Chapter 2

THE LIFE OF A LEGEND

Once the Roadrunner was ordered, Gary sat patiently awaiting her arrival. Finally, in the middle of May, he was informed that his car was built and on her way. His salesman, Joe Russo, told him that it would be available to pick up on Friday. But when Gary showed up, he found out that there was bad weather coming out of St. Louis and that the arrival would be delayed until Monday.

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The next day, on a whim, Gary drove up to Johnny Motor Sales. Just as he had hoped, there was his new Roadrunner being unloaded off of the hauler. He quickly pulled into the dealership and told the Manager receiving the load of cars that the Pink one was his and he wanted to take her home. The Manager informed him that he did not have the paperwork to complete his sale. Only the salesman could do that. After a bit of persuasive discussion, the Manager agreed to call Joe at home. And if he were home, and if he wanted to come in to finish the paperwork, then Gary could have his car on that Saturday. But if not, then he would have to wait until Monday. And with the courtesy of a forgotten time, Mr. Russo showed up on his day off to complete the sale.

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It was incredible how very different this car was than the Cuda that preceded it. Though both were powered by the same 383 HP 4-Barrel engine, they were nothing alike. Right out of the dealership parking lot, the Roadrunner had all the muscle that Gary had been looking for. And on her maiden voyage, the Rag Doll Roadrunner would find herself lined up at a stoplight in what would become the first of many street battles. Less than 2 miles away from the dealership, in the next lane at a red light, sat a Triumph motorcycle. Though not the crotch-rockets we are used to seeing today, a mid-sized Triumph bike back then was still a pretty quick ride. But when the light turned green, it simply didn't live up to the hype, as the Pink Convertible showed the biker her brand new KCP-739 license plate.

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Not long after bringing the Rag Doll home, a few upgrades were made. First, a set of 14" Keystone Classic mags were installed. Gary got them from his friend Matt who stole them from a Police Impound yard! A pair of Walker Continental Blue Swinger mufflers opened up the music out of the tailpipes. And a white stripe was added to the rear of the trunk lid. - When Gary ordered the car, he chose the white Roadrunner stripe across the rear trunk. But when the car arrived, the stripe was not there. They forgot to apply it at the factory. (SIDEBAR: The FenderTag shows this car to have been built with a Black stripe). So Gary went to the local hardware store and got a roll of White tape-stripe and added it himself. And under the hood, he chose to paint the valve covers Black-Wrinkle, like the HEMIs wore.

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After a night of partying with his buddies and driving like an idiot, the Runner got a little loose around a corner and whacked a curb, damaging one of the new Keystones. So the next day, Gary went to a Junkyard and bought a pair of 15" black steel wheels from an old Studebaker. Inspired by the RAMCHARGERS, Gary painted them half white / half black. He picked up a pair of Western Auto Wizard Redline tires and wrapped the new steelies in them and installed them at the rear of the Runner, leaving the white-letter Goodyears and Chrome 14" Keystones at the front. This car definitely had a "Day 2" musclecar look about her.

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Over the course of the next two summers, this was the everyday, normal life of the Rag Doll. Countless battles were won under similar circumstances... underestimated and victorious. For a while, the general consensus was less than bolstering. More times than Gary could count, he would get razzed by guys in other cars, shouting things like:

"Hey, got your Mama's car tonight?"
"Is that your girlfriend's car?"
"Does your sister know you took her car out?"

Words like this would've crushed a lesser man. But not Gary. He took it in stride and used that arrogance against those guys. The only thing worse than driving a Pink car is getting your butt kicked by one! And that's how it was. They'd ridicule and underestimate the Pink Plymouth only to find themselves humbled, embarrassed, and missing a six-pack of Pabst Blue Ribbon in their cooler. That was the most common thing they'd race for in Hamtramck — a six-pack of beer.

Back then, on those streets, it wasn't really about big dollars or claims-to-fame of having the "Fastest Street Racer in the country." Big dollar races and meaningful titles like that were held by true legends like Jimmy Addison's "Silver Bullet" GTX. And in later years, Joe Ruggirello's "Sudden Death" Mustang and Steve Lisk's Lenco-shifted HEMI Challenger. Those were the gods of street racing. But in Hamtramck, 1970 (as well as the majority of Detroit and its outlying area)... it was just bragging rights and a sixer. And maybe being known as the "car to beat" in the area. That's what regular guys in regular hotrods competed for.

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And that's what Gary's Roadrunner became. Though not "unbeatable" per se, the Rag Doll won a lot more than her fair share of stoplight battles. And for many around the area, Gary's Pink Roadrunner was known as the baddest around.

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Granted, a 383/Automatic in a mostly stock, Convertible Plymouth was hardly a street-race "Legend." Nor did it, or will it ever, claim to be. And on her only trip down an actual dragstrip, the Rag Doll stopped the clock at Motor City Dragway in less than 14 seconds. A high-thirteen quarter-mile (though not magazine worthy) in a mostly stock 383 Convertible Roadrunner was actually quite impressive by 1970 standards.

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But like they say, "It's the Street that levels the playing field." And on the street, with just the right combination of Horsepower, Rear Gear, Traction, and Driver Skill, is where Gary and the Rag Doll beat a lot of cars that they probably shouldn't have. 427 Corvettes could never get traction and were typically not the formidable opponent that you would think. The same held true for many Big Block Chevelles and Mustangs. 389 Tri-Power GTO's were Gary's favorite to race. They always had the biggest ego. But they would never live up to the hype.

Though he never got to race anything with a HEMI, the Rag Doll actually did beat a Limelight, 440 6-Barrel, '70 GTX once. (Must have been one of those finicky days for the carbs!) So, the Rag Doll may not have been one of those real "Legends" mentioned above... but she was most certainly the queen of her streets and an icon amongst those who knew of her.