Restoring a Roadrunner: A Father's Legacy
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Welcome to another In-Wheel Time Podcast, a 30-minute mini version of the In-Wheel Time
car show that airs live every Saturday morning.
Welcome to the award-winning In-Wheel Time car talk show.
Just ahead, we talked to our buddy Richard Tomlin about his 68 Road Runner, the family
project car and the story behind it.
Also, I'll give you my thoughts on driving the Alfa Romeo tonally, and Jeff has the
motor minute in this segment of the In-Wheel Time car talk show.
Howdy.
Along with Mike out of this World Mars, we always need more Jeff Zekin, Chief Engineer David
Ainslie.
I'm Don Armstrong.
Thanks so much for joining us on this Saturday for our live broadcast, and if you're listening
on a podcast, hey, we appreciate that as well.
All right, let's get right to it.
Shall we, Richard Tomlin?
Apex Auto Works.
Richard, good morning.
It's been a while since we talked.
We tried to talk to you last weekend, didn't work out.
We got it all fixed this week, and it's good to see you again, my friend.
Good morning.
Good morning, guys.
Well, good morning to you.
So, just so everybody is on the same page, and we really kind of get a little bit of background
here, Richard inherited his father's one owner, Roadrunner, when his father died in the Oklahoma
City bombing.
And, Richard, I did not know that.
We're going to get that in a minute.
After seeing it in the corner of the shop, we approached Richard a few times about
the story, but he always seemed reluctant to talk about it.
Now, his plan is to revive the Roadrunner, take it to SEMA in November.
Awesome.
70, seven days away.
Yeah.
Yeah, and then PRI in December, and then tackle Pikes Peak Hill Climb Next June, all with
this same vehicle.
Same vehicle.
So, yeah, the car's been staying for a while, but Pikes Peak this year, I was sitting
with a customer talking about building their new car for this year, and they wanted to build
a BMW M2.
Great car, but $80,000 plus dollars, and you want us to cut it up, turn it into a race
car.
And I said, well, why don't you build something cool that not everybody has, something older,
you know, vintage, and let's go up there and race and have a good time.
And he says, well, there's nothing I can afford that I would build.
I was like, well, what does that mean?
What would you build?
And he's like, why build what my father and I had, which was a 660 roadrunner.
And I'm like, well, a year ago on a 680 roadrunner, guess who else has one of those?
You know, I have one of those.
And so his father passed while he was on the starting line at Pikes Peak three years
ago.
Oh, my God.
So it's become a legacy project is the easiest way to put it.
Yeah.
Well, I did not know that about your father.
So that was, was that back in the 90s?
95.
95.
He's a special agent for the Department of Transportation.
So he dealt with semis and regulations there.
But yeah, fourth floor right above the truck.
He was the third to last person found in that event.
But so he raised, I mean, since I was a kid, the car was always a race card.
They drove into the hospital when I was born.
It's just always been around.
Some people are going to roll over, absolutely lose their minds when they see what we're
doing.
We're doing what they call a body swap.
So another Pikes Peak customer friend kindly donated a 2015 NASCAR truck running and driving
truck.
And we have taken the body off of it.
We've taken most of the cage structure off and we're going to body swap the roadrunner
onto that.
And then apex is going to do what we do best, which is create a custom fab cage
that will tie the NASCAR structure together with the roadrunner.
And we will send it up the mountain with all 830 horsepower at the wheels.
Nice.
Wow.
And so now has the body been welded together or something?
I mean, how do you use body swap?
Your butt cheeks better be welded together.
Yeah.
Nice.
So the roadrunner is a unibody.
So that makes it, in my mind, a little bit easier.
Everybody says it makes it more difficult, but I think it's easier.
We've spent the last two weeks clearing the chassis.
So the NASCAR truck is just a 2x4 box frame, like an old C-10 truck would be.
They use the old truck arm suspension and we've basically cleared off every bar, every notch
on it.
We'll grind it smooth today, paint it white, then it will go outside.
We'll bring the roadrunner inside, drop all the suspension on it, and then start
lowering and cutting, lowering and cutting.
Does the roadrunner have the original floor pans in it?
Yep.
Because the floor pans are really the whole structure of the car.
Yes, they are.
The roof, yeah.
There are repairs.
There are things that have been done to the floor pans in that car.
It was the automatic to manual transmission swap numerous times as a lot of those cars
were back in the day when you're drag racing it.
I think it's probably the third time I've put a four-speed tunnel in it.
So the car is not pristine and perfect.
When I was working at a body shop some 25 years ago, I spent probably two years doing
body work on it myself.
