Mopars have always had a certain way of bringing muscle under the spotlights, from the way these slabs of Detroit are engineered to marketing strategies. And the Plymouth Road Runner, with its Warner Bros. cartoon personality, is an example as good as any, not least thanks to marrying the ubiquitous V8 soundtrack with the infamous “Beep Beep” horn. And surviving examples, which are thankfully not that scarce, continue to put a smile on our faces today.
Before the Road Runner entered the Plymouth range in 1968, the carmaker had paid Warner Bros. (Warner Bros.-Seven Arts, Inc. at the time) $50,000 for the right to use the cartoon bird that was the nemesis of Wile E. Coyote. The automaker then spent another $10,000 to developing the “Beep Beep”—call it “Meep Meep” or if that’s how you like it—horn that made for the deal’s aural side.
It’s worth noting that, adjusted for inflation, we’re talking about a licensing deal of over $412,000 (€378,000) and engineering costs of more than $82,000 (€75,000).
Of course, this led to the development of an important page in American muscle car history, one whose shine we can still see nowadays, even when rust is involved). And while we’ll get to discussing two examples, one from 1973 and a less potent, but still enticing 1978 unit, we first need to cover the history of the Road Runner badge and explain how the horn works.
The Road Runner spirit was all about affordable muscle
Thanks to the visual side of the affair (i.e. Road Runner cartoon character graphics and the very name of the car), the Warner Bros. deal added an extra layer of coolness to a series of Plymouths that were already prepared to enter popular culture thanks to their power and styling.
You see, when the carmaker came up with the Road Runner, the muscle car market had already evolved to the point where many models were no longer the affordable heroes that had kickstarted the segment earlier in the decade. And while Plymouth’s own 1967-launched GTX was among these elevated machines, the fact that the brand was one of GM’s budget-conscious efforts meant it needed a muscle car priced accordingly.
The Road Runner took that role for 1968 (this restomod example brings a further pop culture twist), relying on the same B-body platform as the Belvedere and its upmarket sibling, the Satellite, which were fully redesigned for MY68, along with their ultimate evolution, the GTX.
Aside from the cartoonish aura, the Plymouth Road Runner didn’t offer too many amenities, debuting as a pillared coupe with basic features and limited options. However, the mix between the affordability, the added character and the generous performance delivered by the potent V8s of the era (383, and the 426 HEMI) pushed sales to an encouraging 44,599 units for the first year. This allowed the range to be expanded with a hardtop coupe (no B-pillars) and even a Convertible, while the 440 Big Block was also added to the mix.
A big high that was eventually followed by a similarly serious downfall
The Road Runner theme was taken to the extreme for the NASCAR-tied 1970 Plymouth Super Bird aero car, while the second-generation Road Runner that was offered for 1971-1974 and single-year Gen III that came along for 1975 marked the final days of the standalone Road Runner model.
With the oil crisis-dominated Malaise era that lasted between 1973 and 1983 gradually, but relentlessly removing performance offerings, Plymouth retired the Road Runner muscle car, with the name being used for a trim and graphics package on the compact Volare between 1976 and 1980.
In addition to the said visual elements, the Road Runner package also brought heavy-duty suspension shared with the police package, while only being offered with V8 engines (you could also get a base slant-six for most Volare model years).
Explaining the “Beep Beep” horn of the Road Runner
Regardless of how other aspects of the Road Runner aura changed, the Beep Beep horn remained present. And this piece of onomatopoeic hardware owed its giggle-delivering soundtrack to both a special structure and a dedicated mount.
For starters, the interior windings of the Plymouth horn involve aluminum rather than copper, as is the case with other Mopars of the time. Another structural difference involves the absence of a trumpet shape.
Instead, the cartoon-borrowed feature was secured via compact metal straps that allowed it to resonate in order to generate the desired soundtrack.
As one would expect, these horns are treasured pieces of U.S. motoring history nowadays. And we can see American car journo and builder Steve Magnante showcasing them in the pair of videos below.
A 1973 Road Runner muscle car and a 1978 Volare compact featuring the package
On his YouTube channel, Steve runs a little segment called “Junkyard Crawling” whose name is pretty much self-explanatory. So, in the first clip below, you’ll see a 1973 Plymouth Road Runner still packing the piece of hardware.
Located in Milford, New Hampshire, the blue muscle car, which sports the more lavish Gen III body, has clearly seen better days and yet it looks like it has managed to survive despite being at the mercy of the elements.
As for the second video, this sees Steve wiping the dust of the fender graphics of a 1978 Plymouth Volare Road Runner that mixes a two-barrel carburetor 318 V8 and an automatic.
The aficionado takes the time to highlight the standout horn present on both cars and we consider this a splendid tribute to the name.
