7,183 examples of the final year of the RM21-coded Plymouth Road Runner were built for 1975. And man…even as a Mopar guy, 1975 is a bit of a bitter pill to swallow when it comes to the Road Runner. There were good points: it was still on the B-body platform, you could still get a big-block V8, and…well…that might be it. For all intents and purposes, the ’75 Beeper was little more than a Plymouth Fury Sport two-door with a cartoon bird decal. It didn’t have a special suspension. It didn’t have different interior options, and the four-speed manual transmission didn’t make the cut. You had to pay for a tachometer, and that big-block was the 400ci mill in 2-barrel form, four-barrel form, and a special form with a hotter camshaft and exhaust setup. Power numbers? It was 1975, reader…you don’t want to know. The late-arrival hot-shot E68 400 was able to cough out 235 horsepower and 320 ft/lbs of torque, but that was in a car that weighed in at about 4400 pounds.
But there is something about these one-year-only Road Runners I find appealing, besides my blatant love for the malaise Mopar muscle. For one, there was no reason to have a Road Runner at all. Only the die-hards within the brand cared about performance of any kind. Everyone else who claimed to be about anything kind of resembling muscle were too busy trying to keep Richard Petty from jumping ship to Oldsmobile or Pontiac in NASCAR competition. And, be fair…compare it to anything else in 1975 and the Road Runner still has a presence to it. And it isn’t like all of those 1970s creature comforts won’t be appreciated once you’re moving…sure, it’s not the 1968 taxicab on steroids, but for a boulevard roller, not bad.
I’ve seen this particular Aztec Gold example at a Somernites event. If you think it looks good in the pictures, trust me when I say that it looks better in person, in the sunlight. A true two-owner car that was restored, driven and shown, this is the example you want: 400 4-barrel, floor-shift car, with a 3.21-geared 9.25 axle. All that it needs are fresh tires and a quick checkup of the air conditioning system, which didn’t wake up this year. I’ve seen late-B prices climb since I started monitoring them a few years ago, and I’d say that what the gentleman is asking for is in-line with the quality of Plymouth you see here. One of these cars has to make it through unmolested…good luck finding a better example.
Here’s hoping the next buyer treats this one with respect.
Chrysler never gave up the performance platform.
My brother had one just a 318 when he sold it I wanted it so bad dad won’t let me have it
No one wants a 1975 smog car
Hey buddy…anyone with brains would want one, classic muscle car which you have no idea about
Wait, it didn’t come from the factory with cragers did it?
I worked as a automotive parts man at a dodge dealership in 1981 in Atlanta ga . I was given a 1976 Plymouth fury 4 door. It was a police intercepter model with heavy duty everything. The engine was complete only it was in the trunk of the car. One day i looked up the part # for a 400 short block. Lo and behold Chrysler had several left and were selling them for $400. To deplete discontinued inventory. With the heads reworked with the larger valves and a triple angle valve job and a hotter cam this 400 was a beast.less the smog controled components. Then back into the orignal body i was eating corvettes and trans am’s with ease from a dead start or rolling start it didn’t matter. I would slow down allowing them to catch up then look over and watch them shaking thier heads in disbelief. My those were some fun times. I don’t know what top speed was in that car because the speedometer was pegged at 140 and still pulling.
I HAD ONE ALSO !!! 115 MPH IN 2ND GEAR !!! AWESOME CAR … TOP END WAS SOMEWHERE NORTH OF 145/150 !!! OLD COP CARS ROCK !!!
Me too! I flipped the lid to air cleaner upside down, ran 10’s on stock tires!!!
I bought my first car for $1500. It was 1986. The car was a 71 Plymouth barracuda convertible with a 340 6pack. Now it would be upwards of a $100,000 dollar car. I kick myself every day for letting it go.
The wheels ARE NOT Cragers ..they are stock Mopar..do your homework…
Looks nice I’ll take 3
I once owned a black on black 75. Loved it for a while, discovered it was a brick.
Too bad.
Recently saw a very nice example in S FL. White on white, very nice car.
Nice cruiser, not much beyond that.
I have 69 and half black own orange matching numbers with all the trimmings plus a 65 satellite to backing motor runs off jet fuel one motor does.