Archive for the 'Mopar Muscle Cars' Category
Plymouth Road Runner
Well, as I have slightly hinted before the Road Runner is my favorite muscle car. No real surprise there. Earlier than 1968 there was your GTX. Now you can talk about the Satellite and Belvedere however in my humble opinion they were weak muscle cars. Great cars yes and the forerunner of everything to follow. In direct competition with the popular Pontiacs and Chevys of the times and even the modified 55,56,57 Chevys the Mopars were not in the same league, yet. These earlier versions had the damn near impossible to kill 318, 383 some 440 models even the Hemi. This ground work and all that was learned in the racing circuits just made Plymouth and Dodge the strong contenders in the street world. My friend’s uncle had a 1967 Belvedere GTX 440 if my memory serves me and a 4 speed. It was a very hot car to be sure with the deep dark blue paint and the neat and clean hardtop design. Looking back probably this was the seed that would grow and turn me into a Mopar man and keep me loyal to the brand even to present times.
1968 came in with a newer design for the Satellite design and the introduction of the Road Runner. Cheap and basic muscle. No frills for this super car, this year saw a body style change also a smooth rounder shape than the sharp edges of the earlier cars.
Ahhh but the engines is where the muscle came from. The standard in 68 was the 383 c.i. powerhouse. The Y shaped engine block with the HD components from the 440 made the 383 a very strong and durable engine giving out 335 hp and a whopping 425 foot pounds of torque. Lots and lots of low end power for off the line performance. The only other engine option in 1968 was the 426 c.i. HEMI. Low 13s out of the box and a horn that went Beep-Beep I mean what else could anybody ask for?
1969 saw some minor body changes along with a convertible and a functional air scoop, but the addition of the 440 and the 440 6-pack was the real story. High powered muscle that was hard to beat anywhere. It was this simple design and high power that made this car so appealing for me. In the 1970 model there was a major change in the front and rear end style of the Roadrunner and GTX model cars. This change and the new Air Grabber retractable hood scoop made a new and unique alteration to the original. I had a friend that owned a yellow 70 GTX 440 6-pack with the Air Grabber hood and I can still remember the other muscle car driver facial expressions as he popped up the scoop from inside the car at a red light and then took off. What a terrific feeling that was.
1971 was the beginning of the end for the Roadrunner as with many of the muscle cars. The emissions and the gas mileage regulations were more important and this cut back on the reason for the vehicles. The engines loose power and this would be the last year for the performance HEMI. From 1972 through 1974 there would be little in the way of body changes, which was ok for me since I really didn’t care for this body style anyway. After 1974 the Roadrunner would go to the Fury (ug) body style then on to the Volare (more ug) style with even less power and I think it was a shame that they continued to use the Roadrunner name on these cars. I mean really a 318 c.i., 2 barrel carb in a car called Roadrunner, what were they thinking?
1980 would be the last year for the Roadrunner name, however in my opinion the car really died back in the early 70s. Now that Plymouth has been discontinued I guess I will be a Dodge person form now on. That’s ok though, has anyone seen the new Charger and Challenger?
Plymouth Barracuda
The Barracuda beat the Mustang out of the gate in 1964 by a couple of weeks making it the first “Pony” car. The body style of this muscle car to be was not in the same league as the Mustang or even the Camaro at the time but that would change in the future. The fast back design used by Plymouth, the slant six and micro V8 along with mileage rear gears just did not say anything about muscle. They pumped up the 273 C.I. in ’66 but no real power until 1967 with a 383 engine. However the Cuda still didn’t handle well and still didn’t have The Look. Again in 1968 only minor body and power changes came into play and the uninspired look still help its ground. 1969 at least saw an interest in the power supply with boosted 340 and 383 and the high powered 440 6-pack but the body style sill remained blah.
In 1970 somebody woke up the designers at Mopar and the styling change they came up with did the trick, at least for me. The engine options were the potent 340 c.i. engine along with the 383.ci. the 440 c.i. standard and 6-pack and the HEMI. Several options for transmissions and rear end gears along with a much better handling and braking package and the new body style made these entries true muscle cars. Muscle cars that could handle anything the others could try and throw at them either on the street or on the track.
The unique option for the Barracuda was the AAR CUDA. A very special 6-pack 340 engine that came with factory built in items that would allow the owner to modify the engine to beef it up. You could add bigger valves, stronger Hemi rockers and 4 bolt mains as a beginning. Stronger suspensions, better brakes and a stronger Dana rear end along with a real cool side stripping system made this car a real contender. I had a friend whose name was “Cosmo” that purchased a nice deep blue AAR. This baby had a 4 speed trans with the pistol grip and those neat side exhaust pipes. This was a great car and he promptly drove it into a tree about 5 weeks after he took delivery. He was not hurt but the beautiful AAR Cuda was gone. Very Very sad indeed.
Sadly as with all muscle cars gas economy, emissions and other cots started to dampen the fantastic fish. 1972 saw the beginning of the end for these marvelous muscle cars. The sad end was in 1974 when they were discontinued. Now that Plymouth itself has been done away with we can only hope the new Chargers and Challenger will at least bring back some of the old feelings.