And once I got all the body work done, we painted it.
And we painted it in any orange because it made sense at the time.
I don't know if you're going to make it all the way over here, Richard.
Richard, we're losing it.
We've dropped your video.
There you are.
There you go.
That's better.
You get it now?
Yeah, kind of.
Maybe.
Maybe.
So point that camera over there to that road roll.
Let's see it.
There we go.
Is that at the Whitewood?
So yeah, that's it.
It's now white instead of the Lamborghini orange because we're going back to what
it was in 1984.
We asked Mike Satterfield to do us a rendering of what paint job was on the car then.
Make it somewhat modern.
We're even using single-stage paint on it.
And I'll reach in here and grab this.
So when I grew up, the car was called Big Bird.
So the NASCAR valve covers were Dodge, of course, and I couldn't have Dodge.
All right.
So we took the valve covers and machined them down and put Big Bird on the valve covers.
So it'll plumb crazy purple, trying to do the best we can to make it as authentic
as possible.
Well, you said something unique to go up the mountain.
I don't know.
Yeah.
This is very unique.
I don't believe I've ever had a 68 roadrunner in mind when you're trying to do a hill climb.
Correct.
But when you add enough horsepower, does it matter?
Right?
Well, that's true.
It's really about the horsepower and suspension, isn't it?
Yep.
So the NASCAR suspension will help us quite a bit on that.
It's what I call the old school truck arm suspension.
But it makes it very capable up the hill.
I think we had probably six, maybe seven chassis last year that were all NASCAR-based.
But there's a lot of those that actually end up on the mountain.
So it's nothing that new.
They run them road courses as well.
So we're still waiting on suspension to make it go right, not just left, because this truck
currently is set up just to go left.
So we still have some challenges ahead of us, but...
Yeah, Richard, there's going to be some extra weight.
Is that going to be a...
A little challenge.
So we're comparing it.
The guy who donated the truck to us, Rick Lend, his truck is 3,400 pounds.
And we are literally running the same motor he ran two years ago.
And I want to say he was an 1150, 1150, not the running at the mountain.
Us, our shop, now this will be 17, 18 cars we've built for pack.
We expect to be mid-pack with this setup.
So we're going to do our bit as light as possible and make our...
Yeah, I think you've about outran your Wi-Fi there, Richard.
Yeah, it's ugly.
Cutting in and out and can hardly understand you.
So can you get closer to your Wi-Fi?
I thought I was.
No, you weren't.
No.
Oh, now you're sad.
There you go.
There you go.
You're getting better.
There you go.
Better?
Yes.
My question is...
So there are challenges going...
I was going to say my question is, obviously there's rules and regulations
that you have to have a body on the vehicle.
Why not just do the frame and the roll cage and no fenders,
no doors, no nothing, just run it up that way?
Well, that's an open-wheel car like my Miata.
Well, there you go.
So that puts it in a different class.
OK.
But it's in a different class.
And this is more of...
We're not going up there so much to be fast as to leave a legacy.
This is for his father, for my father.
And what you don't realize what you do with some young men in life
that will just shape the way they live forever.
So let's go out there and make somebody's dream come true.
Has there ever been a roadrunner going up, a 68 roadrunner,
go up the mountain like that?
I don't know a 68 roadrunner.
There is a bee body that is registered this year,
but it's a 66 cornet.
So a little different look than a 68.
But we've talked to some of the Dodge people, some of the Mopar people.
They're excited about it.
Not a lot that they could do or help us with.
But we will represent the best we can going up the mountain.
When is the event?
Date has not been announced, but usually the last weekend in June
has been our date for like the last 10 years.
OK, the last weekend in June.
So the weekend before the 4th of July.
Time to get all that dialed in.
The scene to show is the big one.
Yes, weekend before the 4th.
Used to always be on 4th of July weekend, but that's all changed.
So you're going to show it first?
Yeah, well, so the SEMA show, of course, what?
November 7th, 8th, 9th.
First week.
And then we come back.
Yeah, we come back November 15th for my race in Victoria,
which should be the first event the car participates in.
So we are planning on running the car at an event
a week after.
We should have it on the road and test it at MSR
before we even leave Houston.
It will have no Bluetooth drive shafts,
no Bluetooth brakes going into the show
like many of the cars do.
Anything else you're working on or is this
taking up 100% of your time?
You know, we're trying.
We got 76 Firebird right now.
We've got the 68 SS 396 El Camino.
Showed up yesterday just a beautiful car.
Chasing down some fuel injection issues.
