(first posted 5/10/2014) The car show I attended a week ago had only two cars from the ’70s on display and I already showed you one of them, so here’s the other: a 1975 Plymouth Road Runner. Painted in neon green, with long, bulging flanks, it was the first car I looked at upon my arrival. As somewhat of a turkey, it definitely had the most charm and in fact, currently serves as its owner’s daily, making it definite CC material.
Based, as it was, on the formal-looking “small Fury,” the 1975 Road Runner was somewhat lost on consumers and was a one-year-only deal. The Road Runner package was moved over to the F-body Volare the following year before finally being killed off after 1980. As odd as the overall package may have seemed to contemporary buyers, though, I feel that the angry taillights really work well for a muscle car, in addition to suiting the “Fury” nameplate quite well.
The rest of the body doesn’t convey the aggressive theme as fully, but the tires, wheels, and graphics do a good job of stating the Road Runner’s intentions. If I saw one of these things on two-lane blacktop, I’d be inclined to move over. Especially out here in Indiana, where there are no emissions inspections.
The owner told me there are no cats on the car. And while I can’t tell much too much from looking at the carburetor–other than that the air cleaner doesn’t look stock–I know those headers look the business. That engine–at a large 360 CID–still looks rather lost in the engine bay. It’s still crazy to me that 5.9 liters was considered small back in the day; the top engine in 1975 was the 400 (unless you were a cop). Note the full array of accessories still present, including A/C.
I was told that tooling around town nets about fifteen miles per gallon. I’m sure all those uncatalyzed, incompletely burned hydrocarbons make cruising around a wonderfully aromatic experience, although I didn’t get a chance to hear this particular car run. In the voting, I came close to giving this the nod as my favorite, but it was edged out by a very clean, unmodified ’65 Chevelle Malibu. Sorry Road Runner.
Not that I feel especially terrible. I always wanted that damn roadrunner to get eaten in those famous cartoons and in final B-body form, apparently Chrysler was afraid this was increasingly likely.
Just to refresh everyone’s memory, this is what the car and its graphics package looked like stock. The “Road Runner” decals on the back do look very cool, and make me want to take a time machine back to the mid ’70s and race through the New Mexico desert. The owner of the green car told me he didn’t care for the theme, which seems misguided (though I do like the look of his car as well). Maybe for those who lived through the era, the factory package doesn’t seem as trippy.
I can more confidently say that the changes made to the interior–with a ton of non-stock black vinyl–are unflattering. These weren’t especially nice to sit inside of, versus their GM Colonnade competitors, but the striped cloth the owner says the car came with stock seems much less depressing. Oh well, he didn’t build the car for me.
My favorite details are the aggressive rake and the “Plymouth” emblazoned on the side of the car. “Pretty” wasn’t a consideration; it makes a very macho statement, which makes the references to that cheeky cartoon bird all the more amusing.
It’s said that, properly equipped, these late Road Runners were actually a rare bright spot in the darkness of ’70s performance cars. If that’s true, then all the factors leading to the end of the muscle car era must’ve been oppressive in their presence by 1975. That’s a real shame, but it also makes this B-body somewhat of a rebel and fun sight for those in the know. The owner, for his part, wasn’t especially concerned with how others saw his car. He was proud of owning a rather rare, well-kept secret among American performance cars, and why not? Let the others go after the crowd pleasers. At CC, we’re all about obscure novelties like this Plymouth and I have immense respect for this car.
That carb not original. It is a Holley 4175 replacement for the stock Carter Thermo-Quad. Or as some call them, “Thermo-Crud” And what a sweet ride!
I had two vehicles and a friend’s ’73 Challenger, mint when he bought it, trashed 4 years later, all had Thermoquads, and once you got the hang of them, they were a great carb, and dyno tests proved they made a little more power than a Holley did. I’m so glad my ’74 didn’t end up being built as a ’75. Not that it would have mattered, I never would have accepted it if it had been:
http://www.oldcarsweekly.com/wp-content/uploads/1974-Road-Runner-main.jpg
Mine had the “rallye” wheels and black interior. The 360 4barrel ran pretty well, I had the car into the 13’s about the time the warranty was expired.
