Plymouth Roadrunner Coloring Page: Free Printable PDF Sheet

Plymouth Roadrunner: History & Fun Facts

A Budget Muscle Car for 1968

Plymouth launched the Roadrunner for the 1968 model year as a stripped-down, low-cost alternative to its own flashier GTX model, built on the same B-body platform but with cheaper interior trim, a basic bench seat, and a rubber floor mat instead of carpet. That cost-cutting approach let Plymouth advertise a genuine big-block muscle car for close to 3,000 dollars, well under what rivals charged for similar performance.

Licensing a Cartoon Bird

Plymouth paid Warner Bros. for the rights to use the Road Runner cartoon character's name and likeness, right down to a novelty horn button that mimicked the character's famous beep-beep sound effect. That licensing deal was unusual for a serious performance car and helped the Roadrunner stand out in advertising aimed at younger buyers who grew up watching the cartoon on Saturday mornings.

A 383 Standard and a 426 HEMI Option

The Roadrunner came standard with a 383 cubic inch V8 tuned specifically for stronger low-end torque, and buyers could order the fearsome 426 cubic inch HEMI V8 as a factory option, the same engine Chrysler built for NASCAR racing. Choosing the HEMI option turned a budget muscle car into one of the quickest quarter-mile cars sold anywhere in 1968.

Motor Trend Car of the Year

Motor Trend magazine named the Roadrunner its Car of the Year for 1969, a rare honor for a car built specifically to be affordable rather than luxurious, praising Plymouth for delivering real muscle-car performance without piling on unnecessary cost. That award helped push Roadrunner sales well past 80,000 units for the 1969 model year alone, a huge number for a dedicated performance car.

Simple Trim Instead of Chrome

Where rival muscle cars piled on brightwork and body-color accents, the Roadrunner kept its exterior deliberately plain, relying on the twin-scoop hood bulge, a single horizontal grille bar, and round taillights instead of extra ornamentation to define its look. That restraint is part of why the shape reads so clearly in simple line art, since there's little decorative trim competing for attention.

Later Generations and a Shrinking Nameplate

Plymouth carried the Roadrunner name through a redesigned generation from 1971 to 1974, then kept the badge alive on a much smaller compact from 1975 through 1980 as the muscle-car era wound down under new emissions and insurance rules. That final small Roadrunner shared little more than the name and the cartoon-bird badge with the original 1968 car.

A Coupe, a Hardtop, and a Convertible

Plymouth offered the Roadrunner as a pillared coupe, a pillarless hardtop, and, starting in 1969, a convertible, giving budget-minded buyers several body styles without leaving the low-cost formula behind. The convertible remained the rarest of the three, since most Roadrunner buyers wanted the cheapest possible way into a genuine muscle car rather than the extra cost of a folding top and the extra weight and body flex it added over the rear axle and frame rails on rough gravel back roads.