Vehicle Description
1977 Plymouth Road Runner
The Plymouth Road Runner is a mid-sized car focused on performance
built by Plymouth between 1960 and 1980. The primary focus of the
Road Runner was going fast on a budget. While options could be
added to dress the car up the base version was a no frills, big
block, tire shredding embodiment of all a muscle car truly was. In
1976 the Road Runner name was switched to the 2-door model of the
replacement for the A-body Valiant/Duster series. The new F
platform was marketed as the Plymouth Volare, and the new Road
Runner became primarily a trim and graphics package. The standard
engine was a 318ci V8 while a 360ci V8 was offered as an option.
Suspension parts were borrowed from the police packages.
The year is 1977 and the malaise era of muscle cars is upon us,
while every manufacturer took a hit due to EPA regulations and high
gas prices the big 3 soldiered on and kept the big muscle names
alive. The big muscle names were still alive but had been neutered
to meet all the new regulations. For consignment, a Road Runner
fresh out of the disco era. Sporting blinding orange paint, snappy
graphics, a big hood scoop and a powerful V8 engine. It has all the
makings of a muscle car, short deck, long nose and a V8. Read on
and prepare to be wowed by what can be done with a muscle car from
the dark days to bring it back to 1968 glory.
Exterior
Bathed in Spitfire Orange and with laser straight panels and well
minded gaps, this Road Runner is eye candy. Chrome bezel headlights
flank marker lights as well as an egg crate style grill that has
larger vertical and horizontal bars to really set the front end
off. A large chrome bumper hangs below this and a menacing chin
spoiler scoops copious amounts of air into the engine bay to keep
things cool. An orange and back hood sits between the fenders and
has a pronounced twin snorkel scoop to feel the mill its air end of
the mixture. Glass T tops are on the roof and give the option of
motoring in both fair and foul weather. Yellow and black stripes
run down the length of the car and follow the wheel arches, the
"road runner" call out is highlighted in white and the iconic
Warner Brothers cartoon Roadrunner is included in this stripe and
is ready to fly off in a cloud of dust. Fiberglass spats give the
body a
muscular definition around each wheel well and Spitfire Orange
louvers cover the rear side glass. A duck tail spoiler sits at the
rear of the decklid and has the yellow and black decal theme.
Combination tail and reverse lights float outboard of a blacked out
rear panel and finish out the muscle car look. A NASCAR fuel cell
sits in the trunk and 15" Mopar rally wheels wrapped in raised
white letter BF Goodrich rubber adorn all 4 corners.
Interior
A swing of the heavy well balanced door and we see an all black
vinyl door panel with various designs of tuck and roll and a chrome
surround in the center to give it some wow. A black armrest floats
in the sea of black and is fronted by a chrome door release, window
cranks, and mirror joystick. An aftermarket black speaker assembly
sits down low and front. Some small tearing of the vinyl is noted
at the lower center of the driver's door. Shiny black vinyl high
back bucket seats with a tuck and roll pattern are floating in a
sea of black carpet and are in splendid condition. The rear bench
seat mimics the buckets in material, design and condition. A not
often seen Mopar Tuff Wheel steering wheel proudly sits in front of
the very basic instrument cluster in black with a brushed aluminum
surround. An aftermarket tachometer is to the left of the main
cluster and to the right we see slides for the heater controls and
an aftermarket Pioneer AM/FM/CD player with a power antenna. A
chrome shifter rises from the center of the pristine black
carpeting and a tight black headliner hangs above.
Drivetrain
Long gone is the anemic smog laden 318ci V8 this Road Runner was
born with and now residing between the fenders is a Mopar
Performance 360ci 300hp V8. Black Mopar Performance valve covers
break up the sea of orange and a Carter 750cfm 4bbl carburetor sits
atop an aluminum intake manifold providing the proper air/fuel
mixture. An 833 4-speed manual transmission with overdrive, (an
early iron case), circa 1975 sends power back to an 8 3/4" rear
axle with a 3.91 Sure Grip ratio. The muscles are strong here!
Undercarriage
Orange, black and rust free is the name of the game down here.
Black painted suspension shows only minor road dirt along and the
orange floor pans and unibody show the same. Police spec transverse
torsion bars provide the ride on the front while leaf springs bring
up the rear. Power disc brakes and power drums front and rear
provide the stopping power. CPPA headers send spent fossils through
the TTI exhaust system with Dynomax mufflers.
Drivability
Since it was a glorious sunny day I took the glass T tops out for
my drive and slathered my thinning dome with SPF80 for the drive.
With a twist of the key the 360ci V8 roared to life and immediately
fell into a rumbling idle. Shifting was smooth, braking was bias
free, and handling was well above average. I did notice that the
fuel gauge and the HVAC blower were non functional during my drive.
Our consignor hit the nail on the head with this one, the upgraded
engine makes for muscular power in a sporty body, and I returned
with an ear to ear grin on my face.
Volare, oh oh
Cantare, oh oh oh oh
Let's fly way up to the clouds
Away from the maddening crowds.....but I digress. If you are into
the unusual, overlooked, and rare then you should stop at the
Classic Auto Mall and give this Volare Road Runner a look. Is it a
Hemi, nope. A Superbird, nope. But it's almost certainly guaranteed
you won't see another one at a local car show. An upgraded
drivetrain, great paint, body lines, and the option of open air
driving you can have your muscle and luxury too.
VIN DECODE
HL29G7B303022
H-Plymouth Volare
L-Low Price Class
29-2 Door Special Coupe
G-318ci V8 2bbl
7-1977
B-Hamtramck, MI Assy Plant
303022-Sequential Unit Number
Classic Auto Mall is a 336,000-square foot classic and special
interest automobile showroom, featuring over 600 vehicles for sale
with showroom space for up to 1,000 vehicles. Also, a 400 vehicle
barn find collection is on display.
This vehicle is located in our showroom in Morgantown,
Pennsylvania, conveniently located just 1-hour west of Philadelphia
on the I-76 Pennsylvania Turnpike. The website is
www.classicautomall.com and our phone number is (888) 227-0914.
Please contact us anytime for more information or to come see the
vehicle in person.