Thanks Perry another car I’ve never heard of,I’ve seen plenty of the 2 previous Roadrunners,and photos of the Volare Roadrunner.I’ve started to get an interest in these late 70s “muscle cars” though I’m sure it’s got a fair turn of speed with all the emission equipment removed.
Did the opposition make a competitor?The only other one I know of was the Pontiac CanAm,a rare beast I’ve never seen in the metal
Buick still offered a GS for their Century but it was in their final year and the Oldsmobile 442 was more stripes but however it focused on handling. Chevrolet bring back the Laguna S-3 as a 1975½ with a Camaro nose alike to be in Nascar. The Ford Torino didn’t have the muscle image compared to the 1968-73 but thanks to “Starsky & Hutch” who used a Torino in the tv series, the Torino goes out with a bang.
And the Road Runner name soldiered to Plymouth until 1980 and not 1978
http://www.aspenandvolare.com/showthread.php?2523-Kent-s-1980-Roadrunner At least it wasn’t re-used for a L-body Omni 024/HorizonTC3 variant like the Charger nameplate unlike the Duster.
By 1975, most of the old-line intermediate muscle car namplates were gone or had been reduced to primarily graphics/handling packages. The last year for the Chevelle SS was 1973, although the 1974-75 Laguna S-3 that Stéphane mentioned was sort of a successor. The only remaining Chevrolet models that still offered an SS package in 1975 were the Nova and El Camino. Neither included a specific engine above the normal base engine; they came with the same mix of engines as any other Nova or El Camino, including the six. IIRC, the Laguna came standard with the 350 2bbl, which was the first engine in the lineup above the six (the 307 had been dropped after 1973, and the 305 wouldn’t appear until 1976).
IINM, the base engine in the ’75 Road Runner was actually the smaller 318. I’m surprised that the 440, albeit the detuned-by-1975 version that was offered in contemporary fullsize sedans, wasn’t available in Road Runners. Several other American brands offered similarly-sized engines as an option in their intermediates, although the number of cars built that way in 1975 was probably small.
Through 1975-1977 at least, if you knew the right boxes to check off you could still get something sort of interesting. The Oldsmobile 455 was still available in a Cutlass 442 until 1976, and even the 403 was still available for 1977. Pontiac still offered the 455 through 1976 and the 400 through 1977 in intermediate LeMans Sport Coupe and CanAm. Buick still let you get a 455 in the Century through at least 1975 or so. Even the 454 was still an optional Chevelle engine in 1975.
Though the first oil embargo of 73-74 scared lots of people away from picking “the biggest engine” option as much as they used to before and most people figured they could make do with “just a 350”.
GTX would be more appropriate for an O24/TC3 variant, the L-body Road Runner that never was should’ve been based on the regular Horizon which was cheaper and lighter, four doors and all. It would’ve been a Golf GTI before VW had even brought the Rabbit GTI to America.
These aren’t exactly common in the U.S. either. I can’t remember ever seeing one, and it was only a few years ago that I first read about them somewhere. They’re even rarer than the Volare Road Runners, being built for only one year.
Most of them were no doubt equipped with emissions-choked 318s and 360s, but there were still “Heavy-Duty” versions of the 360 and 400 V8s available which were good for 190 & 235 HP respectively. Might not seem like that much, but most of the mid-range small block V8s from the classic muscle car era weren’t making that much more when gross vs. net is factored in. These were pretty heavy cars, though, so even with one of those engines they wouldn’t exactly be screamers.
This is what it’s supposed to look like – chrome bumpers, rally wheels and original graphics:
Thanks all,I’ve got new cars to look for at shows though I think finding any in the UK is going to be hard
Back in my Army days, one of my buddies had a Volare Road Runner. Bought it with his re-up bonus. Had the 318, choked with smog equipment, hooked up to the 4 speed, that one where it was really a 3 speed, with 4th gear being an overdrive.
I had a ’69 Fiat 124 coupe and could beat’em off a stoplight start and on the road course. That thing was a mess.
Pontiac put a GTO package out on a Ventura.
