The Muscle Car That Embarrassed General Motors: How Plymouth Turned a Cartoon Bird Into a GTO Killer
2.8K views · Sep 25, 2026 · People & Blogs
Comments · 7
@larryfromwisconsin9970 · 20 hours ago
I was 13 years old in 1967. Your history is spot on from what I remember. The only detail I would add is that Plymouth didn't do a lot of new engineering for the Road Runner. They just applied the Police car features to a coupe. Cop suspension, cop brakes, cop interior.
@garyszewc3339 · 2 days ago (edited)
For the story not told here, all early 68's were posts, with pop out rear windows, with hardtops, with roll down windows, added mid year. They did not have the rights, in 1968. 68's have a different bird, in black and white, while 69's on, have the color Warner Bros bird. 68's all had bench seats, for weight reduction, while 69, buckets, a console, and a convertible were options. The radio wasn't deleted, radios were all optional on pretty much all but luxury cars. Air conditioning was not an option, and neither were power windows. The horn was black, for 68, but purple 69 and beyond. The only outside trim available, was an upgraded piece on the deck lid. No air induction was offered until 69. They were built for one reason. To go a quarter mile, as fast as possible, as cheap as possible.
1
@ScottMiller-r8o · 3 days ago
Beautiful!
2
@RobertFlint-b2z · 13 hours ago
My 68 Road Runner w/383, 4 speed was as advertised. All of it. At 21, I had rated tires for the speed then had them shaved perfectly round and tested it on a 6 mile stretch with no cross traffic. My speedometer went to 120 but the needle went way past it, by my estimate to 150, but I buried it until it was dancing up and down. There was only one vehicle in front of me and I passed it so fast it was crazy fast. That's when I slowed down to 125 then 90. It was then I noticed the telephone poles. Yikes! From a stop after I let the clutch out at idle, I would floor it and the single right rear would spin and the speedometer would hit 60 in first gear. Yep, it was more fun being in the 70's in my 20's than in the 20's in my 70's.😂🎉
1
@BlaineDeines · 1 day ago
I had a 6968 GTX for speed and I have a 68 convertible. I love those cars nothing like them on top of that. You didn’t mention that the gas was not that bad.
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@BlaineDeines · 1 day ago
I also have a 70 roadrunner 383 love them nothing like it
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