Nowadays, Dodge is giving its marketing engine a full load, which is why we’re getting so many goodies for 2023, the final year of the Gen III HEMI-powered muscle cars. And this is nothing new. For one, back in the 1960s/early 1970s, the Mopar people went all out in their efforts to promote the original muscle cars that were born cool and have become icons meanwhile. Let’s take the Plymouth Road Runner, for instance—its sheer existence was the result of a well-planned strategy, but that wasn’t all.
Yes, this is a tale about how the contemporary digital art community adds to the Mopar lore. But before we zoom in to the brilliant rendering that is the rear-engined Road Runner parked on our screens, allow us to take you through the adventurous life of this muscle star.
The defunct brand introduced the Road Runner for the 1968 model year. Riding on the familiar B-Body platform, which also underpinned more upscale models like the Plymouth GTX, the newcomer was born as the carmaker’s more affordable muscle car.
However, Plymouth didn’t just deliver reasonable pricing and called it a day. Instead, the Road Runner name was acquired from Warner Bros. to remind everybody of the high-paced Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner cartoons. And the car even came with the infamous “Beep Beep” horn to cover both the visual and the aural side of the stunt.
1970 was a magical year for the Runner. The machine was given a sleek revision, albeit mostly limited to the front and rear fascias, while also serving as a base for the Superbird NASCAR legend, whose street version is one of the most famous muscle classics nowadays.
And, to further boost the image of the Road Runner—and the whole range of muscle cars—Plymouth did something else for 1970. It created the Rapid Transit System that made the most out of those rather mild chances done to the Road Runner, for example—it naturally covered a wide range of Plymouths. This offered enthusiasts a wide range of possibilities, from factory-supervised clinics allowing drivers to modify and race their machines in sanctioned events to high-performance parts available straight from Plymouth dealers.
Nowadays, the surviving Dodge brand, which had a similar initiative back in the day (Scat Pack), revived another one of its classic programs. We’re talking about Direct Connection, which allows customers to pump up their muscle cars, while the carmaker also backs vloggers in their effort to introduce wacky builds and race them. Speaking of which, have you seen throtl’s Hellcat Redeye-swapped Viper?
A rear-engined 1970 Road Runner is just as crazy as its sounds
We also enjoy something else these days and this is where we circle back to the CGI that brought us here. Digital artist Al Yasid decided to reinvent the 1970 Road Runner, but how do you do that after five decades of factory and aftermarket builds based on the two-door?
For starters, the pixel master moved the V8 to the other end of the car. And while Plymouths enjoyed their fair share of mid-engined customization back in the 1960s and 1970s (e.g. Hemi Under Glass drag racers, funny cars), this digital Road Runner keeps its engine behind the rear axle.
Even without the massive blower and hat (hey, the latter looks like a light bar from certain angles!) topping the V8, relocating the engine will create some serious handling challenges, as any Corvair or classic 911 driver will tell you.
Well, this Mopar has some serious tricks up its sleeve. At low speeds, the grip from the monstrous Goodyear NASCAR tires should have you covered, providing you bring the tires up to temperature.
But what if you want to go faster, isn’t this the whole point of such a proposal? Well, this is where the heavily revised aerodynamics come into play. Forget the front air dam or the rear bar, which seems to have come straight out of a C3 Corvette. The elongated tail and massive diffuser underneath it appear to be the most impressive airflow manipulation pieces here.
What of the side pipes, though? Well, perhaps this is a twin-engined (V8+V8=?) Plymouth Road Runner. That may sound like a malfunction waiting to happen, but it would help with that weight distribution…
