1968 '340' Barracuda vs 1968 '383' Road Runner
:angel9:There is a full history of the Roadrunner in a book by Motor car International, by the person that developed the car, Bill Brownlie, And Documented by Paul A. Herd, who developed the Road runner, and he never mentioned once in any of his memoirs that he wanted the roadrunner to be a killer car. he wanted young people to buy it, party in it, and buy options for it. he was successful. Today a Roadrunner is still a very desirable piece. That is why Chrysler sold 45k plus from Jan 68' thru July 68', a short period of time, and A bodies were nowhere near that production. I love the A body, and own both the A and b body.
However, in 68' the Belvedere was not considered a big car, and the dart was considered tiny. Most young people preferred the B body cars, fast or not so fast. Chrysler made probably 40 million Dollars on the Road Runner that year. That is all that mattered to them. Those sales sparked sales in the other models as well,,,,,
If I had a beautiful restored numbers matching Roadrunner next to a 340 GTS, 68 or 69, that Roadrunner would sell three times before that Dart would go, as much as I like the Dart. That is cold reality. hey three couples could get in the Roadrunner, but a dart? not likely.
On a side note, the vast majority of guys that raced back then were very unskilled, and what they drove mattered little. I saw it all the time. You would get beat, and go out and but the car that beat you. the next week, you still got beat. DUH! Not to mention, in reality cemeteries are full of unfortunate young people that raced, and never came home. I'm 62, and saw it regularly.
That was the down side of times back then. Parents wishing they hadn't got their kids that roadrunner. Junkyards were full of wrecked muscle cars. I know, I saw a kid Impaled on a fence post after he rolled his car racing. Just a reality check. Have fun, but
keep a perspective, I say. Just my view.
:angel9:There is a full history of the Roadrunner in a book by Motor car International, by the person that developed the car, Bill Brownlie, And Documented by Paul A. Herd, who developed the Road runner, and he never mentioned once in any of his memoirs that he wanted the roadrunner to be a killer car. he wanted young people to buy it, party in it, and buy options for it. he was successful. Today a Roadrunner is still a very desirable piece. That is why Chrysler sold 45k plus from Jan 68' thru July 68', a short period of time, and A bodies were nowhere near that production. I love the A body, and own both the A and b body.
However, in 68' the Belvedere was not considered a big car, and the dart was considered tiny. Most young people preferred the B body cars, fast or not so fast. Chrysler made probably 40 million Dollars on the Road Runner that year. That is all that mattered to them. Those sales sparked sales in the other models as well,,,,,
If I had a beautiful restored numbers matching Roadrunner next to a 340 GTS, 68 or 69, that Roadrunner would sell three times before that Dart would go, as much as I like the Dart. That is cold reality. hey three couples could get in the Roadrunner, but a dart? not likely.
On a side note, the vast majority of guys that raced back then were very unskilled, and what they drove mattered little. I saw it all the time. You would get beat, and go out and but the car that beat you. the next week, you still got beat. DUH! Not to mention, in reality cemeteries are full of unfortunate young people that raced, and never came home. I'm 62, and saw it regularly.
That was the down side of times back then. Parents wishing they hadn't got their kids that roadrunner. Junkyards were full of wrecked muscle cars. I know, I saw a kid Impaled on a fence post after he rolled his car racing. Just a reality check. Have fun, but
keep a perspective, I say. Just my view.