73 Plymouth RoadRunner Gtx U code

[Mr.Mopar73]

I drug this old girl home from the Mountains of Pennsylvania this past winter and have started to collect parts for restoration. Before buying it I always wanted a Daisy Duke Roadrunner but would have never guessed finding such a rare one at that. Unfortunately the original engine is long gone and a 400 takes its place. Body is fairly solid with attention needed in places such as floors, Lower Quarters, trunk drip rails ect. Original B5 blue car with black stripe, and b5 blue interior. Any thoughts what car is worth without original engine? Does have factory Dana rear and trans. The documentation Is all in tact such as U code in Vin and E86 on fender tag. Also the pin holes in hood for missing GTX badges.

 

[mmissile]

Rare, rough....tough call.

 

[flypaper]

the last year for dana in passenger car mopar was 72
it probably has a 91/4
is it a auto or 4 spd car?

 

[jaygtx440]

the last year for dana in passenger car mopar was 72
it probably has a 91/4
is it a auto or 4 spd car?

Four speed was not available in U code '73 or '74 roadrunners.

 

[jaygtx440]

I drug this old girl home from the Mountains of Pennsylvania this past winter and have started to collect parts for restoration. Before buying it I always wanted a Daisy Duke Roadrunner but would have never guessed finding such a rare one at that. Unfortunately the original engine is long gone and a 400 takes its place. Body is fairly solid with attention needed in places such as floors, Lower Quarters, trunk drip rails ect. Original B5 blue car with black stripe, and b5 blue interior. Any thoughts what car is worth without original engine? Does have factory Dana rear and trans. The documentation Is all in tact such as U code in Vin and E86 on fender tag. Also the pin holes in hood for missing GTX badges.View attachment 343552

I have a '73 U code roadrunner and I live in Pennsylvania around the laurel mountain region. There were only 749 U code roadrunners built in '73. I think that number drops to 386 for '74.

 

[jaygtx440]

Here's mine

 

[flypaper]

Four speed was not available in U code '73 or '74 roadrunners.

i know for sure i've seen a orig 74 400 4 spd runner,i almost bought it.
did not know they did not come in the 440 cars

 

[jaygtx440]

i know for sure i've seen a orig 74 400 4 spd runner,i almost bought it.
did not know they did not come in the 440 cars

You are absolutely correct. There were also 749 P code 400, four speed roadrunners in '73. I never could understand why no four speeds came in the U code '73's

 

[Bruzilla]

Welcome to the site! My first Mopar was a 73 GTX, B5 blue. I remember it well. The first thing to remember about these cars is they've had parts swapped onto and off them for 40+ years, so there's no telling what you might find on these cars.

These cars are rare, but sadly not valuable. I recently saw a mint-condition, gorgeous, black 73 GTX languish around for sale for $25,000 for over a year with no takers. Either the seller gave up or took a big discount to sell the car. I saw another one in much better shape than yours get passed around down here from seller to seller for about $5,000.

The real killer for these cars is the rot in the quarters. I'll about guarantee you it's a lot worse than what you're seeing. It always is, which is why as much as I love 73/74 Roadrunners I'll pass on any that have any signs of rust in the quarters. They don't repop them, getting replacements is damn hard, and the overall expense to repair is usually more than the price of buying a nice 73/74 that doesn't need repair. With the rust you described, I would rate this as a parts car worth between $750-$1,000. If the interior is in great shape, and parts like the hood inlets are still around, maybe a little more.

Personally, I wouldn't mess with this car unless I really wanted a B5 blue 73 GTX and couldn't live without it because it's gonna cost a lot more to bring it back than it's worth.

 

[69b3rt]

I am loving the B5 blue inside and out 440 roadrunner. It is just the car I would tackle. I'm not all that concerned about cost of repair. I like to restore and preserve these cars. I know cost to value isn't there, but you also lose when buying a new car also after seeing depreciation.

 

[YY1]

Need more pics of the affected areas.

Eventually the factory 440 intermediates are going to be worth something.

We're already seeing an increase in the 72's and 67's.

I do agree about the quarter issues, though.

I passed on several rusty "name" cars and bought a super clean 318 car instead.

 

[74gtx]

Nice Car! Mine is a 74 b5. Enjoy it and happy tinkering. Mike

 

[Bruzilla]

I am loving the B5 blue inside and out 440 roadrunner. It is just the car I would tackle. I'm not all that concerned about cost of repair. I like to restore and preserve these cars. I know cost to value isn't there, but you also lose when buying a new car also after seeing depreciation.

The issue really isn't cost to value, it's cost to enjoy. I see so many cars like this, and the number keeps growing, where some well-intentioned guy buys a car like this, sinks a lot of money into it, and quickly loses interest or spousal support. Yes, there are folks who are die-hard, save 'em at any cost, types, and if it takes them 20 years to bring a car back, they'll take the 20 years. But the other 99% or so of the buyer population isn't like that.

To keep my sanity, I've developed a 60-day rule, meaning if I can't at least get the car driving on the road in 60 days, don't buy it! 60 days seems to be the point where the bloom starts coming off the rose, and all those after-work and weekend hours you were thrilled to put into the car start becoming harder and harder to come by. You'll keep working on it, but you'll also start finding more and more excuses why you can't, and before long you're typing that ad on craigslist that includes the line "... no longer have the time or money to..." in it.

