition Chrysler products.
Most were tossed when the rear end cover was removed for service, but this car still has the original “USE LIMITED SLIP DIFF. LUBE ONLY” tag.
Pull this lever and the Air Grabber induction system goes to work!
This battery is a reproduction Group 27 #2932852. If you’re restoring a muscle car, it pays to get the details correct.
HEMI emblem on the rear deck, lid gave the competitor’s on the street something to tell their friends: I got beat by a Hemi!
4.10 Dana 60 “X” inspection mark was included in the restoration and the underside of this ‘Runner' is fully detailed.
This engine was fully balanced and blueprinted and a Mopar Performance cam upgrade to 524 / 543lift, 292-degree duration and was given, plus a new electronic ignition distributor also from Mopar Performance.
1969 Plymouth Road Runner…and the beep goes on. The second-year for the ‘bird was a very successful one, as some 84,429 were sold. Records indicate that 234 Hemi4-speed Hardtops were built, and the exact number that came in “Performance Red” hue with White Vinyl top is unknown, but it most likely wasn’t many!
That fateful Saturday morning that Gordon Cherry sat down and watched the cartoon show aimed at entertaining children forever changed the American automobile story, at least when the topic of factory performance cars pops up. His naming of the car greatly helped sales around Chrysler / Plymouth dealerships, as well as adding general exposure to the division. Many other manufacturers tried to copy the road Runner theme, but in the end, the Beep-Beep won all contests hands down.
However, it may not have turned out to be such a great story! Records indicate that the Road Runner was originally supposed to be called “La Mancha,” and the use of such a stale, un-exciting name surely would have bombed in the showrooms.
This spectacular Road Runner is a shining example of a great car that Plymouth offered to the public and he’s kept his Red Rocket in pristine condition, all the while not being afraid to take the car out and run it hard, just as originally designed. And somehow a “Hemi La Mancha” just doesn’t have the same magic to it. Thanks to an aficionado for preserving an important chapter in the American automobile history book. Beep-Beep!
