1968 Plymouth Road Runner With Hellephant Crate engine

As people know, you could get just two engines in the new 1968 Road Runner: the 383/335 HP V-8 (which this car came with new) and the 426 Hemi (which is not the Hemi here). Showing up for a knife fight with a submachine gun is keeping with the Mopar legacy. Before going to its current changes, this factory 383 CI 4-BBL 4-speed car had scored 990 out of 1,000 points in MCACN judging. The result of a comprehensive frame-off restoration retaining the original interior and accompanied by a copy of the original window sticker and original broadcast sheet for provenance, it was selected for something even more special, as the motor here now is the factory-offered supercharged 426 CI Hellephant Crate engine, No. 17 of the only 100 produced.

Rated at 1,000 HP and 950 lb-ft of torque, this barnstormer is a perfect match for Plymouth’s no-nonsense performance car. The engine conversion was completed in April 2021, thanks in part to a Gerst tubular K-frame front end with power rack-and-pinion steering, TTI performance headers, an aluminum radiator and movement of the battery into the trunk. In place of the A833 is a 4L80E racing transmission with a TCI controller, while a Strange Engineering Dana 60 Sure Grip rear end with 3.54 ratio gears is out back, supported by a Street-Lynx triangulated 4-link suspension layout. Viking Performance double adjustable coilover shocks, subframe connectors and Wilwood power disc brakes are also among the updated underpinnings here.

The exterior wears a blue paint scheme with small black Hellephant icons on the front quarters and “HEMI” hood inserts being the only real changes to the stellar body. Inside is the split, folding front bench seat interior, now fitted with Vintage Air, Dakota Digital VHX analog-look gauges, a Lokar floor shifter and a thumb-roller radio. The final touch is a set of color-keyed steel wheels with chrome lug nuts up front and extended studs on the rear axles. Two engines in 1968 were it for the “beeper,” and the Hellephant is in and of itself exclusive. This one Road Runner is rebuilt for power, but yet still with DNA intact.