Like this…
I like how it’s a muscle car blended in with a personal luxury car, I always felt this era of the Road Runner’s are under appreciated by so many, this is so far better than the Volare based Road Runner’s that came shortly afterwards, how long did the Fury based Road Runner’s last for?
It was only offered like this for one year.
Exactly, however MPC released a kit model of a 1976 Fury-based Road Runner. The decision to make the RR on a Volare came late and MPC was informed too late then the RR would be for the Volare and not the Fury for 1976
https://www.flickr.com/photos/splattergraphics/11991238066/
http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=88664
It wasn’t the first time MPC did a phantom car, they also made a 1975 Pontiac Sprint GTO http://ultimategto.com/cgi-bin/showcar.cgi?type=lot&pic=/models/75sprin
I think I remember reading about that mix-up. It’s not the first time, and surely won’t be the last.
The MPC Dukes of Hazzard General Lee was based on the tooling for their ’69 Charger 500. Like the Daytona, this has a flush back window for better aerodynamics, but is incorrect for a standard Charger. They finally corrected this for the latest reissue of the General Lee kit.
Prefer the 71 I saw at the kerb recently same colour 440 manual
+1
…wonder what the underbody was like?? ..everytime i see a ’70 or thereabouts classic muscle car i wish to import..there are problems with the underpinnings.. it seems virtually not possible to find a 45 yr old car in the States that hasn’t got some significant corrosion issues in places like the rear rails for example ..getting that put right is a major job of work ..and in NZ the compliancing is a very stringent test to pass (unless you just want a trailer queen that can’t be registered and driven on the road)
the other day i ‘found’ a magnificent ’70 Z 28 (clone) with the 4 speed box as well, but it was in shocking condition underneath. On the top sides it looked better then new! …what a disappointment ..shelling out the bucks was going to be a pleasure ..until i saw the whole rear end underpinnings was ready to ‘break away’ from the rest of the car at the first opportunity the 454 was floored
…buga as we say
Underseal was an option on many cars,not a problem if you live in Arizona but a must for New York.Many racers skipped it to save weight,don’t believe me pick up a full can of paint and compare it to an empty one.Save a few bucks on no underseal,no servo or power steering and there’s money left for triple carbs etc
As owners moved around it would be easy for a California car to end up in the rust belt.
This is why cars with California black and yellow license (number) plates tend to be highly valued. In California, the plates remain with the car if it is sold. If a old car has the black plates (which were issued in late 60s through early 70’s, you are reasonably assured that the car remained in sunny, dry California for its entire service life.
As revealed frequently on this site, old cars are especially common in my lovely California. If seeking a car with a solid undercarriage, seek a black plate California car—it will be worth the extra effort/patience.
Well, yeah.
Third time I’ve seen that pic, KiwiBryce and I’m still not sick of it.
Like so many US car makers Plymouth got it right first time with the 68 Roadrunner.The 71 B body cars look bloated compared to the first generation.A rugby mate of my brothers had a Roadrunner like your photo except it was a yellow 383 and it nearly tore my head off when he floored it,I can imagine flooring a 440 would be even scarier.
the 71 Road Runner is a close second behind the 69 Charger as my all time favorite musclecars; its so mean looking and looks good from every angle. Im restoring a factory white 1971 440 Six Pack Road Runner ex-street racer. Ive had several 68-70 B-Bodys and 71-72 B-Bodys and the 71s drive and handle much better than the 68-70s. And contrary to popular belief, they didn’t start getting “bloated” until the 1973+ big bumper era; the shipping weight for a 68 Road Runner was 3450 lbs and for a 71 RR it was 3601 lbs, a little bigger yes but hardly bloated.
Only bummer about the 71 is the job they did on the rear bumper. Given the styling mastery of the rest of the car, they could have done soooooooo much better on that rear.So close to visual perfection.
The rear bumper looked to be inspired by the 68 Tempest, but I agree compared to the wild front end and bulging flanks the back is kinda dull.
I like all of them, but I have always thought the ’71-’72 was the most awkward looking of the “classic” Road Runners. I know I’m gonna get crucified for saying it, but I actually like how the ’73-’74 version looks better!
