By the end of '70, people had already atsrated shifting away from big muscle cars. I think the Corvette's size saved it, along with it's name and performance. The larger cars just didn't have the same call anymore.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plymouth_Road_Runner

 

In the mid 70s you could not give those old Mopars away. Hemi cars were going to 500 bucks because nobody wanted to fill the tank of those gas pigs. I remember many of them for sale for not much money. If you were smart you would have bought them all. I wonder how many went to the crusher because nobody wanted them. They were rattle traps also.

 

Those Roadrunners are going anywhere from $15,000-$25,000 on the market for a clean one...
Barret Jackson had one 69 426 (replacement engine) sell for $64,000...grossly over priced IMO,as there is a clean 69 426 running around here locally for $15,000 or so...I was tempted,but my 69 Vette was a much better deal with the 502 at higher cost..

Funny..my 69 RR did not rattle...hood rippled at 100+ though...
Rich

 

No kidding. Had I been alive...I'd have a row of Hemi cars, mostly Cudas and Chargers. I can't believe how much money those cars are worth now.

 

Yeah, but a '69 Roadrunner with the 6 pack hood just looks bad a**!!

Not so quick story...

In my little home town, in the mid 70's there was a beautiful '68 post top Roadrunner. 383, bench seat, 4 speed, Cragar SS's. The guy worked at the local Texaco and was the second owner. He parked it out on the corner for us all to drool over every day we drove by. He kept the blue paint polished to the hilt and had it jacked up slightly with air shocks and torsion bars. Underneath the front was painted white...had that Grumpy Jenkins cool look. (trivia- Lots of racers painted suspension and underside of car white so cracks could be seen easier on all the acid dipped components. Plus it made it easier to work on at little back country po-dunk tracks with dirt pits.)

When I was in high school I worked at a dealership and we did lots of hot rod stuff for the local guys. He brought it in to have 4.30 gears put in it to replace the 3.91's and I got to do it.

After I graduated, he sold it to a kid still in high school who had come up with some money. The kid pulled motor, rebuilt it in autoshop with all the best stuff. It had forged pistons, it was balanced, new cam etc etc. Not sure what happened, but somewhere in it's first hundred miles it scattered the rods out of it. So, being out of money, he found a used 440 to drop in it.

While out playing at the local 1/4 mile street race area, he somehow twisted the input shaft on the trans and scattered the 440 and coasted to the side of the road and left it out there for a couple of days without towing it home. When he came back for it. someone had busted a window out and stolen the tach off the column (you remember..you used a big hose clamp to hold it there!) They also took a shotgun...(here's the amazing part) and fired it into a couple of the mags. Can you imagine standing in front of a steel/aluminum wheel and firing a shotgun directly at it at close range???? They didn't even get a pellet dent in the sheetmetal though. Must be something about Roadrunners and firearms huh? I mean the whole idea of the pistol grip shifter was supposed to emulate the .357 or .44 Magnum that you would stick under the front seat! To go along with your *6 pak*.....geez those were the days!!

Kid was pretty depressed when he got it home. Two blown motors and a busted trans. He loaded the remnants of the 383 in the trunk and left it in the driveway. My boss was a big Mopar lover so when it came for sale for $500 he jumped on it.

We then found a '71 383 Magnum Cuda with 3.91's, pistol grip 4 speed and so much rust it was insane. But drivetrain was stout. We also found another blue GTX that had been hit by a train in right side. But we got the window out of it and other little pieces. The 383 was feshened with a small cam and we put the Roadrunner back together. My boss sold it to another guy in town and he really cleaned it up. painted it and brought it back to life the way it should be.

Enter me....I had never owned a Mopar, but I couldn't resist it and I bought the sucker after one test drive and a few powershifts. I kept it for a few months and we raced everything around. It was a mid-high 12 sec car with traction...low 13's on street tires of the day. Another long story, but back then I used to buy/trade cars every 90 days or so. So when the Roadrunner's turn came to sell, I told my best friend he needed to own it. Of course he says he don't want no Mopar no matter how fast it runs. Hmmmnnnnnnn.......

