Unibody: Surrounding You with Strength
Suspension: “Torsion-Aire” for the Bird
Steering
Brakes
Wheels
Interior Options
Other Options
Dressing the Bird
Packages
In Scale: Road Runners for the Young
Road Runner RTS Caravan
Sales Drop: Don’t Blame Wile E. Coyote
Inspecting a Road Runner
DEDICATION
To author Scott Ross, who gave every task his all. He poured his passion, knowledge, and enthusiasm into this and each book he created. During the production of this title, Scott passed away. He will be dearly missed.
For this, my second book for CarTech, my deepest thanks, once again, are due to my editor at CarTech, Paul Johnson. Just as with the book on E-Body Mopars, The Definitive Barracuda & Challenger Guide: 1970–1974, which was published in 2016, Paul’s editing skills and encouragement while this book was being prepared were invaluable. Kudos are also due to the CarTech staff who turned the collection of sentences and the images supplied with them into the eye-catching book you’re now reading.
A huge “Thank You!” to Henry Liebman, of Hollywood, Florida, whose Burnt Orange Metallic convertible is featured in these pages, as well as to Henry’s friend Gary Montoya, whose In Violet 1970 Plymouth GTX was photographed at the same time.
Huge thanks also go to David Newhardt, who so graciously opened his archive and shared many wide-view and fine-detail shots of 1970 Road Runners, adding depth and style to the book’s account of the third-year Bird.
Another source for images for these fine Plymouths was (where else?) Plymouth, Michigan. Vanguard Motor Sales not only has had many fine examples of the 1970 Road Runner in its inventory over the years, it also photographed them in exacting detail, including underbody details such as torque boxes, disc/drum brakes, and Hemi suspension details.
Appreciation for the 1970 Plymouth Road Runner isn’t limited to the full-size car and its owners and restorers. Those of us too young to drive back then eagerly awaited Jo-Han Models’ 1/25-scale kit and remember the thrill of seeing that wildly-illustrated kit box on our local hobby shop shelves. That interest and excitement remains in the scale-model-car hobby to this day, and I thank Claes Ericsson (from Bagarmossen, Sweden), Ken Schmidt (from Huntington, New York), and Kevin Wallenhorst (from North Royalton, Ohio) for sharing their images of the original Jo-Han kit. Special kudos to Tom Carter of Spotlight Hobbies in Grand Rapids, Michigan; through the message board, I contacted those three gentlemen.