If the Pontiac GTO was the godfather of muscle cars, the Plymouth Road Runner was its son. Like the GTO, the Road Runner was the product of marketing smarts and solid equipment, but courtesy of Warner Brothers, it also had the grace of being novel in ways that no other car could.
Image courtesy of Jim Campisano
One of the things that can be confusing about Road Runners is how they’re rimmed. The 1968 original was initially available as a coupe with B-pillars; add the Road Runner Decor Group and you’d receive more brightwork and a fancier interior, plus the rubber floor mat would be replaced by carpet (though only early cars received the rubber floor mat). That changed for 1969 after Plymouth realized it had a good thing going. In some ways, purists can claim Plymouth dumbed down the Road Runner for more mass appeal, but make no mistake, the Road Runner was the progenitor of the budget supercar, and it continued to strut like it owned the market. With over 80,000 built, it practically did.
Image courtesy of Jim Campisano
Lee Saunders is the owner of this “F8’ Ivy Green Metallic 1969 Road Runner. You can tell by the chrome B-pillars it has the Decor Package (with 1969’s new coding structure, it was “A87”), and you can tell by the badging on the hood that it is equipped with the 426 Hemi. Watch the below video and you’ll find a bench seat with a Hurst four-speed shifter, making this perhaps the quintessential Road Runner (though some would make the case for the ’68).
If you like muscle cars, be sure to check out more videos from Muscle Car Campy.
