Revell 1:24
The Plymouth Road Runner is a muscle car introduced by Chrysler in the United States for the 1968 model year and marketed under its Plymouth brand. Initially based on the Belvedere, the brand's basic mid-size model, the Road Runner combined a powerful engine with a spartan trim level and a price that undercut increasingly upscale and expensive muscle cars such as the Pontiac GTO and Plymouth's own GTX. It was initially a sales success.
The Road Runner was built in three generations on the mid-size B platform. Like most muscle cars, its performance and sales declined in the 1970s due to an increasing focus on fuel economy and the adoption of more stringent U.S. emission standards. The nameplate became a trim package for the compact Plymouth Volaré for model year 1976—no longer offering any special performance capability—and was discontinued in 1980.
1970
The 1970 model year brought new front, and rear end looks to the basic 1968 body, and it would prove to be another success. Updates included a new grille, cloth & vinyl bench seat, hood, front fenders, quarter panels, single-piston Kelsey-Hayes disc brakes (improved from the rather small-rotor Bendix 4 piston calipers of '68 - '69), and even non-functional scoops in the rear quarters. The design and functionality of the Air Grabber option was changed. A switch below the dash actuated a vacuum servo to slowly raise the forward-facing scoop, exposing shark teeth decals on either side. "High Impact" colors, with names like In-Violet, Moulin Rouge, and Vitamin C, were available for that year. Although a heavy-duty three-speed manual became the standard transmission, the engine lineup was left unchanged, relegating the four-speed to the options list along with the TorqueFlite automatic. This was the second and last year of the Road Runner convertible, with only 834 made. The new high-back bucket seats were shared with other Chrysler products, which featured built-in headrests.