A car like this, unless you got boatloads of time and lots of money, is gonna be a long-term project with a very high risk of failure. And by the time you cut off all the big warts, as well all know, you've found dozens of smaller warts. If you're gonna spend money, buy a car that someone else cut the big warts off and that you can fix the little ones on while you're enjoying driving it and feeling like you're getting your money's worth.

 

[Bruzilla]

Need more pics of the affected areas.

Eventually the factory 440 intermediates are going to be worth something.

We're already seeing an increase in the 72's and 67's.

I do agree about the quarter issues, though.

I passed on several rusty "name" cars and bought a super clean 318 car instead.

I've been hearing these cars will be The Next Big Thing since 1988. That's 28 years now, and it still hasn't happened despite the biggest boom in collector car buying in history. 1972 has been the cutoff since the 1980s, and it's always gonna be the cutoff. Not that I'm complaining... the fact that 73/74 cars have never been very valuable has made me a very happy owner many, many, times.

 

[YY1]

While I agree with most of your 73/74 assessments, I gotta splinter off a bit.

In my Ohio area, in the mid 1980's everyone literally hated the 73/74 cars, and even disliked the 71/72 Chargers.

That's when I started noticing how menacing the 73/74 RR front end was and remembering how cool the interiors could be if the buckets/slapstick/rally dash (/cassette recorder) combo was ordered instead of the brocade bench.

Even as late as 1992, there was a hard line even between 71 and 72, with folks saying things like "it's a clean car, but it's ONLY a 72"....and they're virtually identical.

In my book, the 71s were accepted in the late 80's but it took until a few years ago for the 72s to join the club. The 67's slowly snuck in about 10-15 years ago but the 66's really haven't gotten a foot in yet unless it's a 426.

 

[Mr.Mopar73]

the last year for dana in passenger car mopar was 72
it probably has a 91/4
is it a auto or 4 spd car?

Yes I assumed it would come with the 8.75 but after getting car home seeing the large truck style 9.25 under it was like hmmm. must be a Dana. Prob a truck rear.

 

[Mr.Mopar73]

Here's mine

View attachment 343554 View attachment 343555 View attachment 343556

Thank you for the info those are the same production numbers I came up with as well so I am going with 749. I love seeing these cars pop up so close together in the Mountains of Pa. I actually purchased mine in the Laurel Highlands. Maybe I could get your email address and come look at yours an evening. Thank you for the pics. I will get you more up soon of mine.

 

[jaygtx440]

Thank you for the info those are the same production numbers I came up with as well so I am going with 749. I love seeing these cars pop up so close together in the Mountains of Pa. I actually purchased mine in the Laurel Highlands. Maybe I could get your email address and come look at yours an evening. Thank you for the pics. I will get you more up soon of mine.

Wow, that's crazy that you bought yours in the Laurel Highlands. I live in between Latrobe and Ligonier. I actually bought mine twenty one years or so ago in Torrance, Pa, right by Blairsville. It actually looks worse now than it does in the pictures because it's been dismantled even further. I actually do have the engine(not numbers matching) back in it now.

 

[Bruzilla]

While I agree with most of your 73/74 assessments, I gotta splinter off a bit.

In my Ohio area, in the mid 1980's everyone literally hated the 73/74 cars, and even disliked the 71/72 Chargers.

That's when I started noticing how menacing the 73/74 RR front end was and remembering how cool the interiors could be if the buckets/slapstick/rally dash (/cassette recorder) combo was ordered instead of the brocade bench.

Even as late as 1992, there was a hard line even between 71 and 72, with folks saying things like "it's a clean car, but it's ONLY a 72"....and they're virtually identical.

In my book, the 71s were accepted in the late 80's but it took until a few years ago for the 72s to join the club. The 67's slowly snuck in about 10-15 years ago but the 66's really haven't gotten a foot in yet unless it's a 426.

It's never been a styling issue. It's always been an engine issue. When it comes to muscle cars, engine drives values more than anything, and 1972 is the commonly-accepted end of the muscle car era. When the Black Monday impacts started hitting in 1988, the cycle went 70-72 BB E body, 68-72 BB B body, 70-72 SB E body (340, AAR, TA), and then all E body. The 68-72 SB B Body market didn't do much of anything until prices reached a point in the early 90s when enough parts vendors and reproducers showed up to make cloning profitable. And all that time, the Mopar mags were touting 73-74 were gonna be big, but it was not to be. Same deal with the 66-67 cars.

It's funny what you said about the front end. I always disliked the 71-72 fronts, and loved the 73-74, but I've read article after article over the decades that attack the 73-74 designs because of the size of the bumpers. I always thought they were more ticked at the laws that forced the change in designs than the design itself, but that's just me.

 

[Mr.Mopar73]

Wow, that's crazy that you bought yours in the Laurel Highlands. I live in between Latrobe and Ligonier. I actually bought mine twenty one years or so ago in Torrance, Pa, right by Blairsville. It actually looks worse now than it does in the pictures because it's been dismantled even further. I actually do have the engine(not numbers matching) back in it now.

That's still great that 2 of 749 at one time were so close to one another. I would love to see yours someday if you wouldn't mind. I am less than an hour from you. Nice Sunday drive.