1968 Plymouth Road Runner

[Chris DeGidio]

Originally Posted by bill dedman

Thanks, Paul!!!!

Wow; I wonder where I could get a pair of those "heavy-dury" rear drums and shoes for my '64 Valiant slant 6 turbo car? I need all the help I can get, holding it on the starting line, power-braking tobuild boost for the launch (don't want to have to put a trans-brake in it, if I can help it...)

I'm thinking these wide, 11" brakes would do wonders.... but where in the world would I find a set????

Dodge trucks use them in the 70's-80's.

[bill dedman]

Originally Posted by Chris DeGidio

Dodge trucks use them in the 70's-80's.

Thanks, Chris; we are planning on trying to use full boost from a power-brake "launch," which is a good prescription for "rolling the lights," so exemplary rear brakes will be mandatory. We'll probably end up with a transbrake, but that's gonna be a last resort... don't wanna have to do that unless there's just no other way.

Thanks again; that truck application opens up a whole different area of possibilities, and one I probably would never have thought of!

You da man....

[BlueOval Ralph]

Lamb use to make a pinion brake that bolt on the front of the rear end air operated, this deal would hold.

Originally Posted by Chris DeGidio

Dodge trucks use them in the 70's-80's.

[bill dedman]

Originally Posted by BlueOval Ralph

Lamb use to make a pinion brake that bolt on the front of the rear end air operated, this deal would hold.

Boy, that sounds like a deal...

Any chance Lamb still has one for sale???

Maybe I need to call them??????

Thanks, Ralph!

[Paul Ceasrine]

Cheech,

Performance results of the 1968 383 Road Runner were all over
the board,,,,,,,,depends on what magazine article and review analysis
you read.

Originally, Plymouth advertised the Road Runner as 'a $3000 car,
and 100 MPH'.

Also, advertised it as 'a low 14.00 second car and 100 MPH, for less than $3000'.

Here are some of the 'Magazine' results I found;

15.31 @ 91 MPH (Car Life),,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Automatic with 3.23 gears

15.10 @ 94 MPH (Popular Mechanics),,,4-speed with 3.23 gears

15.01 @ 94 MPH (Cars Magazine),,,,,,,,,,4-speed with 3.23 gears

15.00 @ 96 MPH (Car Craft),,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,4-speed with 3.23 gears

14.74 @ 98 MPH (Hot Rod),,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,4-speed with 3.55 gears

15.03 @ 94 MPH (Car & Driver),,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Automatic with 3.23 gears

14.89 @ 94 MPH (Hi Performance),,,,,,,,,,,4-speed with 3.23 gears

14.86 @ 94 MPH (Super Stock),,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Automatic with 3.55 gears

14.99 @ 95 MPH (Popular Hot Rodding),,,4-Speed with 3.23 gears

15.09 @ 93 MPH (Detroit Auto News),,,,,,,Automatic with 3.23 gears

15.01 @ 93 MPH (Motor Trend),,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Automatic with 3.55 gears

14.90 @ 93 MPH (Road Test),,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,4-Speed with 3.55 gears

All tests were performed between October 1967 and December 1967.

pc

[X-TECH MAN]

Most (not all) magazine writers couldnt drive a nail with a hammer. Put a decent driver behind the wheel and they could shave about 1/2 of a second off of those times.

[bill dedman]

Originally Posted by x-tech man

most (not all) magazine writers couldnt drive a nail with a hammer. Put a decent driver behind the wheel and they could shave about 1/2 of a second off of those times.

x-2...

[Dan Bennett]

Originally Posted by X-TECH MAN

Most (not all) magazine writers couldnt drive a nail with a hammer. Put a decent driver behind the wheel and they could shave about 1/2 of a second off of those times.

I agree. Don't forget, we were lucky enough to have guys like Rick Voegelin (Project X) and Steve Collison (IHRA record holder in 396/375 Chevelle) writing back in the day. They would fit the "not all" segment. Steve was my last editor before he passed away and I think of him a lot. I can't think of anyone more dedicated to class racing than he was.

But to illustrate your point, we also had the editors whose favorite thing was to get kicked out of a press day by abusing the cars and doing donuts.

Edit - can't believe I left out John Dianna before he joined the suits in the boardroom.

[Paul Ceasrine]

To be fair,,,,,,,,,,,some of the automotive and performance car magazine
writers were a little 'jaded' in their views.

Of course, if the car was pulled off a dealer lot, or out of the showroom, and without a minor tuning and carb tweaking, the quarter-mile results
could be disastrous.

And if the driver was weak with the 4-speed shifting, another calamity
could occur when logging 1/4 mile times.

On the magazine automotive editor front, Motor Trend Magazine did try to put a proper driver behind the wheel, to get the lowest possible elapsed time with a stock car.
Motor Trend did question Chrysler-Plymouth's claim of 14.00's @ 100 MPH,
and did prove it 'false', when the Automatic Transmission '383' Road Runner with 3.55 gears that they tested, only pulled 15.00s @ 93 MPH.

Thus giving the 1968 Pontiac GTO, the 1968 Motor Trend Car of the Year Award.