Page 1 of 1 While the competitors dominated the newly created affordable muscle car market, Plymouth was left out. In 1967 the company decided to jump on the band wagon and turn the two-door Belvedere in a serious street racer. Serious might not be the correct word for the cartoon inspired Road Runner that was the result of this work. Equipped with stickers depicting the popular Warner Brothers cartoon figure and a 'beep-beep' horn to complete the package, some people at Chrysler believed the development team had taken the theme step too far and did not expect the Road Runner to be much of a success. What really mattered for muscle car fans was performance and the new Plymouth packed enough punch to convince even the company's biggest sceptics.
At the car's introduction two engines and a wide variety of other options were available. The base engine was the familiar 383 ci V8 that had powered many Chrysler cars before the Road Runner. For its new purpose it was fitted with a hot cam and heads derived from the much bigger 440 ci 'Super Commando' V8, boosting power to 335 bhp. Of course the Hemi engine could not be omitted from the muscle car's line-up and for $714,30 extra the 425 bhp engine was fitted. Fixed pillar and pillarless coupe bodystyles were available in 1968, complemented by a convertible the following two years. Late 1969 the 440 ci Magnum engine was added to the line-up to bridge the gap between the stock and Hemi engines. In three carb 'Six Pack' form this big block V8 was very close to the Hemi for half the cost. Production of this engine was limited because Edelbrock was not able to produce enough intake manifolds.
Still not fully convinced, Chrysler's executives expected to sell just a few thousand Road Runners. At the end of 1968 the Beep-Beeps were heard throughout North America from the nearly 45,000 examples sold. Only around 1,000 were equipped with the Hemi engine. In 1969 the success continued with sales almost doubling, 2,128 examples were convertibles. Competition from other companies and new Chrysler products meant that the sales dropped considerably in 1970 to just over 40,000. A special edition aerodynamic version was added to the line-up. Similar to the Charger Daytona, this 'Superbird' was available with the six-pack or Hemi engine. Although it had an unmatched top speed, its sharp nose and huge rear wing were not very well received. With only 1920 examples produced these Superbirds are very much sought after today. For 1971 major modifications were carried out, and Road Runners were built for some years to come, but never matched the performance or popularity of the 1968 - 1970 models.
Pictured in the Walter P Chrysler Museum's muscle car basement is one of the rare 'Six Pack' Road Runners. Officially the 'Six Pack' name was only used for Dodge models equipped with the six barrel engine, but the catchy name stuck. On the Road Runner the 440+6 sticker on the back and the 6BBL badge on the removable fiberglass engine cover were easily recognizable signs of the engine's potential. Between 1969 and 1971 only 3,384 examples of the 390 bhp engine were constructed of which a large number found their way into the Road Runner. Page 1 of 1
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Road Runner 440+6 HT Coupe
While the competitors dominated the newly created affordable muscle car market, Plymouth was left out. In 1967 the company decided to jump on the band wagon and turn the two-door Belvedere in a serious street racer. Serious might not be the correct word for the cartoon inspired Road Runner that was the result of this work. Equipped with stickers depicting the popular Warner Brothers cartoon figure and a 'beep-beep' horn to complete the package, some people at Chrysler believed the development team had taken the theme step too far and did not expect the Road Runner to be much of a success. What really mattered for muscle car fans was performance and the new Plymouth packed enough punch to convince even the company's biggest sceptics.