1968 | Plymouth Road Runner Hardtop Coupe

Plymouth triggered the “Beep Beep” craze in the 1968 model year, as this was the first year in which a vehicle with the name Road Runner was sold. The Chrysler Cooperation paid a few dollars to Warner Brothers for the naming rights to the famous ultra-fast cartoon bird, the Road Runner. Subsequently, the 1968 Plymouth Belvederes were fitted with powerful 6.3-liter V8 big block engines and Roadrunner decals, and the Plymouth Roadrunner was born. This advertising investment paid off as sales figures were much higher than expected, making it one of the most successful muscle car launches of all time.

Here we can now offer one of these first 1968 Plymouth Road Runners. It impresses not only with its brilliant-looking blue exterior paintwork and all-black interior, but also because great care was taken during the restoration to keep the overall appearance as original as possible. A great deal of effort was put into some of the details.

If you look into the original engine compartment, a 383cui Hi Performance engine is installed, which runs cleanly on all 8 cylinders. Instead of the original carburetor, a** 4-barrel carburetor** (Edelbrock AVS 2) has been fitted, but this is mainly due to better functionality. It has an electric choke, better mixture preparation in the first stage, which means less fuel consumption and more torque, and the second stage is adjustable so that no acceleration hole has to be tolerated. However, the design and mode of operation is derived from the Carter AVS carburetors fitted ex works.

Original** HP cast manifolds** are also fitted. They are significantly larger from the outside, as well as in air flow, than the manifolds of the low performance engines. They are even the same as those fitted to the 440cui ex works. One more reason why the 383cui works perfectly at the upper revs. But don't get fooled, even burnouts are no problem for this potent engine.

To prevent the car from overheating during all this fun, it was recently fitted with a new, high-quality** water cooler**. The original air baffle around the fan, which is missing on most vehicles, is still in top condition and present here. This means that the fan not only paddles air around in the engine compartment, but also actively draws enough of it through the radiator. Cooling problems are a thing of the past with this vehicle.

The original Road Runner horn is also installed in the engine compartment. Unfortunately, this is defective. However, a second horn has been fitted in a slightly more concealed area for the function. We can also fit a new horn, although (fun fact:) the original '68 Road Runner horns were painted black, just like the exterior stickers, which are black and white reflective. It was not until the 1969 model year that they were colored on the Road Runner. The same applies to the horn, which was painted purple from 1969 onwards.

The gears are engaged automatically by an A727 automatic gearbox. Although this transmission is no longer the original one that was installed ex works, decoding has revealed that it is a genuine heavy-duty transmission and had previously been used in a 1969 Mopar muscle car behind a 440cui or 383 HP engine. The shifting behavior is clean in full-load shifts, even the critical full-load shift from 2 to 3 flows cleanly without slipping.

ready to take burnouts

The power is transmitted vibration-free to the stable 8 ¾ inch rear axle with a genuine **muscle car cardan shaft **(larger universal joints, type 7290). The 3.23:1 rear axle ratio installed there ensures a balanced ratio of torque for acceleration, but not too high engine speed at cruising speed. As the icing on the cake, a differential lock has even been installed so that stereo burnouts can be carried out directly (we tested, it already).

The Road Runner has already been converted to disc brakes at the front so that all the acceleration can be reduced in line with the times. As a real muscle car, it has large 11x 2 1/2” drum brakes at the rear. In the brake test, they were convincing and gripped really well. Especially together with the front disc brakes. This is a construction version that was fitted to Chrysler from 1973 onwards. Also installed is a new original style Bendix brake booster, i.e. not a cheap universal booster as is often found on sales vehicles. The manual steering is a little more difficult to operate when stationary, but once the car is rolling, there is no sign of this and nothing stands in the way of driving pleasure.

