About 5 decades after the ultimate demise of the Plymouth Road Runner Series of cars, it is not surprising that a lot of people who aren't classic car enthusiasts or collectors of American muscle cars, might have forgotten about the Road Runner cars.

In the late 60s lovers of performance cars could be compared to kids at a funfair; a whole lot of cool stuff to choose from but on a limited budget. Buyers had to make a choice, but making that choice was far from easy. Every manufacturer, in every division, offered several models that competed to offer more horsepower. There were Dodges, Chevys and Fords, of course, but also Oldsmobiles, Buicks, Mercurys, AMCs, Pontiacs… and Plymouths.

Then came the ingenious idea of the man named Joe Sturm, who was the director of product development at the Plymouth group. The idea was to strip out their muscle cars, take off things like carpets, extra seats, frills, etc. This was done in order to cut cost, while still maintaining the beast under the hood. The whole idea behind the original concept of the muscle car was to make it affordable to most people by keeping the external bells and whistles to a minimum. The primary investment was to be under the hood.

This is what Plymouth did with the Road Runner, which was priced at less than $3,000 and capable of traveling a quarter-mile in under 14 seconds, reaching 105 miles per hour in the process. Here are 9 things everyone forgot about the Plymouth Hemi Road Runner.

9 Named MotorTrend's Car Of The Year In 1969.

The MotorTrend brand hosts a yearly award where they recognize and appreciate automobiles, this award is one of the most prestigious in the auto industry.

Via: Amazon

A little while after its debut in the year 1969, the Hemi Road Runner had gained a lot of market shares, and even more love from all parts of America. Running up sales far more than expected. All of these sales made it the second most sold car in the U.S. just a year after it's debut, and ultimately being awarded the MotorTrend Car of the Year in 1969.

8 Out Of 44,600 Road Runners Built In 1968, About 840 Had The Hemi Engine.

via Hotcars

In 1968, the Road Runner series of cars started rolling out, these cars were more affordable by a very long shot compared to their competition. So a lot of performance car lovers really fell in love with these cars and had to own one.

Via: Hotcars

Although the Hemi engine did not come out with the early models, this was due to affordability, but if you had about $720 to $1,000 more to spend, you could afford the Hemi version, with a more powerful engine and better performance, but only a few could afford that luxury. This meant only about 840 Hemi Road Runners were produced that year.

7 Talking About The Hemi Engine

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People that could afford to spend more generally went for the Hemi engine. The Road Runner was initially based on a bare-bones Belvedere sedan, this B-body came standard with a 335-hp in 383cu, at 5,200RPM V-8, a 4-speed stick shift and a beefed-up suspension.

Via: Hotrod

The 426cu Hemi was an intimidating option, both in price and power. Adding 425 horses to the Road Runner also upped the ante by about one grand. However, the actual output of the engine was later found to be much higher. According to Hemmings, the 426 was capable of as much as 494.4 hp - an impressive number even today!

RELATED: 15 Reasons Auto Fans Love The Hemi Engine

6 One Of The Craziest Performance Cars Of The Late 60s.

Via: Pinterest

In the late '60s, the price of muscle cars had already skyrocketed. By 1968, when the Road Runner first came out, most muscle cars on the market have started to grow bigger, more luxurious, and more expensive.

Via: Hotrod

Plymouth did the opposite and introduced a car that was true to the original rules of the genre, cheap, basic and fast as hell. This idea of a fast car that could compete toe to toe with other big names at a far more affordable price was mind-blowing.

5 It's A True Sleeper

Via Hotrod

The Road Runner is a true sleeper. It looked simple, nothing exotic and nothing out of the ordinary. Some even compared the interior with that of a taxi.

via: Pinterest

The bodywork was somewhat minimalistic, but make no mistake, while it might resemble a sheep on the outside, a very powerful howling wolf lies just underneath the hood.

RELATED: 10 Legendary American Muscle Cars That Changed Everything

4 The Road Runner Name Is From  Cartoon Character.

Via: Amazon

Before the Plymouth Road Runner, there was the cartoon Road Runner. As you may or may not know, Plymouth didn't name their stripped-down muscle car after any Road Runner. They named it after the Road Runner, the cartoon character created by Warner Bros.

Plymouth Road Runner Badging
Via: Mecum Auctions

What you probably don't know is that Plymouth paid Warner Bros. $50,000 for the rights to the name. An astronomical sum, which would buy you approximately 16 and a half Road Runners in 1968. This money also granted the Roadrunner a license for a special horn. So yes, it was the Roadrunner cartoon that came first in 1949, and the Plymouth Roadrunner followed suit nearly two decades later in 1968.

3 The Road Runner Hemi Came With A Signature Sound.

Plymouth Road Runner Interior Steering Wheel
Via: Secondchancegarage

As earlier mentioned after Plymouth acquired the Road Runner trademark, they also acquired the signature "beep-beep" sound. The Roadrunner cartoon version of a roadrunner or chaparral birds, has two sounds; a clucking version and then the very famous “beep-beep” sound he makes as he whizzes by a flummoxed coyote.

Plymouth Road Runner Horn
Via: Pistonheads

This beep-beep sound, so licensed by Plymouth, was developed into the Plymouth Roadrunner horn at an additional cost of $10,000.

RELATED: 15 Little-Known Facts About The Plymouth Road Runner

2 1969 Convertible Model Is One Of The Rarest American Cars Produced.

1969 Plymouth Road Runner Convertible
Via: Pinterest

The Road Runner was intended to be a mass-produced, people's performance car. That's why Plymouth never really bothered about special or limited editions, something that the car manufacturers today often do.

1969 Plymouth Road Runner Convertible
Via: RKmotors

There is, however, one extremely rare and collection worthy variant of the Road Runner series, the 1969 convertible model with the legendary 426 Hemi. Only 10 were made, making it one of the rarest American cars ever to be produced.

1 Plymouth And Chrysler.

Via Pinterest

Most American performance carmakers started to drift towards luxury, and this made muscle cars in the late 60s expensive and unaffordable to a majority of folks. This provided the need for a cheaper car which remained true to its origins of speed. Then came the Plymouth brand, with one of their best line being the Road Runner.

The need for a broader customer range means luxury brands release a cheaper sub-brand that are affordable to middle and lower-income customers. Chrysler or "Mopar" consisted of multiple brands back in the '50s and '60s. This allowed the parent company to evenly distribute their money across all price ranges and build qualities. As for Plymouth, it was the lower end of Chrysler.

NEXT: 5 Most Overrated Classic American Muscle Cars (Vs 5 Overlooked Ones Worth Every Cent)