1969 Plymouth Road Runner Sitting in the Middle of Nowhere Is a Sad Sight, Gets Saved

Come 2022, and the Road Runner is a desirable classic, but it's nowhere near as iconic as the Plymouth Barracuda and the Dodge Charger to most enthusiasts. As a result, many of them are still rotting away in junkyards.

This 1969 Road Runner is one of those cars, and even though it's in terrible shape, it will be saved and restored to its former glory. All thanks to a guy who's nuts about the Bahama Yellow color it came in from the factory.

Yup, while most muscle car fanatics save vehicles that sport rare configurations, YouTube's "Shade Tree Vintage Auto" wants to restore this 1969 Plymouth because of its red-striped yellow livery. And I think that's downright fantastic.

And he's got quite a difficult project ahead because this Road Runner is in really bad shape. Abandoned in a junkyard that seems to be in the middle of nowhere, this Plymouth lost not only its drivetrain but also a few essential body components.

The front clip is almost entirely gone, while the rear is missing a fender, which was cut away to be used on another Road Runner. Fortunately enough, the same junkyard includes at least one 1969 model, so spare parts won't be that difficult to source.

When it left the factory, this Road Runner had a 383-cubic-inch (6.3-liter) V8 under the hood. The nameplate's entry-level mill at the time, it was rated at 335 horsepower. And it came attached to a four-speed manual gearbox.

So what's the deal with the Bahama Yellow that once graced this muscle car? Well, it's by no means a rare finish for 1969, but it happens to be the guy's favorite color. However, the red stripes running along the upper body aren't all that common.

There aren't specific records as to how many were finished in this combo, but I have yet to see one. A bit of research reveals yellow cars with black stripes, but I've yet to find one exactly like this. I'm not saying they don't exist, just that they might be very rare.

Anyway, it's really cool that while most collectors are chasing the rarer, more expensive muscle cars, someone's getting super excited about a paint job. And the fact that he's willing to put a lot of time and money into bringing a junkyard find back to life makes that much more spectacular. I guess that's what being a gearhead is all about.