Plymouth Roadrunner Makes Punishing 1,100 All-Motor Horsepower
Mighty 1972 Plymouth Roadrunner is packing 605 cubic inches of Mopar madness to run 8-second quarter miles.
This 1972 Plymouth Roadrunner will get down the dragstrip faster than you can say Meep Meep. But it was not built to simply dominate the strip. This car as incredible as it may seem is also built to have fun on the street. It cranks out a solid 1,100 horsepower without the help of any forced induction. This baby is all-motor. And while it does have a roll cage, the interior is intact, including the back seats. So it can blast down main street as easily as it can blast to victory.
This week’s “Wicked Wednesday” presented by Nitto features this one-of-a-kind Plymouth Roadrunner. The owner was a stuntman, a bull rider, and a tank commander. So, he is uniquely qualified to handle such an outrageous beast. He recently made a trip to AutotopiaLA to show off his custom build. A video covering all the details of the build along with street driving footage is posted on the AutoptiaLA YouTube channel.
HEMI
Sure, you can make big power fairly easily when you start to strap turbos and superchargers to engines. But that is cheating a little bit. There is nothing quite like a big horsepower car that makes all the power the old-fashioned way. That is with a heaping helping of displacement. In this case the 572 Indy cylinder head block has been stroked out to a healthy 605 cubic inches.
Getting fuel to this monster are dual King Demon 1080 cfm carburetors. That is a lot of fuel, and as you would expect the mileage is not something you would brag about to your friends at the Environmental Protection Agency. A gallon of race fuel will get you about a mile and a half down the road. Ouch. But it will get you down the road quickly. The quarter mile is dealt with in 8.9 seconds.
Street Driven
You might think with the kind of performance numbers this Plymouth Roadrunner generates that it would be regulated to just the track. However, that is not the case as the owner wanted to be able to enjoy it on the street as well.
The full interior is in place and there is an exhaust system on the car. Although it is not exactly quiet. The only way for Tesla cars to make this much noise would be for them to drive into each other. And even then, they would not sound this good.
Chassis and Transmission
With this much power you have to do some fiddling with the chassis and suspension to keep it pointed straight. Up front is the original torsion bar suspension with some upgraded shocks. But in the back is where all the work was done.
There is a set of Koni coilovers and a three-link ladder bar suspension setup to help keep things under control. Power is sent out back to the Dana 60 rear end via a 727 TorqueFlite transmission.
Interior
Except for the front seats, which have been re-covered, and the new carpet, the interior is all-original. The steering wheel, rear seats, headliner and so on is as it rolled out of the factory in 1972. And aside from a small rip in the headliner, it still looks almost brand new inside.
Wanna Go for a Ride?
The stats and the build specs are impressive, but this car needs to be experienced. The only way to do that is by going for a ride. Have you ever taken a NASCAR Cup Car to the local Walmart? If you have, then you probably know what it feels like to drive this 1972 Plymouth Roadrunner on the street. It is loud, fast, and looks insane next to regular street cars. In other words, it is awesome. We love this build and think you will too. Check out the video below and let us know your thoughts in the Dodge Forum forums.
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