I’m with you on the 73/74 the front end restyle looks a lot better a bit Chevy looking.I don’t like the front end on the 71s but I’m one of the few fans of 70 Coronets and Superbees
I like the ’70 too, just not quite as much as the ’68-’69 – and my favorite of them is the “regular” Coronet 500 hardtop without the hood scoops and tape stripes, which you will never, ever, ever see an example of… all of them have been turned into “tribute cars” or whatever!
I’ve never seen one though I’ve seen plenty real and fake Superbees and R/T Coronets.”Tribute” cars are a pet hate of mine.
Didn’t Daisy Duke drive a ’73-’74 Road Runner in early episodes of “The Dukes of Hazzard”? She later switched to a Jeep CJ.
Is that wood version of the Mopar “Tuff” steering wheel an original item? I’ve only seen them in black leather (or pleather or vinyl or whatever it was Ma Mopar used)
Original or not, it looks good.
no its an aftermarket part, the originals had black plastic rims but I agree, I like the woodgrain look better
My 81 mirada dark blue leather tuff wheel
Hey, why not? Its a shell of the ‘real’ RR for sure, but this is what they had to work with in 1975. The only real eyesore on the car is the front bumper. The headlights/grille aren’t great looking but they aren’t horrible either. If they could’ve gotten a tucked under airdam/valance with a thin razor bumper and a face similar to the chevelle laguna from the same time period, this would come off a LOT more aggressive.
smogger engines bone stock are all bark no bite but if you strip all that garbage off and get that 360 running right, this is NOT a slow car. And in my eyes, it captures the ‘roadrunner’ vibe a hell of a lot better than what passes as a ‘charger’ right now.
So a 470 HP, Hemi V8, RWD, 170 MPH car doesn’t rate the name ‘Charger’ but a wheezing 4 cyl FWD hatchback does?
I like the 1975 Plymouth B-Bodys and glad to see someone using one as a DD instead of sending it off to the crusher like happened to majority of the off-year cars. Personally I don’t care for the paint scheme but then I don’t like High Impact colors on a car that couldn’t have had it from the factory nor do I like body colored bumpers, Id rather see chrome bumpers on a classic American car.
The new Charger is a 4 door. Sorry but you can beef it up all you want….its STILL a sedan. Now if they named that the Polara, Satellite, Monaco, Coronet…Id be fine with it. A sedan is a basic average Joe car….maybe a cop car at best. But the Charger was always a badass muscle car and it was always a leader in style. I could even live with the 4 door Charger if a 2 door was at least an OPTION. The Challenger is its own car, granted its an LX 2 door but its a completely different concept.
In its base form in the 80s yes it was a wheezy little 4 banger powered sporty coupe…BUT in base trim in the 60s and 70s it could also be equipped with a slant 6. Pretty wheezy and slow with no mods….is than any less off the mark? Max out your options though, and a Shelby Charger was a turbocharged firecracker that could kick its fair share of ass. Ill accept turbocharged 4 pot fwd performance cars but sedans will ALWAYS be the realm of cheapskates, daddys or yuppies.
Those new Chargers make evil looking police cars. I agree that it’s not a Charger if it has 4 doors. Perfect cop car though.
In order to make any smog motor from the 70s run close to respectable you had to get rid of the smog crap. That includes GM’s contribution to smog motors. The dumb ass catalytic converter.
I had a 75 fury for a while. Junking the smog junk gave me an extra 75 hp. After a proper tune the car would lay a strip of rubber for a few feet, but nothing like the bigger Furys with 440s that had some power to them.
I agree. I had a 1976 Dart Pursuit with hi-po 360 4-barrel that was delivered new with no catalytic converter and with factory dual exhausts. That car was a mover….
Right on. Converters are pure garbage. An expensive horsepower and mpg robbing POS that’s designed to fail and ultimately cost money for the end user. High emissions ultimately mean your engine isn’t running at peak efficiency. Efficiency is in fact performance. Fuel injection has done more to maximize peak performance than any other advance in engine technology. As a result, it has made engines cleaner and more efficient…which is a side effect of squeezing more power out of every drop of fuel.
Tuned right, Id argue that stripping the smog garbage off an engine will net more hp more mpg and even run cleaner than tacking on a bunch of high dollar appendages that kill performance.
