1968 Plymouth Road Runner

[Dan Bennett]

I didn't own one, but my brother bought the first hardtop 68 Road Runner I'd ever seen in the spring/summer of 68. None of the magazines (which was our only source for info) had mentioned that option yet so I did a serious doubletake when he brought it home.

It was really too pretty to be a Road Runner. It was light yellow, had a two tone tan interior including carpet, had road wheels with trim rings, and chrome around the windows. The wide ovals were even thin line whitewalls. It didn't have any performance options at all; in fact I think the 3:23 rear end wasn't even Sure Grip. It looked like a really nice Belvedere and would have been the sleeper of all time if it had a Hemi.

The car ran OK but since it was pretty heavy with the options and he was a goob anyhow, it wasn't something anyone was afraid to pull next to.

I drove the car a bit that summer and the thing I remember more than anything was the great intake sound from the open aircleaner and AFB. I'd kick the Torqueflite down any chance I could just to listen those secondaries open.

I thought the car was pretty neat back then but looking back on it I'd probably rather have the 58 348 Impala he traded in.

[Mike Gray]

There's another one I messed up on. My neighbor had a dark green RR in his driveway and he was trying to decide what to do with it because he didn't have the money to put the original engine back in it. Someone replaced the HEMI with a 383, I bet I could have picked it up for about 2K !
(this was in 1976)

[Mike Gray]

Originally Posted by Greg Reimer 7376

I had a '69. Same car, 383,4speed,bench seat, rubber floor mats, 2 dr. post with tillt out rear windows,orange with black stripes, black vinyl top,3.23 gears, NO posi,ran 15.31 at the original Irwindale strip in 1976 at 92 MPH. Great car. It handles pretty well for what it was, never gave me any problems, I sold it in 1976 with just under 100,000 miles on it.

Greg, I was running my mustang at Irwindale at the same time (usually Wednesday nights)
What area were you from? I grew up in West Covina, spent time at Irwindale, OCIR and Whittier Blvd.

[Paul Ceasrine]

All the Road Runners were supposed to be equipped with the
Sure-Grip Posi-rear as standard equipment.

The standard gears were 3.23's.
But for $88 (a wise investment) you could get the 'Performance Axle',
3.55 gears with the Sure-Grip Posi.

The first cars out in October 1967, were pillared post cars, with the
swing out quarter-glass.

pc

[Chris DeGidio]

My Dad bought a 70 model right after he came back from Viet Nam.383 4-speed 3.23's coupe Vitamin C orange with burnt orange bench seats.Raced it at Budds Creek and later at Gainesville,eventually ran 12.23 with the stock OEM shortblock, street hemi cam and the usual bolt on's

Still have it and it's undergoing a full resto,we kept all the original parts we took off to go racing except the hood.

[goinbroke2]

When we came back from Germany in 73 (dad was airforce) one of the first cars in town I saw was a jacked up bright orange 68 or 69 road runner with "Vitamin C" wrote across the back fenders.
I remember it was a 4 spd and had chrome 440 badges on the hood where the 383 should be. (or did they come with 440 badges?)

Loved that car as well as the red 55 chev with a blown bigblock that i used to help push down the neighbors driveway to start. it had a tilt front end and chrome ladderbars. (didn't have a starter for some reason)

If i was only a little older....

[Paul Ceasrine]

Those first Road Runners came equipped with the outright pathetic
'Inland Shifter',,,,,remember them.

Then in mid-year 68', Mopar got smart, and changed over to the
'Hurst' standard model shifter unit.

And also offered carpeting in the Road Runner, as well as the
'hardtop' model, with roll-down quarter glass.

pc

[Rick Schilling]

A close friend of mine bought a new one in 68. It was a medium green with a matching vinyl top and black interior. It ran good, looked good, and sounded great. But to this day he still kicks himself for letting the salesman talk him out of ordering one with a Hemi, which is what he really wanted. He told him that it would probably take a really long time to get and it would cost him around $500 more! Of course the one he bought was on the lot and available for immediate delivery. So much for hindsight.

[Paul Ceasrine]

This was one of the advertisements that got the 'Beep Beep' going,
the mid-year addition of the 'hardtop Road Runner'.

Not sure if anyone remembers the 'special Beep Beep horn'.
with the Road Runner decal on it.

[Greg Reimer 7376]

Originally Posted by Mike Gray

Greg, I was running my mustang at Irwindale at the same time (usually Wednesday nights)
What area were you from? I grew up in West Covina, spent time at Irwindale, OCIR and Whittier Blvd.

I grew up/lived in Temple City at the time. I sold the Runner in fall of '76. My other automotive excitement at the time was a red '62 impala SS with a 409, dual AFB's and all. With a 4 speed, 4:88's and some 10 inch slicks, it ran low 13's at around 106-107. It had spoked American mags, and was the most brutal car I ever drove. The torque waas so immense that most of my buddies couldn't believe what a full throttle power shifting run felt like in something like that. Here, 35 years later, I still do this stuff. Currenty, it's a red 68 Chevelle, either a K/SA 2 door hardtop, or an O/SA 4 door wagon.It's all still fun.Doesn't matter if its Winternationals, test and tune, or the Summit Racing Series.