Scanning the huge number of recent Cohort postings (do check them out) for Mopars soon turned up this very uncommon 1975 Road Runner, the last of the B-Body beep-beepers, and posted by MoparMatt. It was a package available on the newly-styled B-Bodies for 1975, now called Fury, and was a one-year wonder, as in 1976 the RR was based on the new Volare. The base engine was the two-barrel 318, but a four-barrel 360 with 220 hp as well as the 400 packing 230 hp were available. There was talk of a 440 version, but that’s all it was, as the 440 was reserved for police duty only on the Fury. Nevertheless, for 1975, the RR was a pretty brisk car; C/D got a 400 inch version to 60 in 8.1 seconds, and the quarter in the mid-16 second range. Now about that interior:
What more can I add to that? Colorful! And don’t forget to specify the living grass carpet; Chrysler’s notoriety for leaks meant sure it would thrive with little additional watering.
Given how few of these ’75 Road Runners were made, maybe my headline is off-base. Is there a thriving little cottage industry in turning ’75 Fury coupes in to Road Runners?
As I stated in Charger posting, this was what the 1976 base Charger coupe looked like, for one year only.
Dodge went nuts with name changes for their middies. Brought back Coronet coupe for 1975, then ’76 Charger, then ’77 Monaco!
And this Fury Road Runner is similar to the 1979 Cordoba 300, a luxo-look 70’s body with previous era sport package name.
Regarding the interior shown, it states ‘available’ in RR. Doesn’t necessarily mean “all” 75 RR”s had it!
Maybe they figured that if they kept changing the name, confused buyers might buy one by mistake? 🙂
In Colombia, the Coronet nameplate was applied to a local “Dippy” variant until the early 1980s. Strange then they didn’t taught of using the Coronet name for “Dippy” here.
I wonder if the Aussie Hemi 6-pack could had moved this RR? And who know what if they had gived the green light to the BSH (Ball Stud Hemi) engine to replace the 426 and B and RB engines family? http://www.streetlegaltv.com/news/introducing-the-ball-stud-hemi-chryslers-mystery-mini-elephant/
I’ve had three (3) 75 Road Runners and currently have two (2). The ones I have now are 318/autos and the one I fixed for my grandson was a 360/auto. One has the “Sundance” interior, one is white, and the grandson’s car was blue. Both current cars are yellow with white stripes.
I like the cars simply because they are unique and the last of the “real” Road Runners. They are the last to have the “RM-21” VIN designation and the last to have an available big block.
I beg to differ on the “one year only” 76 Charger though. I bought a 75 Charger with 400/4bbl with the intent of using the K-frame and drive train in my 75 “project” car. Door panels, all glass, console and seats would all have bolted into my car. It had more in common with my car than not. In the end, I decided to keep my project car numbers matching in case I live long enough for them to catch on. (It ain’t looking good as of now.) However, it’s a fun driver and conversation piece and I really am hoping I live long enough to paint it. I already have the stripe kit including the “Tunnel” decal for the trunk and the original and working AM/FM/8track from the parts car. Thanks for listening. (Parts car is on the left)
I like the “living grass carpet” line – what was with the fad of posing car interior parts out of context like this? Look at oldcarbrochures.com, this happened a lot in the ’70s.
Must’ve been cheaper than hiring an illustrator or building a complete seating buck and easier for the photographer than shooting it installed in a real car.
’70s brochures lived in an alternate universe. I have the one for my namesake. All the imagery seems to have been inspired by ominous Andrew Wyeth paintings. Some seats are in fields, others sit in bare white rooms with creepy children lurking around.
It like they were showing you all that would be left of the car after 10 years of road salt.
“Now Bob, get those seats photographed before lunch. They’re being installed on a car at 2.”
Oh dear,a once great name degraded again.
