Plymouth had always planned for the 1968 Road Runner to be the antidote to bulging muscle car prices in the late ‘60s. It was meant to be a stripped-back, factory-built hot rod on the Belvedere platform that could take on the popular choices of the time. Cars like the Dodge Challenger, Chevrolet Camaro, and of course, the Ford Mustang.
In 2023, we’ve got similar plans. This 1968 Plymouth Road Runner restomod concept has been created by 3D visualizer Rostislav Prokop exclusively for HotCars as a back-to-basics modern muscle car. Even if it’s been reimagined from the ground up. Packing the ethos of the original B-body car, but with a more serious air to it, this restomod render has been designed with one thing in mind.
And that’s to stay ahead of modern muscle cars, which have once again become big, heavy and expensive. Could anyone have predicted that a 2023 Ford Mustang Mach 1 price would be nearly $60,000? Or that a 2023 Dodge Challenger price (albeit for the insane SRT Jailbreak) would hit nearly $90,000?
Well, that’s why this ’68 Road Runner channels the spirit of the original $3,000 car. Granted, modern restomods aren’t cheap either. But wouldn’t you much rather have an older muscle car that drives like a new one, and can probably leave any Coyote V8 behind at the traffic lights?
This Road Runner Restomod Means Business
Long, low and mean, you couldn’t mistake this Plymouth Road Runner for anything else. Based on a hardtop coupe, this restomod goes a step further with a widebody conversion that suits its modern trimmings. The ’68 Road Runner was a big car, over 202 inches long, on a 116-inch wheelbase.
But with subtly massaged body lines, lowered bumpers and valances, and skirts, this Road Runner looks fast and ready to run. Uniquely, the modern bits added to the bodywork falls away from where the original’s bodywork ends towards the bottom of the car. This creates a hunkered down appearance without adding visual weight to this performance land-yacht. The functional intakes just ahead of the rear wheels go a long way towards this too.
The widebody is needed to house the wider wheel/tire package. Which is in turn needed to house the larger brakes package. Modern lighting rounds out the clean look. The full length light panel at the rear is an especially nice touch, that still keeps the Road Runner look intact.
The original muscle car from 1968 was inspired by the Looney Toones Road Runner, complete with licensed logos, and ‘beep beep’ horn fitted as standard. This restomod is altogether more serious, with Plymouth badging instead of the cartoon character. That’s perhaps the only thing we wish were a little different. The Road Runner decal was a pretty integral part of the original’s character, no?
Back-To-Basics Hot Rod From Factory
In coming up with the Road Runner formula, Plymouth had hit upon a goldmine. What they realized younger people wanted was a big engine and performance. Not necessarily all the comforts and luxuries most other muscle cars of the time had started packing.
This also meant that the relatively-stripped back Road Runner made for a great base for hot rods right from factory. The 1968-69 Plymouth Road Runner came with a 383 cubic inch (6.3-liter) V8 with a four-speed. The famed 426 Hemi, nicknamed the ‘Elephant' was optional. This meant power ranged from 335 hp in the base Road Runner, to 425 hp in the Hemi-powered Road Runner.
The Hemi Road Runner could also manage a 0-60 mph run in about 5.3 seconds, and demolish the quarter mile in about 13.4 seconds. This pretty much already puts it in the territory of modern muscle cars.
Classic Road Runner With Hellephant V8 power
To give this classic car a little more firepower to outrun any modern muscle car, it could be packing a supercharged V8. And as luck would have it, there’s a MOPAR 426 that even matches the original Hemi Road Runner’s engine capacity.
The supercharged 426 Hellephant crate engine is good for 1,000 horsepower and 950 lb-ft of torque! Though the ’68 Road Runner came in with a curb weight around 3,750 pounds, making it one heavy car, a lot of the modern running gear should help drop the weight where it counts. This should mean this modern Road Runner restomod would definitely better the performance of the original. Which also means this is one Road Runner that’ll still easily outrun anything else on the road.