PLYMOUTH ROAD RUNNER
SOMETIMES OWNING YOUR BOYHOOD DREAM CAR BECOMES A REALITY. DEAN SOMERVILLE’S DREAM CAME TRUE WHEN HE TOOK DELIVERY OF A 1969 PLYMOUTH ROAD RUNNER
FAMOUS AMERICAN MUSCLE
Dean Somerville says he always wanted a Plymouth Road Runner. He remembers seeing one a car show at Lower Hutt in his youth, and looking longingly at pictures of them in magazines. But, he tells us, “I’d never thought I’d own one.” Our story begins three years ago, when Dean and his wife Kirsti were on holiday in the US. Keen on trying to make his boyhood dream a reality, the couple looked at car shows and at swap meets for a Road Runner during the trip but didn’t see any for sale. However, as they would find out, luck was on their side in New Zealand.
Close to home
Before they had left for their holiday, Dean had sold his 1956 Cadillac Coupe Deville, which he says was “pretty tough. We’d brought our kids up with it. It was a great family wagon”.
Once back home again, Dean was chatting to a couple of mates at the Moonshine Rod and Custom Club (he is a former president) one day about what car he and Kirsti would buy, and he spoke about how he’d always wanted that Road Runner. As often happens, someone knew someone who knew someone who might be interested in selling his. Dean got in touch and received some photos by email. What surprised Dean is that he hadn’t known of the car before: “I had not seen the car, and I go to a lot of car shows.”
When she saw that the car in the photos was blue, Kirsti was originally not keen. But, after they had driven over the Rimutakas to see the coupé in the metal, Dean says she fell in love with it.
He’d decided on the spot that this was the car he wanted, and, on the way home, he was able to persuade Kirsti that this was the car for them.
Dream car
Dean is now the car’s second owner in New Zealand. The number of owners prior to its arrival is unknown.
Buying a Road Runner in the US and shipping it home to New Zealand could have cost him close to $100,000,
The Plymouth Road Runner debuted in 1968 as a basic muscle car and continued to sell well in 1969 as one of the marque’s most popular models — 44,599 units were produced that year
allowing for the exchange rate differences, GST, freight charges, and cash to make the vehicle roadworthy. Not to mention the time and money that may have been involved in certifying that car once landed. If the car had arrived with a new paint job, replacement panels, or a stateside restoration, all that work might have had to have been stripped down for examination to comply with New Zealand regulations.
‘As is’ wasn’t bad
When Dean drove the Road Runner over the Rimutakas, he thought that his new car handled quite well, although it needed new shocks, bushes, and brake lines. Dean is very strict about the condition of the brakes in his cars, especially those that his family will ride in. “I love its brakes,” he says. “They’re Wilwood, which are well-recognized brakes. They are one of the modifications to the car that I like.”
When pressed, Dean says that the only thing he doesn’t like about the Road Runner is the power steering. “It’s very vague,” he says of the Mopar system, so that’s on the list of improvements to be made in the future.
A good drive
Kirsti enjoys the car too saying she finds it easy to drive. And the couple’s three adult sons have all driven the coupé, which surprises many of Dean and Kirsti’s friends at the Moonshine club, who wouldn’t let their children near the wheel of their prized classics. In fact, son Matthew drove his dad’s car to and from the American Vehicle Day last year.
During the summer months after buying it, Dean and Kirsti have often bought fish and chips and driven to one of the Wellington area’s beaches to watch the sun set while they eat. They’ve frequently been interrupted by people coming up to admire the car and ask questions.
They tell us that they’ve travelled between 3000 and 5000km in the coupé in the six months before we talk. They’ve made several trips in the Road Runner to the Wairarapa, with their longest journey being to Palmerston North. The fuel bill for 98-octane petrol on the return trip to and from Palmerston North was $120. “I didn’t buy it for fuel economy,” Dean says, his variation on what others say about owning their cars for pleasure.
“It’s a noisy thing, it is,” Dean says, as
photographer Ross de Rouffignac and I hop in for a spin. Ross is taken with the back window. As he snaps away, he says he loves its “wave-like” shape.
The inside
Dean is right that the Road Runner turns very easily. Sitting on the bench front seat, I find the smooth ride less noisy than when I watched the car driving along the road. There’s plenty of legroom for passengers and the view from the windscreen’s great. The car feels solid beneath me.
Boyd Coddington mag wheels were fitted before Dean bought the Road Runner. Someone also had the car repainted and the seats reupholstered in their original colours; otherwise the car’s appearance is much the same as when new.
It still has its original heater, demister, and lights, and all the other accessories are in working order, including the light in the boot.
A previous owner modified the motor by adding a high-performance cam with a semihigh manifold and headers. Dean approves: “I’ll drive it anywhere.”
He says that the Road Runner is a muscle car built to double as a town car during the week and a racer on weekends: the day after we talk Road Runner with Dean, he tells us that he’ll be driving the car in some Moonshine club drag races. Kirsti exits the room before we can ask what she thinks of her husband drag racing in their car.
Road Runner history
The Plymouth Road Runner debuted in 1968 as a basic muscle car and continued to sell well in 1969 as one of the marque’s most popular models — 44,599 units were produced that year.
Road Runners lack an abundance of exterior chrome — Dean and Kirsti notice the ease of cleaning after years of polishing Cadillac chrome — and the posh interiors and accessories fitted on the more upmarket muscle cars.
Buyers received a four-speed transmission, big brakes, tuned suspension and a 383-cubic-inch (6.3-litre) motor with features from a 440-cubic-inch (7.2-litre) engine: intake, heads, valve springs, and exhaust manifold.
Production of the first-generation models ended in 1970, although the name Road Runner continued until 1980 in various forms under Plymouth or Chrysler badging.