How is it that a guy who has owned 15 to 20 Chevelles (he's lost count) ends up with a '70 Road Runner? If you're a real car guy and not just a myopic mono-brander, you already know that answer. The '70 Road Runner is one of the best-looking, most iconographic musclecars of all time, and when a nice one pops up, you just can't turn it down. It's true that Blake Highsmith, and his father, Brian, are serious Chevelle freaks, but this Mopar B-body wasn't going to be ignored. Father and son found it in the Oklahoma City newspaper in 1999, and snatched it up for $13K. Previously a show car, it quickly became a "go" car, especially after a Procharger-equipped 383 found its way underhood. We first observed Blake's Road Runner during True Street time trials as it quietly performed a burnout, then launched with all the excitement of groceries on a checkout counter. We did a double-take when the scoreboard lit up with an 11.03 at 124 mph. This was a car we'd have to peek at. Unfortunately, Blake's Road Runner ended the day early with a broken piston ring and some beat-up pistons. ("We had a standard ring end gap of .022, and it needed to be between .024 and .026.") It's still cool, and we're still showing it, so if you don't like it, go heat up the Internet.
The only place you can get...
The only place you can get a Procharger kit for a Mopar is at The Supercharger Store, Brian Highsmith says.
1970 Plymouth Road Runner
Blake Highsmith
Occupation: Wyotech graduate, small business owner
Hometown: Lindsay, OK
Best Prior e.t.: 10.89/127
True Street e.t. Average: DNF
| Engine: | Mopar big-block Wedge |
| Displacement: | 383 ci |
| Compression: | 9.25:1 |
| Cylinder heads: | Edelbrock |
| Camshaft: | COMP hydraulic roller, 250/254 degrees at .050, .630-inch lift |
| Rocker arms: | Crane Gold roller rockers |
| Lifters: | COMP |
| Intake manifold: | Mopar Performance high-rise "spider" |
| Carburetor: | Holley 750-cfm double-pumper |
| Power-adder: | Supercharger Store Procharger F1 with water injection |
| Rotating assembly: | Stock crank and rods, Speed-Pro forged pistons |
| Transmission: | Wilson Racing Powerglide |
| Converter: | Wilson 10-inch 4,500-stall |
| Rearend: | Strange Engineering 8 3/4-inch rear with 4.30 gears |
| Tires: | 215/65-15 BFG, front; 275/60-15 Mickey Thompson ET Street, rear |
| Front suspension: | stock |
| Rear suspension: | stock with Slide-A-Link traction bars |
| Total cost of car: | $65,000 |