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Money No Object: The 1971 Plymouth Rapid Transit System Road Runner


Money No Object: The 1971 Plymouth Rapid Transit System Road Runner

Building a car for sale is difficult, make no mistake. Between engineers, stylists, and the corporate structure, bringing a car to market is a long, drawn-out pain in the backside most of the time. The artists have a vision, the engineers have goals, and management has a target they need to achieve to make the investment worth it. No argument there. But there is one more section to the success or failure of anyone trying to sell a car: how you market it. Times change, tastes change, and even the market for a vehicle might change. Do you sell based on utility and ease of maintenance? Do you use a racing pedigree to hold your hot rod on high? Or do you offer up luxury and hope that the sensation of feeling classy is enough to get buyers to part with hard-earned dollars?

For 1970 and 1971, Plymouth was interspersing the racing scene with a young, hip image that occasionally flirted with a bit of sexuality to move machines. In one of the more interesting ways to market an entire brand ever concocted, Chrysler went ahead and developed the “Rapid Transit System Caravan”, which was a collection of show cars that were used to entice buyers to check out the actual vehicles in the showrooms. The Rapid Transit System itself was analogous to the Dodge Scat Pack…partially, because there was some competition going on between the two brands. Everything from the Duster to the Fury GT was on the table for the RTS treatment, but the show cars themselves were another item altogether. Four cars were modified into RTS show cars: a 1970 ‘Cuda, a 1970 Duster that got a facelift for 1971, and a 1970 and 1971 Road Runner. With Don “The Snake” Prudhomme’s ‘Cuda Funny Car tagging along, the Rapid Transit System Caravan toured the country for 1970 and 1971.

The amount of custom touches you can find on the RTS Road Runner will take you plenty of time. The custom body touches are easy to spot, including the molded in scoops on the hood and the incorporated rear spoiler that reminds us of a Chrysler Hurst 300. The taillights were skinned in a three-color pattern: outboard, you had a red mark for brakes. In the middle, you had an amber patch that signified that you weren’t on either the brakes or the gas, and the green inboard section meant that you were hitting the right pedal, letting the 383 big-block do it’s thing. While you can still see plenty of 1971 Road Runner, there is a certain flair to the car that is just jaw-dropping.

Most of the Rapid Transit Caravan cars made their way into the collection of Steve Juliano, who kept them as not only prized possessions but in a way, as a museum caretaker would. Sadly, Juliano passed on last year from pancreatic cancer, and some of his collection is going to be hitting the auction block at Mecum’s Indy 2019 auction. The RTS Road Runner is just one of a handful of interesting and one-off vehicles that will be going up for auction. There is really no way to even guess at how much this one-off show car is going to go for…

Mecum Auctions’ Indy 2019: Lot R254 – 1971 Plymouth Rapid Transit System Caravan Road Runner


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11 thoughts on “Money No Object: The 1971 Plymouth Rapid Transit System Road Runner

  1. Raymond

    This collection should be sold as “all or nothing “ he worked hard to gather them!

  2. 69rrboy

    From what I understand all the dealership memorabilia will be sold at a separate auction in CA sometime in the next couple months and “most” of his car collection(RTS cars included) will be sold at the Indy Mecum.

    Would love to have something of his but I guess we’ll see.

    Still miss Steve. He was always cool with me. RIP my friend!

  3. Scott Liggett

    It was a great marketing idea and the cars show what was wild in customs during that time. Wild customs that were all about garnering attention on the cruising strips like Van Nuys Blvd and Woodward back then. Unfortunately, these days most people don’t have the courage to keep those cars customized as they were. They restore them back to stone stock in order to get the highest value and the various auctions.

    While I love a lot of the RTS cars I have seen. And, I love the 71/72 Road Runners, this one doesn’t speak to me.

    1. Mopar Randy

      While i AM a MOPAR FANATIC…( Having owned several dozen MOPARS in the past…several from each A-body B-body C-body
      Pick-ups Vans ) This Awesome BLAST FROM THE PAST , IS what it is ..extremely Rare and highly collectable…Not my favorite body style….but would still give my left nut to have it in my garage.

  4. jerry z

    It’s amazing that these cars survived at all. I thought they usually crushed these cars when the show circuit is over.

  5. 69rrboy

    Analogdesigner do you think the Cuda is still in Canada(IF that guy ever actually owned it) and do you think it’ll ever surface? Especially after he sees what these will probably go for. Just wondered.

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