What would you do if you had an all-original ’69 Plymouth Road Runner with a matching-numbers 383 big-block and four-speed manual transmission? Store it in a barn, of course! As astounding as that may seem, it’s exactly what Eldon Schober did. The catch is that the car went into storage 30 years ago, when all-original musclecars were much more common. By the time Eldon finally got around to sending the Road Runner off to Precision Restorations in 2012, it had become an ultra-rare survivor car.
Although protecting the car from the harsh Illinois winters kept it mostly rust free, 30 years of neglect had taken its toll. Once the Road Runner arrived at our shop, we completely rebuilt the engine, transmission, rearend, brakes, and interior. Of course, the paint had seen better days as well, so we performed some minor sheetmetal work before applying a fresh coat of paint.
As hot rodders, we all love hearing stories like Eldon’s of once-neglected cars that have been restored to their former glory. Fortunately, Eldon never gave in to the urge to sell it, and now future generations of enthusiasts will have the opportunity to appreciate this beautiful Mopar B-body just like kids did in the ’60s.