A relatively new twin exhaust system with almost original style mufflers is installed under the car. The Roadrunner is fitted with 215/70ZR14 tires front & rear (DOT Jan. 2021). The** 14” rims** are the icing on the cake. He has mounted the Chrome Road Wheels. So not the rims with a chrome trim ring, which most vehicles had on them ex works, but here the rim bed itself is chrome-plated. They are in very good condition, so we assume that the rims have been replaced at some point. The 14” diameter gives the tires a very nice classic look with such a large sidewall.

The handling of the Road Runner is very good and provides a safe driving experience. It accelerates well and the bubbling V8 sound is pleasant to enjoy in the interior. Thanks to the mild pots, there is no droning in the interior.

The original anti-roll bar is fitted at the front, an important component for a stable chassis, which makes it all the more astonishing that only the real muscle cars were fitted with this from the factory.

However, we were unable to find out how the car had previously passed its MOT. The rubber bushes on the front and rear axles were very porous and had already partially disintegrated. We quickly replaced them at the front and rear with new, more durable polyurethane bushes and readjusted the front axle.

Overall, the body is in very good condition. The front and rear frames are straight and show no signs of rusting through. In addition, the lower rear quarters have already been replaced once. Also typical of Mopar was the trunk floor, which was probably no longer good and had already been completely replaced with a new part in the past. All emblems and trim strips are present and fitted. The windshield frame is in perfect condition and the windshield has also been replaced in the past.

The interior is particularly impressive. The** interior** makes a very good and as-new impression. Starting with the front and rear bench seats. They have been given** new** black covers, and the old original emblems have even been reused and attached, which are not included with new seat covers. The seat pattern is the correct Road Runner original. The black headliner and the black carpet are also in top condition and must have been replaced at some point. The black door panels are also intact and the seat belts are as good as new, intact and complete.

The electrical inspection we carried out shows that the heater and fan, as well as all dashboard displays and indicator lights, are working. An extra and rare option here is the** rev counter**, which is integrated into the dashboard alongside the alternator, fuel, speedometer and temperature gauges. Because it is a genuine Road Runner, **the speedometer **display also goes up to 120 miles. The original radio is also fitted. What we were particularly pleased to see is that the switch panel has been given 5 new, chrome-plated buttons, and the function labels under the buttons also look like freshly printed. The glove compartment is also in mint condition, as is the dashboard, which is new and has the original look, meaning that no cheap plastic overlay was used here, but instead the focus was on quality as well as the original look.

Technically, the vehicle has already been fully checked by us and the last defects have been rectified.

Of course, as with all our cars for sale, we have checked the body stamp numbers. They match the fender tag; this is a genuine Road Runner. This is a little more complex with 1968 vehicles, but if you are interested, you can have it explained by our boss during an inspection. The engine was cast on June 19, 1968, so it can't be the original one, but the year of manufacture fits. The gearbox comes from a 1969 Mopar muscle car, so it is periot correct and has the HD internals it needs to withstand the power of the engine for a long time.

Fender Tag decoded:

• CAR: Plymouth RoadRunner 2 Door Hardtop
• ENGINE: 383cid 4-bbl HP V8
• TRANSMISSION: 3-Speed Automatic
• TIRES: F70x14 Red Sidewall, Steel Belted
• MODEL YEAR: 1968
• BUILD DATE: July 09.
• AXLE: Unknown Axle Code (8 3/4" Hinterachse mit 3,23 : 1 und Sperre)
• INTERIOR: White on Tan Interior.
• JJ1 PAINT: Ember Gold Metallic (Plymouth)
• MOLDINGS:
• 25: Drip Rail Mouldings
• ABC OPTIONS: R1: AM Radio
• Y6: Black Vinyl Top
• Z8: Performance Hood Treatment (Roadrunner/GTX)

At present, the Road Runner still has 2 paint defects, but as long as these are not repaired, the car can also be sold at a lower price. Overall, however, this 1968 Road Runner is in really good condition and on top of that the car already has German papers, TÜV and H license plates. So just register it, turn the key and drive off... Beep Beep.

Are you interested in this car? Then take a look at our website Moparshop.com/Cars4Sale or leave us a message. The great car can of course be viewed by appointment.

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