I think you are correct with older engines, absolutely!
With the later EEC-V run engines, for one, there is an advantage to running the EGR however, as the ECU only pumps in the exhaust gases at cruise vacuum and doesn’t operate at either idle or WOT. The important thing is make sure the EGR unit is not carboned-up and working smoothly (they don’t cost much to replace every few years (less than a hundred bucks for a complete new bolt-on EGR unit). The advantage is GREATLY increased open road economy.. .. .. my 5.0 gives 9 litres per 100 kms at 100kmph with EGR ..without it will be somewhere in the region between 13 and 17 litres per 100kms (not only is the ECU then hunting up and down the range trying to sort the correct lambda, but with every induction stroke there is a full air/fuel charge going into each cylinder even on light throttle when this is not needed. What the EGR does is to introduce a measured volume of essentially non-combustible gas into each cylinder at a time when ‘power’ is not needed, effectively reducing the swept volume of the engine as a result. When the throttle is slammed fully open the EGR snaps-off, and a full charge is immediately inducted for full power..
Where the discussion gets interesting is whether or not hot water should be run into the EGR plate to ‘cool’ the apparatus and the adjoining throttle body unit somewhat… or does the hot water give you a ‘hotter’ charge at a time when you don’t want it (at WOT)??
Possibly it does, but in a very hot dry desert climate let’s say, paradoxically, it would be useful to actually take heat away from the EGR gases entering the throttle body on a cruise throttle, as, after all, water at 90 degrees C is a lot ‘cooler’ than exhaust gases at around 450 to 500 degrees C, and will in effect ‘cool’ the incoming charge by way of heat exchange.
If you strip EGR or PCV or EVAC systems and converters off a modern(IE fuel injected car from the late 1980s forward) You’re going to have a noisier car that gets worse gas mileage, shorter oil change intervals, a filthy engine compartment and a garage or car port that reeks of gasoline with zero, and I mean ZERO performance improvement.
Catalytic converters arent designed to fail. Just as you claim an engine running efficiently runs clean, a good running engine also prevents excess unburnt hydrocarbons from fouling the converters. If fuel injection were 100% clean all the time converters would rarely fail with age, and if you maintain your car they absolutely shouldn’t. Additionally max performance inherently requires fuel enrichment.No ICE powered car, be it carburated, fuel injected or direct injected, is running at 14.7:1 at wide open throttle, especially with turbocharging in the mix. Catalytic converters are a very effective safety net to clean up those relatively seldom moments of enrichment, transients that the factory tune doesnt have quite optimized and lax maintenance.
Interesting car, but is this even an original Road Runner, or just a Fury coupe that the owner added some “RR” trim to? I can’t imagine anyone ripping out the factory console and Road Runner-specific floor shifter…
Also, when Googling for the image I posted up above, I was surprised to see that many of these have had the bumpers painted. I know these bumpers suck, but that’s not really such an elegant solution… especially with the hi-impact green (OMFG). I know you’re trying to be nice, though, Perry and that’s admirable! Plus, I agree, any car this obscure deserves recognition – even if it is just a ’75 Fury coupe.
Er… maybe I’m wrong about that actually. A terrific Hemmings article on these points out that they came with very confusing standard equipment:
http://www.hemmings.com/mus/stories/2012/04/01/hmn_buyers_guide1.html
Plymouth didn’t leave much to the imagination for customers, especially since, to reiterate, the only manual transmission was a fully synchronized three-speed, which could only be had with the base 318 engine… it was merely a column-shifted unit, regardless of the front seating arrangement. After that, it was three-speed TorqueFlite automatics across the board, shifted on the column or through an optional center console.
As had been the case in the past, a console-shifted TorqueFlite meant that drivers were afforded a taste of the Road Runner’s past, thanks to its “Quick-Shift” shifter, which appeared similar to the Slap-Stick units of yore and allowed drivers to manually shift up through the automatic’s 1, 2 and D gates without the need to depress the detent button.
Interiors were personal-luxury plush: bucket seats or optional bench, finished in pleated vinyl in a handful of colors, or–as seen in our feature car–the colorful cloth/vinyl Sundance scheme with matching door panels.