You missed the coolest part, which was the Star Wars-looking decal on the back of the trunklid. It looks better over a paint color other than white though.
http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6118/6296205007_58947d5f47_o.jpg
http://www.phoenixgraphix.com/p-d/ct412.jpg
By the way, you COULD make a RR tribute car from a ’75 Fury. New repro decals are available:
http://www.phoenixgraphix.com/p-d/ct412.php
That decal looks like the tunnels in the Road Runner cartoons. You know, where Wile E. Coyote usually became stuck in the road (feet glued, etc.). Then a big truck’s headlights appear: WHONK! WHONK! *POW!*
Classic cartoon goodness…
First car I remember of my Dad’s was a ’76 small Fury coupe. I still think this single-round front end is the best of the 71-78 B-body, except for the first Cordoba. His had a sort of leopard-print insert in the vinyl seats that I can’t find a picture of.
This?
Thanks, but no, it was literally a bunch of blotches that, I guess, vaguely resembled leopard and jaguar pelts, mixed together, like a scarf James Brown would have worn. 🙂 This is especially funny to me because my Dad is about the squarest dude ever, god love him.
I know I’ve told this story, here a few times. Dad had a 75 Coronet coupe as a spare car when I was just learning how to drive. Us kids used it as our first car until we got tired of it and bought something on our own.I think it was a 318 car. I don’t remember it being very fast anyway. Now at the time there was a guy down the street from us who had a 75 RR. Blue with white decals and interior IIRC. I had some buddies who drove 68-70 vintage RR’s and SuperBees. Everytime they drove by the 75 RR house they would pop their cars into a lower gear and “lay scratch” down the street. You know those “RB” motored Mopars make such a wonderfull sound as they wrap past redline. Anyway one of my friends worked down at the local C-P dealer doing minimum wage work and one night we were BS’n out in the driveway and the thought of creating a 75 SuperBee crossed our minds as we sat sipping on beers while leaning on the fender of dads Coronet. Oh did I tell you, when I was a punk it was legal to drink when you turned 18. Oh the good old days.Part of that inspiration came from the fact that our local police department had recieved a 75-76 Fury coupe for speed enforcement. Oh it was a strange mish-mosh of parts. First it was silver with a black vinyl roof with the typical late 70’s style light bar. Than it had an external Dopler wave antenna mounted out on the passenger fender. No spots on the A-pillar but more crap mounted on top of the dash pad in a bucket seat,floor shift interior. Oh and enough whip antennas to make a porcupine jealous. My buddy suddenly blurts out. That car has a 400 in it, too! Here I had thought it was like the Diplomats that were just rolling onto the lots and had a police spec 360 in it like the old sedan Furys the department used. He might as well said 426 Hemi as all I could think was all the power that this car could be making instead of the power it actually did make. Any way that car disappeared after 5 or 6 years on the beat and nobody knows where it went.
You might like this one, there a guy who did a kit car of a 1977 Monaco R/T
http://www.svensworldofwheels.com/77monaco_page.html
As for the interior sitting in the grass, well it just shows how fast the thing was. “Meep meep”- Zoom! The car zings off and leaves the interior behind. Like a cartoon. Or maybe like 70s Chrysler assembly.
Though not as bright or colorful, you could still get multi-colored cloth in the Plymouth Sundance RS! Sadly it was not names “Sundance Cloth”.
Remember when they would make model kits every year that were “the new 197X whatever”? In fall of 1975, when I was 12, I built this very car that was boxed as the “1976 Road Runner”…apparently the model makers didn’t get the news that it was going to be based on the Volare that year…..
I had that model! It had an optional ski package and snow tires!
Lol I don’t remember that but do remember being disappointed that it had the sold underbody and metal bar for axles…in 1975 you always wanted a separate rear axle piece so you could jack up the back. That was the thing to do then….
I spotted a picture showing the “1976 Road Runner” kit made by MPC.
http://cs.scaleautomag.com/sca/ask_scale_auto/f/12/p/6557/72415.aspx#72415
My cousin and I had the same model kit, must have been locked in by MPC before the ’76 RR was changed to Volare’.
Just as MPC offered a “1975 GTO” kit of a Ventura with a shaker hood.
