Classic Plymouths

The muscle car era dominated car culture for two decades, the ‘50s and the ‘60s. In many ways it was a major influence on culture at large, particularly in how it influenced youth, movies and music. A true muscle car resembled garage rock and roll because it was basic, raw and powerful. A good muscle car in the traditional sense was simply fast and powerful and accessible to the average person.

Over time, however, muscle cars evolved, and by the late ‘60s, they had become sophisticated, luxurious and stylish without losing that sense of power and street domination. These were good developments because they appealed to a wider demographic of muscle car owners. However, it made sense that there would come a time when muscle car manufacturers would take things back to basics.

Plymouth was good at offering plenty of variety in their muscle car lines, including the high performance GTX which was in step with the trend of serious muscle cars with that layer of style and luxury added in. Unfortunately, this trend also put many of the best muscle cars in price categories that were not possible for the average car buyer.

In 1968, Plymouth set out to fix this problem and take muscle cars back to the pure philosophy that birthed the movement. The idea was to create a model of muscle car that was all about speed and performance and to offer that at an affordable price to the muscle car world. They were successful and the result was the classic Plymouth muscle car named the Roadrunner.

The Roadrunner image actually had to be paid for because of the popular cartoon involving Wylie Coyote, but Plymouth paid that price so that they could use those cartoons in their marketing of this powerful car.

When the classic Plymouth muscle car came out, it was nothing if not bare bones functionality. The designers seemed to be on a mission to keep the interior simple and any suggestion of extras out of the design of this car. Instead they piled on the design effort and expense into the engine.

The car was designed to be small and fast, so while the engine was not a powerhouse like the one Plymouth put inside the GTX muscle car, it could often outrun that vehicle because of superior design. This was the perfect next generation of muscle car from Plymouth at a time when the muscle car era needed a back-to-basics movement. It regrounded what people thought of as a muscle car, and as a result, the muscle car era continued on in grand style for many years to come.