1971 Plymouth Road Runner

Gateway Classic Cars Houston is proud to offer this gorgeous black 1971 Plymouth Road Runner Hardtop Coupe. Originally introduced in 1968 as a budget-friendly muscle car, the Road Runner quickly outsold the rest of the Mopar "B-body" cars by quite a substantial margin. The second generation arrived in 1970 with a new, curvy "fuselage" body, which buyers (and the automotive press) loved. The 1971 model year was the last year that either the legendary 426 CID "Street Hemi" or the 440 "SixPack" engines were available, so this is a pretty rare bird, indeed. Equipped with the AirGrabber hood, with its menacing graphics, a 440+6 Road Runner could strike fear in the hearts of the GM and Ford muscle car owners when one lined up next to them. In this case, what is reportedly the original 44O CID V8 powers this beast, albeit we are unable to verify that beyond doubt. The big 440's temperature is kept in check by a massive aluminum radiator, with its Derale twin electric fan setup, and it has been enhanced with a set of coated Hedman headers that funnel the exhaust gases into the well-engineered custom dual exhaust setup. The 440 is backed by a decidedly non-original Keisler Engineering A41 4-speed automatic transmission with overdrive. Keisler custom-modifies a GM 4L60E transmission to handle the big block Mopar power and provides a complete installation kit to enable the swap (in this case, a 2400RPM stall converter, custom bell housing, tail housing, customized shifter, reluctor and speedometer gear assembly, bellhousing hardware kit, and crossmember suitable for the fitment). This "super" bird has been lovingly restored and sports an amazingly nice black paint job with silver b-pillar graphics, which are nicely complemented by the chromed 20" Foose aluminum wheels, which add even more visual pop. Performance-oriented Continental radials dramatically improve the handling vs. its 1971-issue bias ply tires; and the power 4-wheel disc brake setup significantly improve its stopping prowess. Inside, one will find even more enhancements, including cold R134a air conditioning, a custom white marble finish dash, custom console with AM/FM/XM/CD head unit, leather seating, power mirrors, power front seats, and power windows, which were definitely NOT the kind of mods that buyers of the Road Runners were clamoring for in the muscle car years (but are most certainly appreciated by them now)! This 1971 Road Runner is ready for its next driver - so don't miss out on this brilliant example of a well-executed vintage American muscle car.