1968 Plymouth Road Runner

[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.

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[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.

[Dan Bennett]

Originally Posted by 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 color of the 'special Beep Beep horn'.
Purple,,,,

I'm glad you posted the ad as I hadn't seen it. It's interesting since it shows the car on chrome Magnum 500s. I positively remember my brother's 68 having the Magnums with the brushed aluminum trim rings. I remember it clearly since the 68 AMX I had at the time had the chrome versions and I always managed to get a rise out of him since he had the "cheap wheels".

As for the horn, I remember reading about the money that Mopar had to pay Warner Brothers in order to use the Road Runner image and the sound of the horn. I think they got away cheap compared with what Pontiac had to pay per car on the Trans Am.

[Don Morris]

After a 3 year stint with a '70 429 SCJ Torino, and with cash burning burning a hole in my pocket, I bought a '68 Hemi RR off a used car lot in Denver in '74. That thing ran so bad, it would hardly rev up. Needless to say, I was a bit dissapointed. Soon enough though, I started learning about tuning on a hemi. It was such a kick to drive. You just wanted to put your foot in it all the time. Turns out someone had installed 4.89 (4.88?) gears in it. No wonder it thrilled.

One of the most memorable times on the street was a Boss 429 that took three beatings one evening, before he resigned himself to the fact that he did not have the beans to beat the Hemi.

At the risk of embarrassment though, I must admit I got beat pretty badly by a very stock appearing '701/2 Z28 on another occasion. I suspect that he was not sporting a 350. All I saw was his tailights as he kept pulling away. Ouch!

I later turned that car into my first Stock Eliminator ride in about 1976.

That's my Road Runner story.

[greg fulk]

My Grandfather said he loved to see 390 Fairlanes, Comets, & 383 Road Runners @ the track with his 66 Impala SS 396/325....But said the 57 Chevy FI cars were another story!( he had the trophys to prove it)