Remembering the 1969 Roadrunner

[sjb66coronet]

Not a Road Runner,but similar

Here's a 68 Coronet R/T with the 440 magnum,dual snorkel,4 barrel,4 speed,bucket seats,3.55 rear end that my dad got 2nd hand in 1971,we kept it in the family for 42 years(uncles,nephews,cousins).8-10 mpg on that 35 cent premium gas it guzzled.He told my mom it was a nice family car cause it had a vinyl top.That wasn't true.

 

[Greyman50]

Back in late 60's there were " drag races" on many " less traveled" roads, even parts of I-64 that was being built. Most of us " hung out" at the Shoney's, Newtown road and Virginia Beach Blvd. A guy in school was a semi professional drag racer. Had Several Roadrunners with 426 Hemi's and a Super Bird 426. His sister( year behind me) drove a 426 Roadrunner to school every day, both were nice looking, LOL.
Someone found a nice straight road in a industrial park that was being built, perfect for drag racing. Issue was, one way in and one way out. Guess there were about 30 cars parked watching races, maybe 10-12 racing. Va. Beach Police drive up. Talk about oh %&$@ moment. One LEO gets out, walks over to the center of the dead end turn around and proceeds to tell us in a loud voice. " We know you all are going to race somewhere or the other. You all stay in here off the public roads and we don't care but if we catch you racing out of here you're going to jail". We were all shocked but relieved. Older guy(22 had good job and a new "1969 Goat". That was the fastest showroom car I've ever seen. He would blow Vettes away and take their $$$. He got caught by Va. State Trooper, was told to follow Trooper to local jail. Well they had to drive part of I-64 to get there. Buddy saw the sign to N.C. and exited after Trooper passed exit. He fled to N.C.. Lived down there about 6 months until Va. caught him in a beater car he used to drive to work. He went to jail, lost the Goat.

 

[F4phantom]

The Plymouth Roadrunner and the Dodge Super Bee. It seems they were the cars in the late sixties. I preferred the Pontiac GTO myself.

They had a Super Bee on a trailer outside the gate at MCAS Beaufort back in early '69. It seems the car had another fatal flaw, the front end would lift off the ground when you exceeded 100 mph. The car on the trailer had four servicemen in it when it crashed into a tree. They found the engine 100 yards down the road. Reports said the front end came off the road and the driver lost control before sliding sideways into the tree. The time left in the service was less than one week combined. Speed kills I guess.

 

[Ruger Nut]

My dad traded in his 1965 GTO for a 1970 Super Bee. Sublime green, 440 Magnum Six-Pack, Air Grabber hood, pistol grip shifter 4 speed, Magnum 500 wheels, 4:11 posi.
I was 6 years old, and it was scary fast! I loved it!

 

[Skeet 028]

You are right about the HP under rating.
We used to go out to The BQE aka Connecting Highways in NYC on Sat nights circa 1968/69. Cars stopped and lined up right on the highway and raced down to the next overpass. Hundreds of people were lined up on the overpasses and in between.

One of the older guys, Jim McCue, had a SS 396/375 Nova, all black.
He won every time he raced the 1/4 mile on the roadway. The rumor was his car had a factory blueprinted engine. It sure ran like one, that Nova screamed down the roadway.

The NYPD had their hands full trying to stop the racing. It was cat and mouse all night. They would go down on the roadway, chase the racers, only to see them come back again and again.
Eventually, the cops opened the hydrants on the street above the roadway and flooded it.

Most drag races, most tickets handed out.

There's a page dedicated to the memory of the folks who raced there.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct...highway.com/&usg=AOvVaw0d8R9bni6jFQJPEvPuOWze

Ah...the BQE. Longest junkyard in the US

I am from Maryland and I also raced on the Brooklyn-Queen's Expressway...more than once. I saw some serious money change hands there at night. Won 500 bucks up there one evening racing a fellow in a Roadrunner. Lost 200 to a 428 Torino. But I was a little outclassed running a 69 Z-28. Dyno'd headers etc. Still hard to beat Cubic inches. As far as Mopars...everybody wanted a Hemi. Had 2 friends that had 'em. They were fast once ya got 'em going. Heavy suckers didn't want to stop. They both blew their Hemis. I was in the car with one. We left Cambridge Md headed north. About a 3/4-mile-long bridge right at the edge of town. We got about 2/3s across really cooking when that engine blew. We coasted the rest of the way...engine parts laying in the road behind us

 

[TheHobbyist]

In 2001, the movie "Fast and the Furious" came out. I was younger but worked hard and bought an 1988 Corvette. Later on that year, Japanese imports were all the rage. My friends gave me such a hard time about that Corvette...I'll leave it at that. Then I lucked into a 69' Charger, ran but needed a lot of work...think it was $5K I paid at the time. Seemed like a ton of money to me but that is about a few years (2-5 years???) in my area that used Mopars started goig for a decent sum, even if not running.

I likely got early 1990s pricing and being dumb didn't realize it.

My friend at the time, Tom, was in the popular notion that performance Civics were all the 'rage'. I let him drive the Vette from a complete stop and he almost put my car into a light pole. Lesson learned. No one drove my cars again, including Charger and he blew up my transmission mount. You live, you learn.

