How much is too much, 69 Road Runner

[Richard Cranium]

Looks very nice. But, is it just the crappy photo, or is the Pentastar on the right fender painted blue?

 

[steve from staten island]

My only concern was you being taken advantage of. Does not sound like thats the case at all. If i was in your shoes id do exactly what your doing. Best of luck to you and i do hope this car brings back memories

 

[4mulas]

Looks very nice. But, is it just the crappy photo, or is the Pentastar on the right fender painted blue?

Just the crappy photo of a photo..

 

[4mulas]

My only concern was you being taken advantage of. Does not sound like thats the case at all. If i was in your shoes id do exactly what your doing. Best of luck to you and i do hope this car brings back memories

Really, thanks again!

The Internet is hard to really determine what's worth what. You can ask what ever you want but what they sell for is a different thing all together.

I searched auction results for Barett and Mecum for the last three or four years and it seems that the hammer can drop around 39-41 on a nice 383 car, when you add in the buyers commission that makes the total on the day ~ $44,000. A lot of those aren't event numbers matching, some of them are rotisserie restored with the paint as nice on the bottom as the top of the car, which this one, again, is not, it's primer underneath with overspray which when getting picky doesn't look all the great in my eyes even though it's more proper. Moot point.

Too many variables. Part of my dilemma is justifying the purchase. It is a lot of money, to me anyway, and I almost guilt myself when thinking of spending that much on something that in reality won't get used all that much, it will get used, but at the end of the day not a ton especially during off months etc....

The other part of this is thinking, well if I'm already at 40-ish thousand why not increase the budget up to 59-69 ish where I have seen some non matching hemi cars sell for?.. If I lived by this logic Ill end up owning a super bird soon. Lol

 

[BeatersRus]

no guilt man...feel no guilt at all.
40k is what a loaded suv or even challenger costs.
and those new cars lose their value as soon as they go off the lot.

roadrunners,on the other hand

as far as prices,whats the owner thinking?

 

[burntorng70]

If I ever have the opportunity to buy back my 69 road runner convertible I would definitely pay a bit of a premium over it's true worth. So emotions might justify a bit of overpaying.

 

[YY1]

Has there been any metal work done, and if so, do you know the quality?

I too have seen nice 69 Runners for 20K and hack jobs for 60K recently.

There is no such thing as a #1 car, unless it's pickled in a museum.

The following site, which I respect shows 43K for true #2, and that's before the 4 speed and air grabber, which do add value.

http://www.collectorcarmarket.com/collector-car/prices/1969-plymouth-road-runner-value.html

 

[383MovingViolation]

Bit of a story behind all this but essentially I have the opportunity to buy back the road runner that was in our family when purchased new. It been out of our hands for 25 years now with one owner since it was sold, but before that it was in the family from new.

The car: 1969 Q5 383 4 spd air grabber car performance hood treatment. Numbers match everywhere! It has the manifolds, heads, motor, Trans, diff, EVERYTHING it was shipped with when new., fender tag build sheet are there too. It's Bench seat, radio car and pretty much optionless after that.

The last owner did an amazing restoration job, with as much NOS as he could find and buy, then reconditioned/rebuilt used parts when repop wasn't available or was not of high enough quality, and new repop parts in that order. New legendary everywhere. All mechanical redone, everywhere.
It's not concours but close, I guess many would call it number one car or super high number two if it was not a number one for picky finicky reasons. Has the primer with over spray underneath everything else was redone in its original Q5 base clear paint and is super straight. Shines nicely. Has all mopar heater/rad hoses, distributor cap, wires, proper wiper motor, voltage reg, battery and cables, etc... Etc.... Etc...
All oem stuff everywhere. All new. Has all the paint marking like the assembly line guys did etc...

Question, how much is too much for it or what should a number one car cost in reality? Then, is it justifiable to spend even a bit more on it due to emotional ties and getting the family car back?

I see descent road runners asking anywhere from essentially 30k-44ish . Most online don't appear to be as nice as the one I'm looking at though.

Any honest input is appreciated.

If you want it, just do it. It may never come around again. If I didn't already have one I would be on it. Just my humble opinion.

 

[4mulas]

Has there been any metal work done, and if so, do you know the quality?

I too have seen nice 69 Runners for 20K and hack jobs for 60K recently.

There is no such thing as a #1 car, unless it's pickled in a museum.

The following site, which I respect shows 43K for true #2, and that's before the 4 speed and air grabber, which do add value.

http://www.collectorcarmarket.com/collector-car/prices/1969-plymouth-road-runner-value.html

I think you're right about the number one comment, which is why I was super reluctant to use it as a rating. I do think it's a strong strong number two however.