So the next Sunday I tell him we're going to the 1/8th mile track and beat on it some. All the way over I'm telling him how he needs to own it. He's ridden in it a lot, but never driven it. He keeps laughing at me. So I throw him the keys at the track...he makes one run and comes back down return road. When I walk up to the driver's window, he looks at me and tells me to "Get your stuff out of MY car!!"

That was probably 25+ years ago...he still owns it. It's gone through 383's, 440's etc etc. It's currently waiting for him to finish his '65 Vette (see we DID talk about Vette's here!) and it will be getting a 528" Hemi with a G-force 5 speed or a Jerico 4 speed and be a bad boy once again!!

Oh yeah...remember I said the guy at the gas station was the second owner? When I got married and we hired a photographer...turns out HE was the original owner of it. He sold it when the kids came along. He still lusts after it everytime he sees it!!

Wait 'till I tell you sometime about the '69 4 speed Hemi Roadrunner another guy in town had. His wife literally drove it to work at Woolworths everyday!!

Those WERE the days for cool cars!!


JIM

 

Its not a 69 R.R. but this 67 GOAT was a lot of fun to drive.

 

This thread is quite entertaining! Thanks.
None of those Mopars could touch a 290HP 302 Z28 with 4.11 rear in 1/4 mile. I saw many try...and none succeed...what they are good for is top end...they can stretch out on a long flat road and leave ya settin'..

 

Was? I'm guessing you no longer have it? Bummer man...she's a beut.

 

..

Not exactly correct! I know it`s not fair to compare a little Z with Chryslers best, but you have heard of such a thing as a "Hemi" am I correct? Ok, I guess enought said.

 

Nope..the Z I'm talking bout was bone stock and took a Hemi Cuda...No lie!!...The Cuda could not hook up...and the Z was gone. But anyway, 302 CI and 290hp took on and beat every 440, 383 and Ford CJ that came at it! Nuff Said!..

There is a reason nobody kept the Mopar's until the recent craze...they are dogs and couldn't carry a Chevy's spare tires!

 

[QUOTE=dosoctaves]Nope..the Z I'm talking bout was bone stock and took a Hemi Cuda...No lie!!...The Cuda could not hook up...and the Z was gone. But anyway, 302 CI and 290hp took on and beat every 440, 383 and Ford CJ that came at it! Nuff Said!..

There is a reason nobody kept the Mopar's until the recent craze...they are dogs and couldn't carry a Chevy's spare tires![/QUOTE

Interesting....tires and all....

 

I turned down a 70 Superbird for $1,700. in 74 because I thought the wing was too goofy looking to park at work and it would use way more gas than my $80 per week salary could afford

 

I know this one was plenty quick with 4:56's

 

You may be surprised to learn that the CD for that car was .28....but the wing killed it,as you say...

Rich

 

[QUOTE=rihwoods]Sorry to bust your bubble but in the real world that never happens. Bench racing is just that. The I know someone who does this deal.
Heres the real world Not exactly your ordinary street hemi
If that not enough you can hear the engine run at http://www.nitroalley.net and get the full details on this one of a kind Cuda.

 

[QUOTE=Ironcross]"Interesting....tires and all".... was a pun on the Z comment..

 

What is a CD and please don't say one of those disks that slide into my computer.

 

.Drag coefficient.....mainly the frontal area design...(the wing did not come into picture until car exceeded 150 mph generating down force....) In fact,the height of the wing allowed for the trunk to open...

Petty adopted the car. The 1970 Superbird did well against strong Ford opposition on the NASCAR tracks that year, winning eight races and placing well in many more.



Rich

 

Okay I got it

I remember seeing a couple of either SuperBees or Daytonas when new and I was in my early teens.

They seems a bit over the top at the time, sure would like to own one now