In 1974, a young man named Mark Farrin, on a quest for the "perfect" musclecar, pedaled his bicycle onto Canoga Chrysler/Plymouth in Canoga Park (a suburb of Los Angeles), when he realized his search was over. Despite the impending end of the musclecar era, in front of him was the '73 Tahitian Metallic Gold Road Runner seen here. It wasn't just another new car left over from the previous model year; this Road Runner was used as a display vehicle for Plymouth and racked up 2,000 miles traveling to and from special events. Moreover, because of this, the Plymouth had never been registered. Seeing the power-bulge hood and Pistol-Grip Hurst grab stick between the seats convinced him this car was it.
Now that he'd found his dream car, he had to convince the salesman he was serious. Let's face it, if a kid rode his bike onto your car lot and said, "I want that one," what would you say? After the salesman was convinced it was legit, another obstacle arose, namely, "How do I convince Mom?" Nonetheless, when the lengthy and sometimes intense phone conversation was over, his mother reluctantly agreed to come down to the showroom, and the young man had his mother's approval, pending his father's.
In the beginning, Mark's car was destined to be used as daily transportation, until he realized the treasure he held. Like any musclecar owner, there was a period in which Mark decided he needed a little more power. He didn't want to alter the car drastically; he just wanted to enhance its performance. With that in mind, he and his brother, Greg, added a pair of Cyclone headers with low-restriction Hemi mufflers and a 3.91 set of gears to the Sure Grip. The carburetor was recalibrated and rejetted, and the distributor advance was recurved. He added a heavy-duty clutch from Zoom as well. Still, with all these performance enhancements, Mark retained all the original parts and saved them for future use.
Mark says his best race story took place one night while cruising Southern California with a friend, when a heavy-breathing '63 Plymouth pulled alongside him at a red light. Following the requisite revving of the engine and the obligatory nod of the head, they let it fly at the green. Whatever the earlier car was running, it cleaned house on the Road Runner. As Mark pulled in behind the Plymouth, succumbing to defeat, he saw a Los Angeles Police Department cruiser fast approaching in the rearview mirror.
Both the driver of the Plymouth and Mark pulled over, awaiting their penalties. As the officers exited their car and started toward Mark, the owner of the Plymouth ignited his engine and left it in a fury of smoke and rubber and flew around the corner off of Devonshire onto Supulveda Boulevard. The surprised officers retreated to their cruiser and squealed around Mark's Road Runner, nearly hitting the rear quarter. Mark and his friend just sat there and stared at each other until his friend broke the silence and said, "Start the engine." They slowly drove off and never heard from the police or the '63 again.
With the odometer now showing 26,000 miles, Mark's now-restored gem leads the life of royalty, being pampered and enjoyed as time allows. Still, you have to wonder: Hey Mark, what would you have chosen if your dad had said "no"?