DECEMBER 31, 2009: (JANUARY 2010)-1970 PLYMOUTH ROAD RUNNER-BASKET CASE TO THUNDERING SHOW STEALER

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Ross Hagemann probably never realized that he had the power to bring something back from the dead, but that is exactly what he did with his 1970 Plymouth Road Runner.

All it took was a couple of years of hard labor, patience and an enormous amount of natural talent to pull off this resurrection.

‘Anybody that has ever tackled a major restoration knows that nothing comes easy in this hobby, despite the best effort of half hour automotive shows that indicate otherwise to a gullible viewer.’

Most guys have that disassemble part down pat, but the real trick is reassembly… that is where even Road Runners can hit Wile E Coyote style brick walls when idiots have wrenches in their hands.

Fortunately Ross is not an idiot.

He was a man with a well-developed plan before he tackled his ‘Runner project and it shows. The car was crunched in the rear and it was well beyond the ability of most “do it yourselfers”, but not Ross.

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It was originally a 383 4-speed car, but Ross wanted to make sure that his Road Runner would leave any coyote on the planet in an even bigger cloud of dust, so he stuck a Hemi in his bird. The new Road Runner heart is a 617 hp 426 Hemi with aluminum heads and most coyotes would be wise not to pursue Ross’s high performance killer bird.

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Sometimes you just have to return to where you came from in car world. Ross had owned a Road Runner many years ago out of high school and he had always wanted another one. Little did he know that his next ‘Runner would be a rescue from the grave mission before he could take his trip down memory lane.

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‘The trip is just as fun the second time around-only now Ross can get there even faster in his Hemi Bird.’

 

Jim Sutherland

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