They swapped over from carburetor to fuel injection.
Did it at home.
It works good enough to drive,
but you're not going to take it very far running
the way it does.
And then Firebird, we're working on AC.
We work on it, trying to get AC back in the car,
doing a retrofit from R12 to the 134.
But usual stuff, work sleep, C4 getting cut up,
turned into a race car for lemons.
You know, that's one of the things
we've always got going on here is one or two lemons cars.
When is the lemons event?
Same weekend as PR as a SEMA this year.
It'll be the first one I've missed in 16 years.
Wow, my god.
Richard, how many employees do you have?
How many technicians or mechanics or?
Right now, three.
I should be at five to six.
Yeah, change happens.
People leave, people come, people go,
but I actually have two people we're interviewing today.
So we're always looking for talented people.
The problem is we have a lot of scheduling here,
timelines, a lot of travel,
and some people don't like that.
Really, I think it's their wife's
don't like the travel side of it.
But we go to a lot of places and do a lot of things
and see amazing things.
Richard, have you ever been in touch
with the guys over at Houston?
Have you ever been in touch with the guys
over at Houston Community College?
They got a great program over there
and they're always looking for placement of their graduates.
Yeah, I should probably get in touch with them.
Yeah, you should.
We could use some people that are actually driven
and enjoy working on cars, not just,
and there's a lot of people that work in the dealerships
and they do it for money and they know a lot about cars,
but they don't have what I call the love of cars
and the passion.
These are family heirlooms in our business,
like we only work on toys from other people.
Like me.
Yeah, we don't work on daily driver cars
and it changes the way you touch a car
and how you handle it and what attention you give it.
It's very different, but it shouldn't be, you know?
Well, yeah, because we're all car guys
and we get it, we kind of take it for granted
being a car guy because you think that everybody else is
and that's not the case.
And a lot of kids these days, and I say kids
and I mean that in a very loose way,
a 20-something year old that either dad's got the money
or this kid works really hard and goes and spins
a lot of money and buys a new car or a relatively new car
and it's all complete.
I mean, you can go to the dealership
and buy a 700 horsepower race car basically
that's got a license plate on it.
Yep, absolutely.
They're available all day long now.
Yeah.
Well, back in our day, if you wanted something like that,
you had to build it.
Yeah, blood, sweat, and tears.
Yeah, and the part of building it
was really the joy in it.
Yeah, you get to drive it afterwards
but it was getting the friends together,
getting your buddy over on a Saturday night
or whatever the case may be.
You have a good time with the camaraderie
and having a project, a group project.
And later on in life, you say, I've done that.
I did this.
This is what mine looked like.
Got the T-shirt, got the scars.
Yep, exactly.
Yeah, exactly.
Longest burnout I've ever done
was in this car across the Walmart parking lot
many, many moons ago.
And that will be happy.
You're sure it was Walmart and not Kmart?
They're still talking about it.
I was working there and doing the store sets
and it was a brand new parking lot.
It was completely open.
So we just left our mark all the way across it.
I lined the driveway.
You left a mark in history.
Yeah, well, it's Kmart.
That's like me and my buddy Ross
when we looked at the Richardson Chevrolet
dealership in New Car Make Ready.
Oh my God, we got to pull the Corvettes out
on Saturday morning.
There were a couple of Corvettes
that they had to have new tires on the back
put on the car before it was sold
because we'd burnt the rubber off of them
in the back parking lot.
Well, accidentally, I'm sure.
Oh, absolutely accidentally.
Just two of them, they got two others.
Yeah, they had a whole mess up.
We sure had a good time with that.
Those are memories.
We'll get you guys some pictures,
but if you get time, head over to the Facebook page.
There's a lot of pictures there.
At Apex?
Try and get Mars some pictures.
At Apex?
Apex and then Richard Talman, both of them.
They'll find it.
We're there.
We're linked up to you guys.
Well, hey, man, it's great to talk to you.
Best of luck.
Let's be in touch this fall.
We will.
I'll see you with the car.
You got it.
Richard Talman, Apex Auto Works,
68 Road Runner, Hot Rod, Pikes Peak Hill Climber,
put a label on it.
That's what it is.
He's driven it, built it, raced it.
Did it.
Yeah.
Just ahead, a review of the 2025 Alfa Romeo Tonali
and Jeff's motor minute after a quick break
when the In-Wheel Time Car Talk Show continues.
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Okay, time now for Jeff's motor minute.
Yeah, how many of us out there
have a homeowners association?
Do you have one, Mike?
I've got one, you've got one.
I've got one here, but I've got one coming.
