1974 Road Runner Specs

The Road Runner was part of Chrysler's Plymouth line. It was designed as a performance car with only basic features, resulting in a low-budget muscle car. Its body design was a lighter version of the "B" body platform used on the Belvedere, the Satellite and the GTX lines. The Road Runner was named after Warner Brother's cartoon character, with Chrysler's Plymouth Division paying $50,000 for the rights to use the name. Chrysler produced the Road Runner from 1968 to 1980.

Development and History

The Road Runner went through its first major changes in 1971, with a redesigned body featuring rounded bumper-grilles and a reduced wheelbase. Minor styling updates were done from 1972 to 1974. In 1975 a new generation of Road Runner started that diverged from its original muscle car design. Its body was fully revamped to copy the Fury's platform. The Road Runner name would run until 1980, but 1974 was its final year as a true performance car.

The 1974 Road Runner had a wheelbase of 115 inches, with a front and rear track width of 62 inches. Its overall length was 77 inches, with an overall height of 52.6 inches and a width of 77 inches. Its base engine was a 318-cid (cubic-inch displacement) two-barrel V-8 engine rated at 170 hp and was equipped with a three-speed manual transmission. Optional engines were four-barrel V-8s having 360 cid with 245 hp, 400 cid with 255 hp and 440 cid with 280 hp. Optional transmissions included a four-speed manual transmission and a three-speed TorqueFlite automatic transmission. The 1974 Road Runner also came standard with 14-inch radial tires.

In 1968, Chrysler initially released 2,000 Road Runners with a price of less than $3,000 each. Sales picked up and production increased to about 45,000 units for the first year. Sales slowed down in 1971, and by 1974, only 9,600 Road Runners were produced. As of 2010, the price of a used 1974 Road Runner ranges from $6,000 to $16,000 depending on mileage, condition and modifications.