Roadrunner or Not

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Diana's Dart

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Greetings Mopar Experts

We recently purchased a non-matching numbers 1968 Roadrunner with a 383 4 speed. The car is a very sweet ride and we love it. When doing the VIN and title check everything came up as it should. However, it did show the car as originally coming with a 318.

The car was manufactured in Windsor, Ontario CA

I've seen a few comments on the internet that state there were no RRs built that came with 318s. However, I've visited with a few Mopar people that said anything goes for Mopars that were manufactured in CA and that someone could have very well ordered it with a 318???

Another thing that concerns me is that there is no dash VIN plate or fender tag. I know, red flags but again, VIN and title check were all good.

Would like to know where I can get a dash tag for it. I know it is going to be difficult to find get a fender tag for it as I don't have any documentation.

At any rate, can anyone shed some light on this issue for me?

Thanks!
 

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did you pull the rear seat to see if there might be a build sheet ?
 
How do you figure the "vin all checks out" when you don't even have a vin on the car?
 
I'm guessing it may have been a Satellite cloned to a Road Runner....

It's a beautiful car :thumbup:
 
383 standard.

440 and 426 were optional.
Satellite could be anything.
Gtx was 440 standard.
426 option.
 
So you most likely have a 318 Satellite that has been converted to a Roadrunner on some level. This means it will never be a "numbers matching" car which hurts its value from a collectors standpoint. But as a driver its value is dictated more by how correctly it was converted or how it has been modified to suit your needs.

No, it'll never be worth as much as an original Roadrunner, but that's probably to your advantage if you plan to drive it or race it. Have fun with it!
 
tekslk said:
383 standard.

440 and 426 were optional.
Satellite could be anything.
Gtx was 440 standard.
426 option.
Click to expand...

a 440 in 68?? pretty sure a road runner could only have a 383 or hemi in 68.

69-70 a different story with the 440-6 as an option.
 
1968 Road Runner

Never with a 318.

#1} The 318 was available in the Satellite with the Hardtop Body Style.
#2} The Hardtop body style was available as a mid-year addition for the 1968 Road Runner.

That being said, your 1968 Plymouth is 'sharp-looking'.
 
Good looking car! :thumbup:

But I agree, that's a Satellite cloned over to a RR. The lack of a VIN on the dash and fender tag are HUGE red flags that warrants a very thorough inspection of the remaining numbers. The title check coming back clean doesn't mean nearly as much as it should, all that really confirms is that it isn't coming back from the system as stolen. And that's not actually a guarantee that it's not stolen, I'm sure we've all seen the cars lately in the news that have been returned to owners after being stolen 20+ years ago in different states. The system for VIN and title checks is a patchwork quilt when it comes to different states, so it's not at all impossible for a car stolen in a different state to come up clean in another- especially classics, because of the way VIN numbers were done and the way titles are done now in different states. That probably isn't the case here, but it does happen.

I would carefully check all of the VIN locations on the car to see if they match. Since it comes back as a 318 car, they probably do, but you'll want to know the extent of the work done to the car anyway. It looks like a pretty clean, well done car, so that's a good thing. But it's not a RoadRunner, and given the information that's missing it will be difficult to find out much about what it was originally. And that may be intentional on the part of whoever cloned it over, so that it could be represented as a RoadRunner for sale. Or it could just be what happened, as fender tags get removed and lost, dashes get swapped, etc. But regardless of the intent, it makes it pretty hard to determine what the original car was optioned with.
 
Roadrunner vin would start RM, anything else is NOT a Roadrunner

Engine code would ONLY be H - 383 or J - 426
 
This may be one of those deals where one of the previous owners wrecked the RR and cloned it with a Belvedere/Satelite and didn't use the original RR vin/data plate, back in the 70's & up it was sometimes necessary to use a donor and keep the donor title to match the car body to prevent trouble with the law.

In California, if you don't have a vin number when/if your pulled over your car would be impounded, after it gets sorted out the CHP will issue a new vin tag number and install it in several places.

Anyhow, that is a great looking car.
 
A 318 wasn't available in the RoadRunner until 1974.
You could also get a 318 in a Charger Rallye that year also.
 
Did the 68 road runners come with that trunk panel? I thought just satellite and GTX came with them. Dustin
 
Dartsun said:
Did the 68 road runners come with that trunk panel? I thought just satellite and GTX came with them. Dustin
Click to expand...

the road runner had an available décor package ...(code A87, I believe) which included the bright tail panel and the plastic chrome arm rest bases and usually a nicer door mirror and deluxe steering wheel.
 
68gtxman said:
Me too.

The only way to know for sure is to find the "hidden" VINs on the radiator support and trunk lip. The RR will have "RM" as the start of the VIN.
Click to expand...

that is for 69 ......for 68 the numbers on the radiator support will match the order number on the fender tag or build sheet not the vin.

Without a fender tag or build sheet in 68, there is no way of detecting a re-body which is a problem that was remedied starting in 69 and up when the radiator support and hidden vins matched the last six of the vin number and where it was made.

as said, in the case of this car....if the vin is not starting with RM23 then its not a road runner and if there is no vin tag then there is no car there....legally speaking.
 
I missed the no vin on dash. No telling what the car really started out as.
 
so if i understand this?

68 was a "one year deal" for vin

it had no body vin? but it had ONLY a dash vin? lordeeeee.....
 
RaniDart70 said:
the road runner had an available décor package ...(code A87, I believe) which included the bright tail panel and the plastic chrome arm rest bases and usually a nicer door mirror and deluxe steering wheel.
Click to expand...

Thank you I'm always learning here on fabo. Dustin
 
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