Junkyard Find: 1975 Plymouth Road Runner

Murilee Martin
by Murilee Martin

We got an overview of Colorado’s Brain-Melting Junkyard yesterday, and today we’ll take a closer look at one of its residents. This is one of the rarest of Road Runner s, a one-year-only version that was based on the downsized B-Body Fury

The original 1968-70 Road Runner was quite a deal for muscle car shoppers; you got the same kind of absurd power as the Pontiac GTO and Ford Cobra Jet Torino, but cheaper. Plenty of these cars survive today, but most of us can’t afford a nice one (though a Road Runner-ized Belvedere could be built on a more limited budget). However, you can afford a genuine 1975 Road Runner… if you can find one.

The interior shows some Cordoba influence. I wonder if those buckets are covered in Corinthian Leather.

I always enjoy the simplicity of factory AM radios of the 1960s and 1970s. The crazy thing is how expensive car audio gear was back then; this radio was probably a $200 option.

The hood release was broken, so I didn’t get any shots of the smog-gear-strangled 318 or 360 that almost certainly lives in this car. 1975 model-year cars are emissions-exempt in most states, so it would be easy to upgrade this car to proper power levels.

Here’s the only thing I bought during my visit to this yard; I saw the Kansas Wheat Centennial license plate on this car and had to have it for garage decoration. Five bucks well spent!








Murilee Martin
Murilee Martin

Murilee Martin is the pen name of Phil Greden, a writer who has lived in Minnesota, California, Georgia and (now) Colorado. He has toiled at copywriting, technical writing, junkmail writing, fiction writing and now automotive writing. He has owned many terrible vehicles and some good ones. He spends a great deal of time in self-service junkyards. These days, he writes for publications including Autoweek, Autoblog, Hagerty, The Truth About Cars and Capital One.

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  • Maverick74 Maverick74 on Jul 15, 2012

    With a bit of attention, especially to the floors and interior, that would make an excellent weekend runabout.

  • Rabscuttle Rabscuttle on Nov 16, 2019

    What is that car doing in the junkyard? It seems restorable to me. N.A.D.A. now has the high retail value of 1975 Roadrunners at more than $20,000. I wonder how that car got to be junked so early. With 1975 license plates on it, could it really have been junked after less than a year? 11/16/2019

  • FreedMike Off topic, but folks, this site is not working well for me from a technical standpoint, and it doesn't matter if I'm using my phone, or my computer (on two different browsers). It locks up and makes it impossible to type anything in after a certain point. Anyone else having these issues?
  • Syke Kinda liked the '57, hated the '58. Then again, I hated the entire '58 GM line except for the Chevrolet. Which I liked better than the '57's. Still remember dad's '58 Impala hardtop, in the silver blue that was used as the main advertising color.
  • Dartdude The bottom line is that in the new America coming the elites don't want you and me to own cars. They are going to make building cars so expensive that the will only be for the very rich and connected. You will eat bugs and ride the bus and live in a 500sq-ft. apartment and like it. HUD wants to quit giving federal for any development for single family homes and don't be surprised that FHA aren't going to give loans for single family homes in the very near future.
  • Ravenuer The rear view of the Eldo coupe makes it look fat!
  • FreedMike This is before Cadillac styling went full scale nutty...and not particularly attractive, in my opinion.
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