This was marketing brilliance! Word on the street scene was that a lot of guys were being put off by the rising prices of muscle cars and all the extra stuff that was being tacked on. Now, Brock Yates says that the Road Runner was his original idea and that he spilled it to the Plymouth designers once in casual conversation.

However, Plymouth product planner, Joe Sturm claims that he received a phone call from a the Plymouth sales division suggestion that they look into the possibility of offering a totally stripped down Satellite loaded with every performance part they could put on to the car - including, no rear seats, no carpet, no trim, radio, heater, etc.

Strum felt that such a car would have too narrow an appeal to buyers. However, a similar theme, but with limited frills and maximum performance hardware, all offered at the reasonable price of around $3,000, and capable of doing 100 mph in the quarter-mile would have a lot of appeal for the street scene buyers. Thus, the Road Runner was born.

Who's head the idea fell out of isn't really important. The Road Runner fit the bill and filled the gap between the expensive muscle cars and regular cars. For not much more the the price of a Satellite model, Mr. Customer could have a Road Runner with a stout 383 engine, heavy-duty suspension, fat tires on rally-wheels, and one of the coolest names of the ‘60s, the “Road Runner.” Finally, younger, Mopar fans could buy a very cool genuine muscle car without all the extra frills but with most of the thrills. The car even had a special horn that sounded like the Wiley Coyote cartoon character.

The Road Runner came stock with a stout 383 engine. Of course, the 426 Hemi was also available for “only” $813.45. That was a BIG stack of money in 1968!

Plymouth and Dodge really got into the cartoon (or “car-toon”) thing with a whole series of wildly illustrated print ads showing the Road Runner as a wild car-toon character. The series of ads was arguably one of the most creative, far-out ad campaigns ever launched to sell cars.

BEEP-BEEP!

GET OUT’A THE WAY!!!

ROAD RUNNER COMING THROUGH!!!