The opinions on muscle cars are very passionate and very wide ranging. Starting with trying to determine what the first muscle car ever made was to which car can be rightly considered the ultimate example of the breed, everyone has an idea and it is usually different from the car guy who he is standing next to. Lots of stuff plays into it like personal brand loyalty, past experience, and your pedigree as a gearhead, right? If you bleed little Chevy logos, you sure aren’t going to run over the tell the Ford guys that they had something better, faster, whatever in their lineup against the make you like. All that being said, there are some cars that transcend it all and we’re thinking that this 1969 Road Runner which is packing a factory installed 426ci hemi that has raced up less than 10,000 in its life is one of them.
You don’t have to be a Mopar guy to dig the mighty hemi engine. You don’t have to be a Road Runner fan to dig how tough this car looks dipped in black. You don’t have to be a nut and bolt resto guy to appreciate a car that has 9,800 original miles on it and you don’t have to be an options sheet memorizing dweeb to understand that when the guy who bought this car back in 1969 signed on the dotted line, he was looking to leave the lot with a car equipped for destroying the competition on the street or at the strip. You don’t order a black, four speed hemi car because you want to look cool rolling into church on Sunday. You do it because you want to make money on Saturday night and you don’t want people to be able to see you when things get weird at night.
According to the seller, this car has been given a complete visual inspection by Galen Govier, one of the foremost experts on Chrysler muscle cars in the world. Again, according to the seller, Govier has reported that this car is a one of one for the color, four speed, and hemi combo. He also listed the car as being in #1 condition which means a lot of the rich guys who buy these things at auction. Obviously the car has been fully restored to what is probably better than factory condition considering the times the car was constructed in to start with and for collector value we can’t argue that. If we had the scratch to buy it and it is going to take A LOT of scratch to buy it, we’d race and cruise the hell out of it. Period, end of story.
As we said above, there are certain cars that have the respect of even the most strident and brand dedicated muscle car fans. We believe that this is one of them. From the awesome visual of the hemi under the hood to the virtual perfection of every surface on the automobile, this Road Runner is in a class by itself.
Thanks to Ron for the tip!
SCROLL DOWN TO SEE PHOTOS AND THE EBAY LINK FOR THIS AWESOME 1969 ROAD RUNNER –
CLICK HERE to see the eBay listing for this 1969 Hemi Road Runner
someones going to pay a lot of money for a coffee table – is spending that much money on a dust catcher really fun??
This is a great car!
Is it “ultimate?” No. A Hemicuda or a Hemi Superbird in similar condition would be better. For that matter, a Boss 429, G.T. 500, or a “real” 427 Cobra would be a more “ultimate” expression of pure ’60s muscle.
Does it make any sense to “race and cruise the hell out of it”? No. Build a cheap clone for that. Surviving cars like this one are the modern Duesenbergs . . . The current owners are merely caretakers . . . Such originals should be preserved for the edification of future generations.
Please don’t get me wrong – it’s a beautiful car! – but I agree with the above comment – 1 of 1? – that’s a museum piece
If I had the opportunity to own this car the odometer would not read 9,800 for very long. The rear tires wouldn’t last long either.
Motor Trend’s 1969 Car of the Year.
Incredible car for it’s collector value. As a driver, not so much. Some guy with a new LS Camaro (or many other cars) would blow the doors of it, get way ahead and stop and wait for you. Sad but true.
It’s missing the exhaust resonators – all Hemi RRs had them.
I wouldn’t call it the “Ultimate Factory Muscle Car.” That title might go to the 1969 427 COPO Camaro if we are talking about street driven cars. Chevy built over a 1000 of them so it’s not like they were a special build like a 1968 Hemi Dart or a 1964 Fairlane Thunderbolt or even a 1969 427 ZL1 COPO Camaro.
” Yak – Yak ” Oh ye of little opinions ……. Blessed are the small minded ….. For they shall run in circles
Blessed are the cryptic and obtuse . . . for they shall spawn mass confusion and misunderstanding.