Okay, well, a homeowner was given a warning
from their HOA after a family member
charged a Tesla Model S in the driveway.
And this is the way it went down.
They're using a plug inside of the garage
to charge a Model S Tesla.
Family member came over on vacation
and they were just visiting,
so there were no extension cords,
just the Tesla cable, maybe about 10 feet long.
Well, shortly after they did that,
they received a warning from the HOA
stating that electrical cords running on the ground
to the electric vehicle are not permitted in the community.
This seems to be a bit of confusion
between the homeowner and the HOA.
It's not the EV charging that's necessarily the problem,
but the cord on the ground.
The bylaws in the HOA state that long extension cords
with the maximum length of 25 feet are not allowed.
But the EV charger is an extension cord,
nor is it 25 feet long, Mike.
The HOA has a reputation for making the process
of installing solar panels, EV chargers,
and other eco-friendly home upgrades
far more difficult than they should be.
Many HOAs try to capitalize on the EV charging
like hiking electric prices,
requiring specific charging vendors,
or just banning home charging altogether
and making the practice illegal in a lot of states.
Even if you're in a similar, a sticky situation
with your HOA, there are ways to change the bylaws
and have the money saving come to you
through the charging.
So here's some of the things that they're looking at.
These are quotes and things from the homeowners.
If you're charging in your garage,
you have no control over what they do with your home.
That's what they're arguing.
The LV1 is no different than plugging in an appliance,
which makes sense, it's true.
And another one says that, hey, get with your HOA,
work it out, be friendly, be nice.
So if you got a Karen in your neighborhood, look her up.
I think what you need to do is put little stakes
in the yard on the way out and then have it.
Yeah, so it's off the ground.
Looped, yeah, yeah.
Well, if you're in your garage, close your garage door.
We can do that too.
Just close it on the cord, let's precute the whole house.
There you go.
What are you gonna say?
No, I was gonna say you could put some little lights
up there too, or Christmas lights,
and then they can complain about that.
Well, you guys have EVs, you plug them in in your house.
Plugged in right up there, right now.
Yeah, I saw that, yeah.
I tripped over the cord.
You couldn't, because I parked too close to it.
I know you did.
Anyways, be careful when you're doing that.
Don't get people angry with you.
Time now for this hour's car review.
I had a chance to drive the 2025 Alfa Romeo Tonali
All-Wheel Drive.
Now, the final assembly location
is Pamigliano De Arco, Naples, Italy.
Wow.
How did I do?
Can you spell it?
Terribly.
I can spell it, but it won't do any good
because it doesn't make any difference.
I can spell Toniel.
Pamigliano.
Available trim levels, base, Intensa,
Tributo, and Italiano.
There you go.
I had the base model.
It is considered a subcompact SUV,
but in our language, it's a small SUV.
Still seats five people, all new in 2024.
So this is a relatively new vehicle.
Got a great shape.
Love the distinct sporty shape with menacing headlights
and Alfa's Scudetto grille.
Bet you didn't even know that, did you?
It's called a Scudetto grille.
Unique wheels with round spokes.
Rear taillights emulate the headlight design.
Big dual exhaust tips with a rear sunshade
over the rear glass.
What I liked, the Tonali gets high marks
for its killer design, in my opinion.
What could use improvement?
Nothing, don't jack with it, and here's why.
Because so many SUVs look the same.
The taillights, you couldn't, if you took the name
of the vehicle off of it, you wouldn't be able
to tell the difference between, no offense, a Buick.
Right.
Or, you know.
An Audi.
Or any of those.
Yeah, I agree.
Exactly.
Interior highlights.
Start-stop button is on the steering wheel.
Right there, see it?
Mm-hmm.
I loved it.
Unique wheels, I told you about that with the round spokes.
We're doing the interior now, Don.
Good.
Nice dash layout, huge paddle shifters, huge.
If you're into paddle shifting, this is the bomb.
Mike's into paddling.
Spanking.
Seat material, attractive and cool.
Dash and footwell accent lights, sweet.
Cargo room, small, but this is a small SUV.
What I liked about it, most everything.
We like the wetsuit-style fabric on the seats.
Cool.
I don't know how else to describe it.
We could use improvement.
Small infotainment screen that was a little slow
to react to touch inputs.
Two-liter turbo four-cylinder with 268 horsepower,
which is a lot.
Torque 295, nine-speed automatic transmission.
So that's how they could get away
with a little bit less horsepower
and basically a sport SUV.
Miles per gallon, 21 city, 29 highway for a combined to 24.
