1971 Plymouth Road Runner

The Story

Plymouth launched the Road Runner in 1968 with a brilliantly simple idea: take a no-frills mid-size coupe, stuff in a big V8, license the Looney Tunes cartoon character and its 'beep-beep' horn, and sell it cheap. The formula made affordable muscle a cultural phenomenon.

For 1971 the Road Runner adopted Chrysler's curvaceous new 'fuselage' B-body styling, with a wide, aggressive face and hidden-headlamp options. It was arguably the best-looking Road Runner yet, even as the muscle-car era began its decline under the weight of rising insurance costs and tightening emissions rules.

The standard 383 four-barrel V8 made 300 gross horsepower, with the legendary 440 Six Barrel and 426 Hemi still on the menu for those who wanted maximum thunder. Plymouth built 14,218 Road Runners for 1971, a sharp drop from the model's late-1960s heyday.

That scarcity, combined with the bold fuselage looks and genuine performance pedigree, makes the 1971 Road Runner a standout today. Even a base 383 car carries strong collector value, while the rare big-block versions sit firmly in six-figure territory.