First car memories

[Dreed]

Hello all, New to the site although I’ve been poking around it for years. When I was 17-18 in high school in 1980 I bought my first car from a guy I met in school. It was a 1968 Plymouth Roadrunner White with Red interior 383 auto column shift. Completely stock right down to the hub caps. I bought the car for $275.00 YES!! $275.00 and drove it home with no brakes (bad master cylinder). For a new poor kid in town with out a job 275.00 was a lot in 1980. I only had the Roadrunner for about a year and half and then had to sell it because I couldn’t afford to drive it. So 45 years of looking and many many other Mopars later I’m back to a 68 RR. It’s not the exact same one, but it will become the Time Machine I’ve been wanting. Picked up this fairly clean numbers matching White 1968 RR 383 auto column shift. Running / Driving. And the fun begins!! First picture is my first car.

 

[davek]

glad your here and post more pics when you can.

 

[polywideblock]

G'day from Australia

 

[Dreed]

View attachment 1579557 glad your here and post more pics when you can.

Will do! Thanks

 

[PrescottJeff]

That’s an awesome story and looks like a great project.
can‘t wait to see what you do with it.
Welcome from Prescott, Arizona

 

[71RRHI]

Welcome, nice project. Keep us updated with your progress.

 

[65Bel]

Thanks for joining and for sharing your story and photos. Best wishes for you and your new love!!

 

[PlymCrazy]

A '68 is a great looking B-body, regardless of make and model.
Welcome from NY!

 

[DeltaV]

Welcome from Georgia

 

[Dreed]

Thanks everyone for the welcomes! I guess I should say that the new project Roadrunner car was purchased almost a year ago in January 2023 from a guy in San Francisco California and had it shipped to my place in Colorado. The car was for sale and advertised as “almost no rust”. Car still retained the original fender tag in place with the extra LA plant inspectors metal strip tag attached under the fender tag. So did all the decoding of fender tag and VIN# and was determined that the car was an original LA plant built California car so the “almost no rust” statement seemed plausible even for a B-body. The deal was made with the guy via texting and my daughter and I flew to San Francisco to see the car. Once we got there it was pretty obvious that the no rust statement was very inaccurate. I will post more pictures later.

 

[68BabyBlue]

Welcome from PA. Love your story. Good for you, recapturing your "back in the day" experience. One of life's better pleasures.

 

[moparedtn]

 

[HD539]

Welcome from Washington State.

 

[33 IMP]

Welcome from tri-state Arizona
I'm lucky. My high-school car, a 55 chevy delrey v8, is still parked in my back yard, 50 years later. (Mom and Dad bought it new, in 54)

 

[440 4 speed]

Hello all, New to the site although I’ve been poking around it for years. When I was 17-18 in high school in 1980 I bought my first car from a guy I met in school. It was a 1968 Plymouth Roadrunner White with Red interior 383 auto column shift. Completely stock right down to the hub caps. I bought the car for $275.00 YES!! $275.00 and drove it home with no brakes (bad master cylinder). For a new poor kid in town with out a job 275.00 was a lot in 1980. I only had the Roadrunner for about a year and half and then had to sell it because I couldn’t afford to drive it. So 45 years of looking and many many other Mopars later I’m back to a 68 RR. It’s not the exact same one, but it will become the Time Machine I’ve been wanting. Picked up this fairly clean numbers matching White 1968 RR 383 auto column shift. Running / Driving. And the fun begins!! First picture is my first car.

View attachment 1579551

View attachment 1579552

View attachment 1579553

View attachment 1579554

Good for you.

 

[Dreed]

Welcome from tri-state Arizona
I'm lucky. My high-school car, a 55 chevy delrey v8, is still parked in my back yard, 50 years later. (Mom and Dad bought it new, in 54)

That’s cool!! Glad that worked out for you..

 

[Dreed]

Some people will hate what I’m doing and some will understand. This car for the most part is completely stock still. Fortunately for me this is what I was looking for. There are just a few things that are not the way I wanted them. The three main things are, the interior color, the rear end set up, and this car had a vinyl top. The car will now be a non vinyl top. The interior color which was two tone green is now being changed to two tone red & burgundy. Lastly the rear gears which are the original 3.23:1 open 742 case have been replaced with same date stamp 3.23:1 sure grip posi 742 case with-in 3 days of the date stamp on the gears that came out of the car. Had to drive from Denver Co. to Omaha Ne. and back for them.

 

[ckessel]

Great story, glad you looked at it in person. Welcome from west of you by the water.

 

[Dreed]

Great story, glad you looked at it in person. Welcome from west of you by the water.

View attachment 1579908

Looks like where the car came from. Half mile up the hill from the beach in Pacifica Ca.

 

[Dreed]

Trunk floors before and after.