Museum Quality Birds

            When a car gets put in a museum that says a lot about where it stands in the zeitgeist of the country. Whether it is the beauty of its styling or the impact it has had on the industry, a museum quality car is something special.

            Don Jones of Loveland, OH brought out two cars that he had purchased from a museum to show at the recent Ault Park Concourse d’Elegance: a 1969 Plymouth Road Runner and a 1970 Plymouth Superbird.

            Don got the fully documented cars two years ago, admitting that he likes American muscle. “I like cars that make a statement,” he said.

            He likes them so much that he started his own business called American Muscle Street Rods and Classics. “We do frame off restoration,” he said. “And we do street rods from scratch.”

            The ’69 sports a 426 Hemi OVC engine with 2x4 barrel carbs that produced 425 horses. Given the RM21J9 designation, Don’s Road Runner is number 37 of the 86 built that year. It is listed as being one of one in three different categories, meaning it is the only one in the world like it.

            In 2006 it got a total restoration, according to Don. “It was stripped down to the frame. Every nut and bolt was restored,” he said. It was only the second time the car had been completely assembled; the first being at the factor when it was originally built. Between then and today, the car has racked up only 12,850 original miles.

            It takes time to restore a car and make it this perfect, Don said. “You have to nitpick everything on a car until it’s perfect.”

            Plymouth turned the automotive world on its ear with the introduction of this car. Their goal was to turn out a car with blistering speeds for less than $3,000. It worked and American muscle had a whole new standard.

            The Superbird isn’t just a souped up Road Runner. Plymouth borrowed some technology and ideas from the 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona which had owned the NASCAR circuit at the end of ’69. The engineers had to do some magic to make the sleek design of the Charger fit the Road Runner but they managed to pull it off and present a car that is difficult to miss. It also is the car that convinced Richard Petty to re-up with Plymouth.

            Don admits that driving the Superbird is like “driving a Jell-O car.” But he added that once it gets up to speed it really hugs the road.

            If Don set out to make a statement with his cars, these two are making it loud and clear.