So just in case you’re not keeping score at home that means this:
Bucket seats standard, bench optional – even with the column-shifted 3-speed manual.
Automatic was column-shift standard, but if you ordered the console shifter you got the “Quick Shift” that appears to be specific to the Road Runner (this year, anyway).
The only cloth buckets were the ones seen above, which were optional.
Or, in other words, the car could have come the way the owner said it did from the factory… but it still doesn’t seem that likely to me. Seems too weird for someone to spring for those schnazzy “Sundance Fabric” seats but not the console/floor shifter.
I saw a lot of these as I was waiting endlessly for my car to be built and shipped and there were some very bizarre combos of interior colors, options and styles. Besides that, you had some pretty comical screw ups like the Dart 340 that had a glove box that was from a Duster, and had “Plymouth” on once side, and “Dodge” on the other. That was funny, and the guy who ordered it kept it like that, even though the dealer wanted to fix it.
I like this a lot, it would have made a viable factory package in the early ’70s. I think that by ’75 this kind of color had spent its goodwill, otherwise the graphics, theme and interior are very good.
It certainly brings to mind some of the current Challenger offerings.
A good job by the owner.
And, I agree with Perry, the back of this car is actually quite good. It is heavily a rehash of ’72-’73 Chrysler Newport themes – a car I like a lot. Even some ’74-’75 Newport.
Way too much going on for my taste. The decals seem to be a mishmash of Duster(hood), roadrunner(beltline stripes) and Superbird(PLYMOUTH billboards), and it all comes off as a home made job.
The other thing is as bad as battering rams look in general, they look even worse when they’re painted, especially when that paint is lime.
I must respect the time and effort spent on this 1975 Road Runner, but the really noticeable passenger side door gap-narrow at the top, wide at the bottom-raises the possibility of panel replacement(s) or misalignment. It would be interesting to see the “before” n “after pics on this one.
My bet is it came that way. This is a 1975 Chrysler product we’re talking about. The body was likely in pretty good condition before the color change, and it was probably a scuff and shoot deal over the original paint. The time/money investment for restoration wouldn’t balance out otherwise, and finding parts for this bodystyle must be next to impossible.
I respect anybody who has the passion for this kind of redheaded stepchild, it’s just too much for me. I don’t particularly like any car in sublime green, be it a 75 Roadrunner or 70 Hemi Cuda. That along with the big PLYMOUTH billboards, color matched big bumpers and big engine callout it’s just a little too “look at me, I’m a muscle car!” Does a stock 75 Roadrunner not stand out like a sore thumb in a car show traffic as is?
I remember when these came out. It didn’t look very Road Runner – ish. Others must have agreed, based on the sales figures.
I’ve always liked these Fury coupes, so seeing the one year only Road Runner version is a treat. And, for the mid 70’s, these weren’t bad…I prefer these to the later Volare-based RRs. Though I must agree that I could do without the lime paint and the non-factory graphics, especially when the factory trunk decal had a very “TRON” cool factor.
My neighbor is restoring a 1975 Road Runner and needs the red lenses set in the rear bumber. He says he cant’t find original equipment or repro lenses. Can anyone lead him in the right direction for these parts? Thanks in advance for any help
For sale 1978 plymouth volare road runner
Is the green 1978 road runner still for sale? if so, how much?
Looks like a Monte Carlo only 5 years after the good one!
I always rooted for the coyote.
Slow the hell down, obnoxious cartoon bird!
Nice car though.
LOLROFL. The only way that car in this universe gets as much as 15 mpg in the city is with a speedometer/odometer that runs fast.
Agreed. My buddy’s GM Colonnade with its 350 got 14 MPG (he told me, never confirmed in writing) – optimistically – combined – so probably what, 10 perhaps in the city, maybe? I was thinking 10 for this one in town, if lucky, and if driven very gently. Possibly single digits. Combined, maybe 12 or 13 I am guessing.