It has had metal work, all the floors are original and were very nice. Trunk drop offs were done as the lower quarters had rust at the very bottom, which were also done. Quarters were hung just below the top rigid body line and were done very well by a reputable higher end shop. Very straight. Paint is almost flawless, and is 18 years old now! Car has only seen about 1500 miles since it was painted. Trunk floor had replacement too.

The front fenders were changed, one was NOS and the other a solid used one. Both were changed due to dents, not rust. (My family member that I got it from initially used to like drinking and driving I guess! Lol.

Trunk lid changed because of dents too.

Vin, fender tag rad support, and trunk lip numbers all present, as they should be because they were all there when I sold the car the first time.

Thanks for the input!

 

[4mulas]

If you want it, just do it. It may never come around again. If I didn't already have one I would be on it. Just my humble opinion.

Your right! And I'm gonna do it! Gonna make the call later tomorrow or beginning of the week. Large honey do list just handed to me will keep me busy for the next few hours. Lol

 

[FlagCraig]

If you wait to see what happens, what happens will happen without you.

If car is what you say, get a cash down payment together and go play hardball or let one of these guy play.

Rock and Roll.

 

[4mulas]

If you wait to see what happens, what happens will happen without you.

If car is what you say, get a cash down payment together and go play hardball or let one of these guy play.

Rock and Roll.

No worries there. It's a done deal. Just finished with him. When I get it to the house I'll take and post better pictures for everyone. Thanks for all the input everyone, it gave me more confidence to pull the trigger!

Now the honey do list.... Lol

 

[steve from staten island]

This is a great thread. Not many of us would ever get the chance to buy back a car they owned from decades ago. Please post pictures. I cant wait to see them!

 

[oldbee]

Agree with 'steve' and the others. Congrats from an "original owner" .

 

[4mulas]

Update,

Well it's sitting in my garage along with a stash of leftover parts, new and used, a complete 1969 Plymouth parts numbers catalogue for every part they had for 69 cars from the dealer! Score! And a stack of receipts about 5 inches thick. So many NOS parts nought in the late 90's for it cause he knew he'd need them down the road, parts like NOS gas tank, exhaust tips, magnum trim rings and the list goes on. And of course all the other documents, build sheet, etc...

Every time I see it I Love it!! So happy to have it back.

I will work on getting some photos up. My apple tablet actually uploads directly to the site but my Samsung phone does not. Unfortunately the tablet takes kinda crappy pictures so I will work on a different method to get some descent pictures out up for all that were interested!

I'd like to both preserve the redline Goodyear Polyglas gt tires and make the car handle better for cruising around so I think I'd like to put 15" OR LARGER radials and obviously new wheels too as the polyglas are 14's. Any recommendations?? I'm sure there have been a thousand threads on FBBO about which tires etc, so if anyone can throw a link into a response that would be appreciated. Would be nice to see how different sizes look on the runner. One deviation from stock on the resto is the a addition of Richmond 3.91 gears as opposed to the stock 3.23 ratio so a slightly taller tire for the back would be okay. A slightly raked look is also good with me too, nothing cheesy but a slight rake looks cool.

Pictures to come!

Thanks all !!!

 

[The Rebel]

WTG! You'll sleep easier at night knowing its back in the family & under your roof. Was this your car?

 

[4mulas]

WTG! You'll sleep easier at night knowing its back in the family & under your roof. Was this your car?

Uncle's brand new, then mine, then I sold it to the guy I just bought it back from. He did the resto.

He only put about 750 miles on it total from the time he bought it from me in 1995. About 500 of those since the resto completed in 2014

 

[wagonman]

Congrats on getting a family jewel back. When my Dad passed in 88 We found he still had his 70 Charger 500 stashed in a garage. It sat because of unpaid parking tickets ( scofflaw ) since 1974. Well I got it running and drove it from L.I.N.Y. to Vegas. Did the resto, only had 42k on it. Drove the crap out of it then sold it in 2003 because of a divorce. Was searching Ebay about 3 years ago and found it. It had just sold and was shipped to Maryland. I have a repore with the current owner and have first dibs when he is ready to sell. I have my 68 R/R that is almost done that I will sell for the $$ to buy the Charger back plus more$$ I am sure. You cant really put a price on that kind of feeling. That will be a well traveled Charger. I will drive it not ship it back. Again Congrats.

 

[Ranger16]

I'd like to both preserve the redline Goodyear Polyglas gt tires and make the car handle better for cruising around so I think I'd like to put 15" OR LARGER radials and obviously new wheels too as the polyglas are 14's. Any recommendations??

Would be nice to see how different sizes look on the runner.

225/70/15 Front
245/60/15 Rear

 

[4mulas]

225/70/15 Front
245/60/15 RearView attachment 408118

Looks taller and wider than a 245 60/15 rear. What width and back spacing are the wheels?