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The Plymouth Road Runner (or Roadrunner) is a mid-size car with a focus on performance built by Plymouth in the United States between 1968 and 1980. By 1968, some of the original muscle cars were moving away from their roots as relatively cheap, fast cars as they gained features and increased in price.
1968: The Road Runner entered the Plymouth line-up. 1970: Duster coupe was introduced in the Valiant line for 1970 as well as the new E-body Barracuda. 1971: The British Hillman Avenger was imported as the Plymouth Cricket; it was discontinued in mid-1973. The new Valiant Scamp two-door hardtop was a badge-engineered Dodge Dart Swinger.
Chrysler introduced major changes in the design of the 1968 model Plymouth B-bodies and the GTX was given a completely new look. A new hourglass body replaced the previous rectilinear design. The high performance 440 was standard in the GTX as was the TorqueFlite automatic transmission, while it was an extra cost option in the Plymouth Road Runner.
Developed specifically for NASCAR racing, the Superbird, a modified Road Runner, was Plymouth's follow-on design to the Charger Daytona fielded by sister company Dodge in the previous season. The Charger 500 version that began the 1969 season was the first American car to be designed aerodynamically using a wind tunnel and computer analysis ...
The 1968 model year was also the introduction of the Plymouth Road Runner that shared the same body as the Satellite and Belvedere models. The 1968 body continued through 1970, with new grilles in 1969 and a minor front and rear restyling for 1970, which was the last year for the Belvedere name.
The 1970 Superbird was a Road Runner with an extended nose cone and front fenders borrowed from the Dodge Coronet, a revised rear window, and a high-mounted rear wing. The Superbird's unique styling was a result of homologation requirements for using the same aerodynamic nose and rear wing when racing the car in the NASCAR series of the time.
The Plymouth Road Runner was introduced as a low-price, high-performance alternative to the GTX. Richard Petty won the Grand National championship in NASCAR in a Belvedere. The GTX came standard with the 440 CID engine and the Road Runner with the 383 Magnum, with the 440 six-barrel or the 426 Hemi engines optional.
The "performance" packages (Road Runner for the Volaré, R/T for the Aspen) were available only on two-door models; they featured mostly trim items and heavy duty suspension systems. [6] The standard engine was Chrysler's 225 cu in (3.7 L) slant six, and was available with a single-barrel carburetor.