There’s no doubt parts of the continental United States have had some bone-chilling temperatures this winter. A polar vortex last week brought temperatures of -8 Fahrenheit (-22 C) according to my outside thermometer; being on the southern end of the vortex, there were many places that experienced far colder temperatures than here.
While it’s warmed up considerably (as much as 70 degrees Fahrenheit in less than five days), the twelve-hour forecast for the February 5 time of this writing has a mild likelihood for freezing rain. Yay.
So seeing this golden Road Runner earlier today as I left work was a boost of feel-good mixed with signs that False Spring may be here.
For those in less meteorologically entertaining locales, False Spring is that brief period of warm weather in February that taunts you into thinking winter is over early. It’s generally followed by Return of Winter; this has often been marked with hellacious snow falls as late as mid-March.
Regardless, the owner of this Road Runner should be commended. I’ve seen this Road Runner out running roads periodically the last few years, with one of those times being during a similar cold snap last winter.
So, yeah, seeing this Road Runner that proudly proclaimed it was powered by a non-original 360 provided a welcomed rush of enthusiasm for the tenacity of an old Plymouth, the joys of old car ownership, and how winter is temporary.
This Mopar ray of sunshine also drove home how a nicely colored Plymouth can be the most captivating car in the parking lot.
Found February 5, 2018, at a random McDonald’s in Jefferson City, Missouri
That is one beautiful Mopar!!!
It is probably not a real Road Runner, but a Satellite 2-door…but it doesn’t pretend to be a RR. That does not detract from it, one bit, and the ones with the 360 handle better anyway. And the spark plugs are easier to change.
Always liked this generation B bodies, But for the life of me. I could never understand why Mopar looked liked they sourced the (pointless, IMHO) rear “wing” from JCWhitney. Like it was a design afterthought. Much like Ford in the 70’s just bolted on guardrail looking 5mph bumpers on their cars. They could have integrated the spoiler thing a lot better.
No doubt it’s likely a recreation Road Runner. Despite its lineage it was great to see it as the mid-winter gloom was certainly eroded with it around.
doesn’t take away much of the coolness but it’s not a real RoadRunner, it’s got the regular Satellite flat hood without the dummy scoops or the bulged airgrabber.
See other day in my neighbourhood…
As punxsutawney phil said on Saturday, spring is here.
On this side of the border, late winter storms can produce snow well into April. I dare say northern states such as Minnesota may be in that category as well as upstate New York. However Wiarton Willie assures us of an early spring this year.
Nice Plymouth!
The mountain areas of even Southern California, where it is snowing as I write this, can get snow well into May.
A very nice car. The Chrysler 360 was a very nice engine in the early 70s so it is interesting that it seemed to be seen so seldom. The 383/400 overshadowed it from above while the 340 overshadowed it from below. At least Chrysler crammed 3 different engines into that 45 cubic inch gap instead of designing three separate engines and giving them all the same displacement like they did over at Ford with the 351s.
I still have mixed feelings about these after all these years. There is no car that screams “1971” louder than one of these, and they were great drivers. I built a model kit of one at the time and admired its modern lines. But I will take a 70 and earlier all day long just for the much more solid-feeling body.
I’d gladly put up with a supposedly less-solid feeling body as this is one of the very best design ever to come out of Detroit. It’s about as good as it gets for an American car, thanks to a bit of help from European designers as well as some lingering Exner influence:
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/curbside-classics-american/curbside-classic-1971-plymouth-satellite-sebring-plus-with-a-tip-of-the-hat-to-virgil-exner-and-marcello-gandini/
The ’70 looks like it’s ten years older in comparison.
They are an immensely stylish machine – up to a point. And that point is somewhere past the rear side window, whereafter there’s too much empty real estate, back and down. Should’ve perhaps have been a tad more daring and chopped the tail a bit for the full Espada effect.
However, it must be said that for the new car buyer looking for huge value in C-pillars, none offered more.
I feel that way about the 68-72 GM intermediate coupes more so. Taillights in the bumper bothers me on most of those as well as these Satellites, and I think that’s the crux of the problem out back.
agreed – I like the 68-69 but the 71-72 have such great sleek lines. I don’t seem to recall that the 360 was an engine option for 1971?
The 360 was never intended as the high performance small block Mopar. That honor went to the 340, as they could be REAL nasty. The 360 was a sort of upgrade to the 318 in that they were both doing yeoman work. Nothing ‘wrong’ with the 360 of course, and many have been built into total monsters.
