1969 Plymouth Road Runner. Wes Eisenschenk
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Название: 1969 Plymouth Road Runner
Автор: Wes Eisenschenk
Издательство: Ingram
Жанр: Автомобили и ПДД
isbn: 9781613254028
isbn:
The Road Runner began taking on a greater role in Plymouth’s lineup with the GTX as a performance option. The GTX began its life as a package on the Belvedere, and now returned to “package” status as the top option on the Road Runner.
The 400 debuted as a bored-out 383 and was standard in the Road Runner with either a 340 or 440 as optional equipment. A handful of 440-6 cars leaked out before the program was shut down due to emissions requirements. The 1972s were the last Road Runners to come standard with a big-block.
The standard engine dropped to a 318-ci with the 400 and 440 as options. The 340 returned in 1973, but was dismissed in favor of the new 360 for 1974. The GTX package remained intact and was acknowledged on the hood and on the deck lid. Both the Satellite and GTX models/options were gone after 1974, with the GTX having only the 440, 440-6, and 426, the only engine options.
For 1975 the Road Runner was moved to the Plymouth Fury line, which had been moved back to the B-Body platform. The base engine was the 318 with the 360 and 400 still on the roster.
This one-year body style had a love-it or hate-it reaction from buyers, and just 7,183 cars rolled off the assembly lines. This was the last year for a big-block optioned machine.
The Road Runner trudged on for another five model years as a Volare option on an F-Body platform. At one point, the Road Runner came standard with a 6-cylinder, with the top option being a 360 with a 4-barrel.
The last year for the Road Runner option on the Volare was 1980. With the top option being a 318 puffing out 120 hp, you could say that the Road Runner died with its V-8 boots on.
This PR sheet from Chrysler announced that a convertible would now be an option on the 1969 Road Runner. Although sales were nominal, the convertible lasted one more year before being discontinued. (Dodge, Plymouth and the AMC design are registered trademarks of FCA US LLC)
With the rush to production in 1968, the Road Runner came on a like a Top Fuel dragster and remained at full throttle through 1969. In that short timeframe more than 125,000 cars were introduced to the public, with very few changes.
The conceptualization of the Road Runner was a collective series of conversations and ideas that started with Pontiac and the GTO. In the cause-and-effect world of muscle cars, it was Pontiac’s creation of the GTO that forced Plymouth to come up with a fast, marketable, and affordable car. Plymouth already had the fast component, and was hard at work looking for the remaining ingredients.
In 1965, Robert “Big Bob” Anderson was named vice president of the Chrysler-Plymouth sales division. By 1967 Anderson was looking for a way to get the kids into the dealerships. Youth was driving the muscle car movement, so he reached out to Car and Driver writer Brock Yates and asked him for his thoughts. Yates suggested stripping down a car and stuffing the biggest engine into it. A novel concept and one that started in the early 1960s with the package cars offered to drag racers. However, these cars generally weren’t available to the buying public and were unsuitable for day-to-day driving. Eventually, the idea trickled down to Product Planning Group Manager Jack Smith.
Smith had planted the seed with his company car; a 1967 Belvedere II packing a 383 4-speed with 11-inch police brakes and redline tires. The Belvedere II was close in concept to Yates’ suggestion. Smith envisioned applying the concept to the newly shaped Plymouth B-Bodies, and it had to be done quickly as 1968 model preparation was in its 11th hour. Jack proposed the idea with naming considerations to be handled by the advertising agency, Young & Rubicam.
Jack Smith poses with a cardboard cutout of the Road Runner. The 1968 Road Runner exceeded sales expectations setting the table for a very fruitful 1969 campaign. (Photo Courtesy Jack Smith)
The easy part of creating a new car was the availability of parts on Chrysler’s shelves. At that time, Chrysler was handling 51 percent of the police car business. Performance brakes, suspension, and various driveline components were being made to fill the orders. With all of the chassis and most driveline components readily available, it came down to finding a name both marketable and relatable to the youth of America.
Gordon Cherry was an assistant to Jack Smith in the Product Planning department. It was Gordon who asked Jack, “Have you ever watched Saturday Morning cartoons?” (Photo Courtesy Mark Cherry)
About a week into the car’s creation Smith’s assistant, Gordon Cherry, came into the office and proclaimed that he had, “a perfect name for the car.” After some bantering between the two, Cherry stated that Smith needed to watch a particular Saturday morning cartoon. Without knowing all the details, Smith agreed to watch the television program the following Saturday regarding a certain bird.
When Smith saw the Road Runner he instantly fell in love. To anyone who may not know the full history of the Road Runner, it was a colorful bird forever being chased by a coyote that could never catch him. Chuck Jones of Warner Brothers created the characters Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner in 1948, and the duo made their debut in Fast and Furry-ous September 17, 1949. And for the next 17 years new episodes were unveiled bringing the series total to 40 shows.
The Road Runner met all the intangibles that Jack was looking for; he just never knew it existed before that Saturday morning. The Road Runner could blast off on a moment’s notice and stop СКАЧАТЬ