1969 Plymouth Road Runner. Wes EisenschenkЧитать онлайн книгу.
and just 7,183 cars rolled off the assembly lines. This was the last year for a big-block optioned machine.
The Road Runner trudged on for another five model years as a Volare option on an F-Body platform. At one point, the Road Runner came standard with a 6-cylinder, with the top option being a 360 with a 4-barrel.
The last year for the Road Runner option on the Volare was 1980. With the top option being a 318 puffing out 120 hp, you could say that the Road Runner died with its V-8 boots on.
This PR sheet from Chrysler announced that a convertible would now be an option on the 1969 Road Runner. Although sales were nominal, the convertible lasted one more year before being discontinued. (Dodge, Plymouth and the AMC design are registered trademarks of FCA US LLC)
With the rush to production in 1968, the Road Runner came on a like a Top Fuel dragster and remained at full throttle through 1969. In that short timeframe more than 125,000 cars were introduced to the public, with very few changes.
The conceptualization of the Road Runner was a collective series of conversations and ideas that started with Pontiac and the GTO. In the cause-and-effect world of muscle cars, it was Pontiac’s creation of the GTO that forced Plymouth to come up with a fast, marketable, and affordable car. Plymouth already had the fast component, and was hard at work looking for the remaining ingredients.
In 1965, Robert “Big Bob” Anderson was named vice president of the Chrysler-Plymouth sales division. By 1967 Anderson was looking for a way to get the kids into the dealerships. Youth was driving the muscle car movement, so he reached out to Car and Driver writer Brock Yates and asked him for his thoughts. Yates suggested stripping down a car and stuffing the biggest engine into it. A novel concept and one that started in the early 1960s with the package cars offered to drag racers. However, these cars generally weren’t available to the buying public and were unsuitable for day-to-day driving. Eventually, the idea trickled down to Product Planning Group Manager Jack Smith.
Smith had planted the seed with his company car; a 1967 Belvedere II packing a 383 4-speed with 11-inch police brakes and redline tires. The Belvedere II was close in concept to Yates’ suggestion. Smith envisioned applying the concept to the newly shaped Plymouth B-Bodies, and it had to be done quickly as 1968 model preparation was in its 11th hour. Jack proposed the idea with naming considerations to be handled by the advertising agency, Young & Rubicam.
Jack Smith poses with a cardboard cutout of the Road Runner. The 1968 Road Runner exceeded sales expectations setting the table for a very fruitful 1969 campaign. (Photo Courtesy Jack Smith)
The easy part of creating a new car was the availability of parts on Chrysler’s shelves. At that time, Chrysler was handling 51 percent of the police car business. Performance brakes, suspension, and various driveline components were being made to fill the orders. With all of the chassis and most driveline components readily available, it came down to finding a name both marketable and relatable to the youth of America.
Gordon Cherry was an assistant to Jack Smith in the Product Planning department. It was Gordon who asked Jack, “Have you ever watched Saturday Morning cartoons?” (Photo Courtesy Mark Cherry)
About a week into the car’s creation Smith’s assistant, Gordon Cherry, came into the office and proclaimed that he had, “a perfect name for the car.” After some bantering between the two, Cherry stated that Smith needed to watch a particular Saturday morning cartoon. Without knowing all the details, Smith agreed to watch the television program the following Saturday regarding a certain bird.
When Smith saw the Road Runner he instantly fell in love. To anyone who may not know the full history of the Road Runner, it was a colorful bird forever being chased by a coyote that could never catch him. Chuck Jones of Warner Brothers created the characters Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner in 1948, and the duo made their debut in Fast and Furry-ous September 17, 1949. And for the next 17 years new episodes were unveiled bringing the series total to 40 shows.
The Road Runner met all the intangibles that Jack was looking for; he just never knew it existed before that Saturday morning. The Road Runner could blast off on a moment’s notice and stop just as quickly. The bird exuded speed and exhibited a tongue-in-cheek demeanor that could potentially suit Plymouth’s target audience.
With Cherry’s suggestion of the name “Road Runner,” all that was left was to pitch the idea to the advertising agency handling the naming of the car. Before Smith could make the suggestion, a meeting was scheduled for the unveiling of the name. Smith and Cherry met with the ad agency at a steakhouse where a young man from the Art Department made the big unveiling. On the bottom of a sheet of paper read, “Lamancha.”
After a series of congratulatory handshakes on a job well done, it was now or never to squeeze the name “Road Runner” into the conversation. Smith announced, “In addition to your candidate names is the name that Gordon and I think would be perfect for the car. It has all the characteristics of the car and we think it would do a good job.” The group sat down to hear the name. Smith asked, “Do you ever watch cartoons on television?” Heads nodded throughout the room. “We think a perfect name for the car is Road Runner.”
Silence fell and the Art Department guy shoved his head into his elbow. Half a minute passed before his head popped up and he exclaimed, “I can work with that!”
The next hurdle was negotiating with Warner Brothers to use the cartoon bird on the car. Prior to that conversation Smith contacted the Automobile Manufacturers Association and secured the name “Road Runner.” Once secured, negotiations became simple. Either Warner Brothers went along for the ride or watched from the sidelines, because Plymouth could use the name either way.
Warner Brothers decided the fit was right with Plymouth and an annual usage fee of $50,000 was agreed upon between the two corporate giants. The Plymouth had a name and a character to boot!