One of my perpetual aggravexations when I was a full-time Slant-6 answer man was dealing with gas mileage questions. Without fail, someone (or several someones) would pop up babbling about how their ’69 Valiant 225/automatic with 300,000 miles on the original engine consistently got 27 mpg in a mix of stop-and-go and 75 mph highway driving. Or their father’s ’61 Savoy never got less than 22 mpg in town, etc. And it wasn’t just the Slant-6ers, either; I recall one dillweed’s writeup in one of the Mopar rags where he claimed to have dug a ’69 Imperial out of a field and drove it home across three states “getting 20 mpg all the way”. Perhaps those cars existed in interesting little bubbles where different laws of physics and thermodynamics apply.
…or perhaps the fish that got away really was that big.
RIP Ric
My Dad – who turned 90 today! – had the sedan version of this gen B body. How much more would it have cost to redo the rear of that body as well, and the station wagon? Because while the Collonades were still the best intermediates, these could have been closer with a more thorough refresh.
IIRC, the ’75 Road Runner was just an appearance package and any of the performance-oriented pieces were available on any Fury coupe (including the 400 engine). If I were in the market back then, that’s what I would have gotten since I didn’t think an unadorned ’75 Fury coupe was all that bad looking. Even as good as the much ballyhooed new Cordoba.
All the Road Runner decals and emblems were a bit much and simply don’t look right. I mean, hell, Chrysler couldn’t even be bothered to come up with a proper, blacked-out musclecar grille, instead just slapping an awkward rectangular Road Runner emblem into the grille.
This bodystyle is more attractive than meets the eye, the bulged square fenders are actually a nice touch that was lost on the front of the 73-74 Satellites and the right adornments definitely could make them look like purposeful Muscle cars in the vein of the originals, but were unfortunately in the middle of the era where if it wasn’t cheesy decal jobs, it was puffy Landau tops and wire hubcaps. A 75 Fury with nothing more than a blackout grille Roadrunner badges and rally wheels and a nicer color palette would have been a much better package. And hood scoops, roadrunners need hood scoops, and lord knows there was plenty of choices in the parts bins, these Demon scoops work great
I can’t blame Chrysler too much for taking the cheap route to make the one-year-only ’75 Fury Road Runner. When the original 1968 version was built, the only model-specific pieces were stuff like the horn, ‘383’ emblems, and the rights to make the cartoon decals. Everything else was off-the-shelf, mostly from the GTX.
But by 1975, the GTX was no more, and performance was a dirty word. Brougham was the name of the game (as evidenced by the terrific success of the Cordoba). So, the ’75 Road Runner was just tape stripes and a couple of emblems. I suspect that it was all by design, that Chrysler management had planned to make a Volare Road Runner all along and simply made the ’75 Fury car just as a place to slap the name, sort of as a consolation to Plymouth since the Cordoba ended being a Chrysler, instead.
So, no money for Road Runner-specific sheetmetal like special hood, scoops, grille, or anything else. Too bad, because it might have helped sales enough to keep it on the B-body platform.
Off the shelf is what I mean about the scoops, There was no shortage of simple bolt-on ones from the 69-74 time period that could have been pilfered for this.
I too ponder that that this was a stopgap for the Volare Roadrunner, but those too were as much of a sticker only package when they debuted. The spoilers and louvers weren’t added to the package until mid 76
I try not to be critical of other’s rides, but compared to the original, the ’68 to ’70 version, fuggedaboutit!
OTOH You could probably swing buying one of these 75s(if you can find one) for 10x less the price of a 68-70. Not a bad way into a B body Roadrunner hardtop.
The trouble is 73-74s arent that much more expensive and are much more attractive, heck even 71-72s, which I think are lightyears better looking than 68-70s are still semi-reasonable. You have to really like the 75 and be a Mopar fanatic to sink money into one given the alternatives.
I had a 75 Fury Custom that I bought new after I graduated H.S,. I looked for the past 10-15 years trying to find one to build the way I wanted. Just can’t find them. 3 years ago I found a 75 Roadrunner with a 440 that looks and runs great. Just the way I wanted to build one it. It is the last year that the RM21 code was used for Roadrunners. Originally came with 400 2barrel which is rare considering only 7100 were built and over half of them came with the 318. I read somewhere that there were only about 60 with this engine.