After graduating from college in 1971, Tim Hennessey took a job as a school teacher. Then he took a big gamble. With his first real job, Hennessey thought it was time for his first new car, and learned that his local Chrysler/Plymouth dealer was the place to shop for performance-oriented cars.

Rumors were knee deep that the big-block muscle cars were not going to be offered in 1972, so Hennessey was determined to get his while the getting was good.

Since the 1972 models were coming out within a couple of months, he discovered it was too late to special order a car, so he concentrated on those cars that populated the dealer’s lots. Hennessey found what he describes as “a shining white example of a rapidly fading breed of muscle cars from Chrysler.”

A muscular Plymouth Road Runner was the car the young man wanted.

Hennessey says of his car: “It had a 440-cubic-inch engine equipped with a ‘Six Pack’ of Holley carburetors, Hemi automatic, 4.10 Dana rear-axle, and an air-grabber hood.” It was upholstered in a chestnut-and-tan combination vinyl with a front bench seat.

Hennessey made a down payment and signed on the dotted line even though he had yet to receive a single paycheck.

“My new car stickered for $4,140, making my 36 monthly payments $91.10. Big money for those days! I wondered how I would ever pay it off, especially coupled with the fact that Sunoco premium gas had just gone from 22 cents to 25 cents a gallon.

“I made the first payment,” he says, “the day after I received my first paycheck.” With the price of gas skyrocketing, Hennessey received a lot of advice to get rid of his “gas hog.”

“I decided immediately that I would have this car forever,” he says. “I bought a 1960 Chevy for $50, so I could store my Road Runner for the first winter to save it from the ravages of winters.”

Hennessey has continued this routine to this day, creating a long list of “previously enjoyed” winter beater cars. “It’s a small sacrifice to save my Road Runner,” he says. Like virtually everyone else with a muscle car during the 1970s and 1980s, he modified his car to run faster or, at least, to look faster. That phase thankfully passed quickly.

“I had the desire to return my Road Runner to its former glory as a factory muscle car.” He began to dismantle his Road Runner to prepare for a total restoration. At that time, research informed Hennessey that his car was one of only 109 Road Runners equipped with a 440 6 combination engine and automatic transmission.

The restoration was simple, since the car had never been wrecked and was complete. Any original part that had been removed was carefully set aside in storage. Hennessey did send off both bumpers to be replated with chrome.

A set of reproduction white letter tires support the 3,640-pound Plymouth — just like the original tires did years ago. Plymouth Road Runners were made to run fast, but not necessarily in comfort. “My car came with Radio Delete” on the build sheet and, because of the size of the monstrous V-8 engine, air conditioning was not available.

After the car received a coat of white paint matching the original, a gold stripe applique was installed from one rear fender up over the rear of the roof and down to the other rear fender. “The Road Runner looks better than the day I bought it.”

Premium gasoline is pricey, so filling the 20-gallon tank is more painful today than in the past. He reports that the car has never seen snow and hasn’t been rained on. “I never let it get dirty,” he says. “Everyone has a story of ‘the car that got away’ but very few of us are fortunate to discover the long-term pleasures of owning and keeping their first new car.”