 

[Greyman50]

Another friend of mine used his brother 65 Goat as he was in Thailand with the Air Force. Car came with 3 duces but they got stolen one night in Nags Head at a popular " night spot". Had a Holly 750 4 barrel, it would fly. Since he lived in N.C. he would come up and meet me on the way to Va. Beach, we switched off driving. Guess someone could write a book on everything that happened around Shoneys, good times and the girls we met and the beer and booze . There were 3 of us in my Bird one night, a guy came up with a fifth of some Scotch, wanted to trade for half a six pack. We all thought, why not". After 1 swig each it went out the window.

 

[Greyman50]

Have the other one and 2 Roadrunner emblems somewhere.

 

[pittpa]

My first new car. A pale yellow with the wide flat black hood stripes. Mine was 2975.00 OTD including the the sales tax and registration. Mine had the following options: black vinyl top, power steering, torqueflite transmission, and rugs. The standard interior had rubber mats. 3:23 gears in the rear end. 4 speeds had 3:55 gears as standard. It was fast and pretty. Wish I still had it, but I do know what town it is in, and it has been restored.

Road runners had a wiring flaw. If you turned on the radio, pulled down the directional signal, turned on the flashers and stepped on the brake the radio would play with the key absent from the ignition.

The only issue I have with the ad is the red line Firestone tires were used on GM muscle cars. The Roadrunners came standard with Goodyear F70-14 raised letter polyglas tires

You just described the Roadrunner that my girlfriend's mom drove when I was in high school. But hers had a pistol grip 4-speed.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[YkcorCal]

Yes, I remember the 1969 Roadrunner! It is one of the reasons I had a 1970 Rambler Rebel Machine, 390 cu-in V8 sending 340 hp and 410 lb-ft of torque to the rear wheels, 4-speed auto, with a fully functional hood scoop with a tach mounted in the back. Mine was in Gold Metalflake something like this pic except with a white vinyl top. I loved that car!!! It killed me when I had to sell her when I was shipped over seas. She was my only muscle car.

 

[Narragansett]

Growing up I was always a MOPAR enthusiast, but loved the looks of the 66 and 67 Chevelle, the 69 Z/28, and the 67 Nova.

In 1970 after only having my Roadrunner for a short time, I started looking around for maybe something different. There was a heavily advertised Plymouth dealer(Weir Auto) in Raynham, MA, so a couple of us took a ride down there. They had long rows of muscle cars. Everything you could imagine. So we got a salesman and checked out a 440 Cuda with the 3 deuces. we blew that engine, it came through from the factory with no coolant. Called and got a ride back, and took another one out. Man what a ride.

In my search for something new, I was ready to jump ship and join the bow tie group. At Scunzio Chevrolet, they had what would be a million dollar car today. A 1970 427 COPO Camaro in the dark green with the wide white hood stripes. The engine was the all aluminum 427. COPO stands for " corporate office production order. GM actually had meetings to discuss what was to be made, and which dealer would get what. Unfortunately, it was way out of reach for me, and probably went back to the factory as so many did not sell due to the high cost. This car was 7,400.00on the build sheet. There were COPO Novas, Camaros, Corvettes, Chevelles and others. These were bad to the bone cars.

Well, I guess it was wishful thinking on my part, and I never did buy another muscle car

 

[WH1]

You can still buy a stick in a new Mopar today. From an RT to a HellCat.

 

[Greyman50]

I dated the girl that had the First Z-28 back home, that thing was fast but she had a little to much Ripple one night and dented the hood so hood would not open. Got hood open for her, don't remember what she did with it. A good friend got a Z year or so later, now that one was FAST. 4 of us were in it one night, decided to go to Micky Dee's about 18 miles away through back roads. Got there in 8 minutes….

 

[NYlakesider]

You can still buy a stick in a new Mopar today. From an RT to a HellCat.

Get them while there still available, doubt that a electricmobile will have a stick option!

 

[Skeet 028]

I dated the girl that had the First Z-28 back home, that thing was fast but she had a little to much Ripple one night and dented the hood so hood would not open. Got hood open for her, don't remember what she did with it. A good friend got a Z year or so later, now that one was FAST. 4 of us were in it one night, decided to go to Micky Dee's about 18 miles away through back roads. Got there in 8 minutes….

My 69 Z was fast. scary fast. Got clocked by radar at 147. But it held the road and had good brakes. It was even better on twisty roads than any of my Vettes.

 

[Truckman]

My '69 Roadrunner was dark green with 383, single 4 barrel, 4 speed and Suregrip...Bought it used in 1971......Ben

 

[Old cop]

In '69 I'd just completed my rookie year, was married one whole year and REALLY wanted that MoPar. The reality of earning $6800/yr, plus the payment on my old Chevy, put it out of reach.

 

[Yaworski]

In '69 I'd just completed my rookie year, was married one whole year and REALLY wanted that MoPar. The reality of earning $6800/yr, plus the payment on my old Chevy, put it out of reach.

$6.8k was decent money back then. My father was a new graduated programmer and was making $7k.