There’s a sort of grim fascination with these fake muscle cars when it was all show and no go.
Yeah this couldnt catch a 6 cylinder Aussie Valiant in the correct trim fast it aint.
There was a letter in the last Collectible Automobile magazine about the “Road Runner” graphic that was optional and could be placed on the decklid, written by one of the guys who designed it. It was a lark and ended up getting approved by corporate.
There are two Roadrunners here in my town I caught one for the cohort the other eludes me We did find a 383 Challenger recently with a tremec 6 speed but its trapped in my fone it had BurgerFuel decals each branch of this chain seems to have Purple muscle car or similar the local guy has a Chevelle, these things congregate in my area I saw a Torino coup’e in black with a blower sticking out of it today he was gone before the camera went off he went from 50kmh to 100 in about the length of my truck and was gone I’ll find him stopped for gas somewhere.
My father, who grew up in the muscle car era was appalled when I snapped this picture. I’m not sure if it was because I have Mopar blood running through my veins and he grew up strictly Ford or because he never considers anything after 1972 a true muscle car. It may not look it but given the time the (especially with a 400) this was pretty quick. Oh, and by the way…I always like to ask my dad to compare this with a same year of his beloved Mustang and this and tell me which is more muscular looking?
While some decry this car since it’s not a raw muscle car. It could be had with 400 and 440, still. 5 years later, the last RR for 1980 could be had with slant 6.
To me, I’m like ‘so what?’ it’s a nice cruiser. And it’s better to modify a ’75, than butcher a 70 nowadays.
And I am sick and tired of aging Boomers still whining about ‘after 72 nothing was good’. Well what about the 1987-93 Mustang 5.0? And many other later RWD cars with much more HP and better handling?
I guess it’s the 1st wave of Baby-Boomers who think then after ’72 nothing was good. The later wave as well as the 1st wave of “Generation X” saw the potential of the Fox-body Mustang as well as GM’s 1980s G-bodies and F-bodies. There was also the “van craze” with customed vans and some sport pick-ups like some Chevy Stepside versions, Dodge Warlock and Lil’ Red Express truck but that’s another story. 😉
And I spotted a picture showing some earlier clay models of development of the Fury coupe as well as the Plymouth model who was originally planned to be the “Plymouth Cordoba” but got sold as a Chrysler instead at http://classicchassis.org/?p=794
We could wonder how DeSoto would had looked if it had continued to live to the 1970s? 😉
I have a ’75 Road Runner for sale.
1975 Road Runner- completely restored VERY RARE one year only model- last of the “B” body RR’s Great running rebuilt 360, auto. Tons’ of NOS parts used NADA value 19K- will take best offer or trade for MOPAR wagon, panel, or van. – This is a must have for the Mopar collector! Don’t miss out- mid-’70 muscle cars are starting to go up in value- now is the time to pick up this one for a great price- open to offers around $11,500 Dave 410-937-6866
Amazing what you see on the web. This 1975 Roadrunner picture was taken at a cruise in Tarentum Pa. I know because it’s mine. I bought it new in Dec of 1974 , ran it for 105,000 mi. until 1985. I then restored it , finishing it in1993.
The maroon Road Runner I posted in June has been sold
I wish I had seen these posts last year, but that’s the way it is. I hope this will still be active.
Anyway, I too have a ’75 RR. I factory ordered it in early May ’75 and I picked it up on Friday June 13th ’75. I still have the car today. It’s a Sundance car in Aztec Gold with white stripes, the tunnel deck stripe (of course) and the flat black Performance Hood Treatment. It’s also a cat delete car. It has the 400 4 bbl. dual exhaust engine (no catalytic converters), a 727 TorqueFlite and the new for ’75, 9 1/4 inch rear end.
I drove the car for 10 years and 110,000 miles and then parked it. It needs a full resto which is now started. It runs and drives well and doesn’t look too bad despite some rust and very tired paint. I’m looking forward to the day the resto is done.
Dave
Fix it up and enjoy it! It’s being a one-owner is truly terrific and adds a lot to its story.