I agree on preferring the ’70…that bodystyle is timeless. That said, these B’s are still pretty sharp in their own way. Ma Mopar was still trying to keep the muscle car flame ablaze.
20 extra cubic inches is 20 extra cubic inches. The 340 was the hot LA block at the height of the the muscle car era, so it obviously has the most factory output and gravitas, while the 360 replaced it deep into the choking emissions era(where despite the fact it remained a relatively decent performer). Without the constraints of rudimentary emissions equipment and low compression, nor the desire to have a car “numbers matching”, I’d have a warmed up 360 over an equivelant 340 any day.
For me 68>71>70. I like the rear end of the 70 but the front end just comes off as a marketing tease of the 71 front end. I do prefer the 68-70 bodystyle though
I always think o fDaisy Duke’s car. I’ve always liked that color on that body style (the car of course 🙂 )
Daisy Duke drove something? 🙂
Was gonna say, “two careful owners, current owner since 1977 when the first one traded it on a new Jeep”.
It needed a little wax before she traded it….
As good as these look in still pictures, to see them in action takes them to a whole new level, sad ending though.
This one was in good shape!
“There is no car that screams “1971” louder…”
Chrysler Corp. was still at a 60’s “Shin-Dig” doing the “Funky Chicken” dance in 1971. 😉
Definitely a Satellite but a pretty car anyway.
I guess the opposite to a happy sunny spring special Satellite is my angry old man winter Sno-White ’71 Road Runner
Normally white is a color that strains to flatter the car its put on. However, your RR is a tremendous exception. Maybe the basic shape is simply so good color doesn’t much matter?
its also easy to keep clean and hides the rust. COAL coming
Awesome find Jason! These are one of my all time favorite Mopars so much so, I will let the “fake” RR livery slide. I know everyone loves the earlier 1968-70’s, but these were more my style. While the 68-70’s are pretty common around here, the 71-72’s are relatively rare. In my eyes, the boxy predecessors are so boring in comparison.
Compared to the 1971 Charger, the Plymouth looked so much better. Better lines, proportions and no goofy rear side window shape.
My dad actually road tested a brand new 1972 Satellite Sebring Plus and was strongly considering buying it new. He liked the car but was won over by Ford after trying it. Or maybe it was the fact that he got a ticket when road testing the Plymouth that made him by the Ford!
It looks like you have no snow at all! No wonder some old iron is coming out. We still have a ton of snow and with the freezing rain the roads are quite treacherous. No classics out here anytime soon.
Damn fine looking car. True, the previous generation B bodies may have been the cream of the crop, but these are attractive in their own way, funkiness and all. I could care less if its basically just a Satellite with some upgrades. The owner isn’t selling it as something it isn’t, but has made it his own. And its fantastic.
I regretted trading in my ’74 360 “HP” Roadrunner for a truck in ’77. I had it running 13.90 second 1/4 miles before the warranty ran out with some simple bolt ons and tuning. I liked both the ’71-’72 and the updated and toned down ’73-’74 I had. I’m glad it’s alive and well in the Vegas area with a stroked 440 in it, and the original rebuilt 360 all set to go back in if the owner loses his mind. Still looks good:
What a beautiful car and great find, Jason! The more time that passes, the more I can appreciate the styling of the 1973 – ’74 Plymouth intermediate coupes. The blocky rear-end even no longer bothers me all that much.
Right there with you, Joe. It’s funny that I like the 71-2 and the 73-4 Satellite about equally (in different ways) while over at the Dodge showroom I love the 73-4 and can’t stand the 71-2.
These look much sweeter without all the Arnie bulges and bits all over the front end from a proper Road Runner.
I’m writing this early morning here here it hasn’t really gone BELOW 70F for the past few nights, which is becoming meteorologically tedious, and while I admit I couldn’t survive the absurd cold of the US mid-west recently, I wouldn’t mind a decent cool change for a day or two. A yellow car just makes me feel hotter!
That would have been fun in your recent snow…I suspect, maybe wrongly!
We recently had a very wet snow that was ideal for doing doughnuts in vacant parking lots. This Plymouth would have been awesome!
I think Plymouth hit it out of the park with the 71-72 Satellite/RR. I still remember the first time I saw one on the street; I just stopped and stared at it; at all of 15 years old.
The 73-74 iteration is ok, but IMHO the front was ruined. It was as if Plymouth decided to play it safe and just ape the 1970 Chevelle. Why step back three years?