1973 Plymouth "Roadrunner" - Playing Dress Up

I don't usually don't blog about cars I've already blogged about but I do make exceptions. And this "Top Banana" or "Lemon Twist" 1973 "Roadrunner" is either a tribute car, facsimile, a fake or what is more commonly referred to as a clone.  In biology, clones are genetically identical and while this car and the car it portends to be are similar and do share a lot of genes, they're far from identical.  Clone cars rarely if ever are. Clones are little more than cars that are dressed up to appear to be more than what they originally were. This car's VIN will never make it a Roadrunner; it's at best a Satellite Sport. Why anyone would make a Roadrunner out of a Satellite is anyone's guess not to mention asking $19,000 for it but such is life. Yes, and good grief, nineteen grand. That's a lot of money for a clone of anything not to mention it being a 45 year old, non-GM muscle car of sorts. Shoot, this isn't even a Barracuda or Challenger. Here's the listing. At least they were upfront about it being a clone.
 

I wouldn't pay half that for this thing; after all $19G is 1973 Corvette money. You'd think for that much cash you could find a real Roadrunner in similar condition. Also, if you spent that much on a 1973 Corvette you'd never have to explain what a clone is and no one would ever question whether or not the car was legitimate. She sure is nice, though despite being a 1973 "Roadrunner" and not a more handsome 1971 or 1972 with its loop front bumper. I'm a 'Cuda guy myself but I can tell you that these larger B body MOPARS are better riding and handling cars.

The problem with restoring old cars is that it's all but impossible to get back what you've spent on them. It's almost always best to buy something restored rather than pay for restoring it yourself; just be careful not to over pay for someone else's hard work. I shudder to think what was spent on getting this car into better than original condition. For instance, a good engine rebuild alone would run you more than $3,000. And then you run the risk of running into a jerk like me who will take points off your resto job because under the hood it's not 110% factory correct. Regardless of whether or not a car is clone or not. Owner claims this engine is a 340 which is a bonus. The 340, which was a performance engine, was not offered on 1973 Satellite's.  

 

Despite the Autozone tach, there's nothing like a nice old car with an interior that looks as though it's factory fresh. Again, bucks were spent getting this interior up to snuff. If god and or the devil is in the details, it's the details that can sink a car's value no matter how nice the restoration. Check out the horizontal speedometer; on a Roadrunner? Roadrunners came with round gauges - this dash is all Satellite. Trust me. These things matter. Especially if the seller is asking all the money in the world for their car like this guy is. Clones are fine but don't charge "real money" for one. That steering wheel screams 1968 Barracuda too. It's nice, but not period or $19,000 asking price correct.

 

I'd be curious to see if this person is able to sell this car and get anywhere near the money they're asking for it. Then again, they might just have it up for sale to see what kind of nibbles they get. Y'know, we are getting to that time of year when people start to dump their old cars rather than pay for storage; maybe you can get it for a song. Good luck.  

 

The Plymouth Roadrunner started out in 1968 as part of a five model lineup in Plymouth's mid size line. Available originally only as a Satellite based two door sedan, with it's large and powerful standard engine and being  bereft of luxury accoutrements, it was intended to appeal to buyers who wanted the performance of a much more expensive Pontiac GTO without the bells and whistles. When Chrysler redesigned their mid size cars for 1971, all their two door mid size cars shared this unique (and quite handsome) body that was all but indistinguishable from the four door cars.