1969 Plymouth Roadrunner
Coyote Duster

The Roadrunner cartoon was rather popular in the 60’s. Plymouth capitalized on the cartoon with a “back to basics” muscle car that seventeen year-olds could afford. It’s just what you need to leave the pesky Coyote in the dust. In fact, some air filter casings would have a sticker that read “Coyote Duster”.

Text and photos ©Isaac Hernández

Plymouth may have been an obscure nameplate by the time DaimlerChrysler decided to pull the plug on the brand, right after the “merger of equals.” That was only after Chrysler had ignored Plymouth for several years, making the cars out of re-badged Dodges and Chryslers. But back in the 30’s, when every other manufacturer was struggling to stay alive, Plymouth had ever increasing sales. Besides Chrysler having very advanced vehicles, all of the Dodge, DeSoto and Chrysler dealers were given Plymouth franchises starting in 1930, which made the Plymouth agencies almost as abundant as Ford’s.

For a long time, it was the third best-selling car in the United States, behind Ford and Chevrolet. The great reputation for a good-looking economical car remained into the 50’s. The Plymouth cars were considered to be always ahead of the other company cars (DeSoto, Chrysler and Dodge), and of Ford and Chevy when it came to styling.

When the muscle car craze began with the Pontiac GTO in 1964, Ford came up with the Mustang and Chrysler with the Plymouth Barracuda. Next year, Plymouth would take the top three spots at the Daytona 500 with a prototype Belvedere with the new Hemi engine and Richard Petty in front. In the middle of the season, NASCAR ruled that at least 1000 engines had to be produced for street use in order to be eligible for racing. This outlawed the 426cid Hemi engine, and Chrysler withdrew from the remainder of the season. In 1966, Chrysler built the 425 horsepower "Street Hemi" engines and returned to NASCAR racing.

By 1968, the muscle cars were starting to lose grip with the original idea of a muscle car: a powerful V8 engine in a small car with no frills and at very low cost. The newer muscle cars were loaded with options and pricier than originally intended. Then came the Roadrunner, with a back to basics approach. The Belvedere was a “plain Jane” car, the one that a traveling salesman would buy. Plymouth started with a Belvedere Satellite and stripped it down to make it as cheap as possible, added a V8 383 engine and the Roadrunner decals (for which it’s said that Warner Brothers received $50,000) and priced it at a base price of $2,896, back in 1968, about $1000 cheaper than a Pontiac GTO...

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