Believe it or not, I got 29.7 miles per gallon,
over 461.5 miles.
That's pretty darn good.
That's really good.
What I liked, plenty of power to throw it around corners.
And I say that in a sincere way.
Because you want to.
Well, because you want to and it can.
Yeah, because it can.
Because it can.
And that's the one cool thing about it
that most SUVs don't have in this category.
What could you use improvement?
Start, stop was annoying and couldn't turn it off.
Oh, wow.
Maybe I just couldn't figure out a way to turn it off.
Oh, that's true.
Parking brake automatically engages
when you put it in park,
turbo lag in some situations.
Ride and handling.
The sportiness is what I really liked about it.
What could use improvement?
If you don't like a sporty ride and handling,
then buy something else.
Don't buy a sports car.
Yeah.
Yeah, don't.
Because that's what this is.
It's a sports car SUV.
The base model price is 36,495.
The base trim price, wait a minute, I've got that.
The base trim price is 36,495 on this
because it is the base model.
Total price with a couple of options,
including the destination charge 39,930.
Really?
I know.
I was impressed not only by the price,
but the hot rod ride, the hot rod handling,
I'm all in.
Two things I'm noticing in that is that you don't see
or you don't hear of the Alfa Romero.
Romero, very often getting recalled for anything.
No, you don't.
That I remember.
I hadn't thought of that.
And the other thing is you keep saying,
Tony, I'm gonna have to make a pedicure board.
I didn't have to make a pedicure appointment.
You said Tony, I like it.
I keep saying it.
I'm gonna have to have my toes down.
Actual competitors of the BMW X1, the Audi Q3,
and the Mercedes-Benz GLA, and all of those are more.
Well, because I was going to say those are,
so this is the better bargain out of all.
I think so.
If you're into a small SUV and you want to have
kind of a hot rod thing going on
and something different that doesn't look
like all the rest of it, go check it out.
And you're in the Euro phase, the European vehicle.
There you go.
Italian.
And I bet you you'll find one at an Alfa store
that's already beat the tariffs.
So, just saying.
So the 2025 Alfa Romero to Nali, all-wheel drive.
Perfect.
Yeah.
Nice car.
All right, if you'd like to get in touch with us,
well, a little bit early here, aren't we?
We are.
What did you say, Morris?
Did you take your headset off?
Yeah, he did.
Okay, well, we're going to let him go ahead
and do whatever it is that he's got to do.
I did run across this story,
so there's going to be a little bonus segment here.
Jeep's swift shift toward more eco-friendly off-roading
saw the lineup move away from high-powered
Hemi engines as the adventure brand
added plug-in hybrids and its first
fully electric vehicle in North America,
the Wagoneer S.
It's now changing course
and revving up its V8 offerings again.
The brand will tap the power and performance
of the Hemi across Jeep products
as new projects are already underway
that according to CEO Bob Broderdorf.
And I think we met him, didn't we, Morris?
His name sounds familiar.
And then we'll go even further, he says,
by bringing more powertrain options in the future,
adding more horsepower to the lineup.
First step in Jeep's Hemi resurgence
is new life for the Wrangler Rubicon 392, baby.
I love that motor,
which is planned to go out of production last year.
The 470 horsepower trail cruiser,
is that a category, a trail cruiser?
It is now.
That ain't no cruisin' on that kind of thing,
which retails for more than $100,000
with shipping is currently the only Jeep
to still offer eight cylinders under the hood,
but not for long.
392 is coming back, baby.
And have you ever seen what he ever heard one?
I had one.
Yeah, they rumble.
Oh my God.
Rumble them.
It's scary fast.
And that's what we like.
It's like us.
We're scary fast.
We are.
We're just scary.
That's how you lost your hair, isn't it?
Yeah.
Blue right off.
Blue right off.
Going so fast.
You know, I was in a car one time
that as soon as you did a burnout,
make the earth spin backwards.
That's how fast that car was.
Depends, I guess, which way you're pointed.
That's true.
All right.
Hey, if you'd like to get in touch with us,
shoot us an email.
The address is info at inwheeltime.com.
We are back right after this quick break.
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About this episode
Richard Tomlin shares the emotional journey of restoring his late father's 1968 Road Runner, a project that honors his father's legacy after he tragically passed away in the Oklahoma City bombing. The conversation dives into the unique body swap technique being used to prepare the car for upcoming events like SEMA and the Pikes Peak Hill Climb. Richard discusses the challenges and excitement of reviving this family heirloom while also touching on the broader themes of automotive passion and the importance of preserving memories through car culture.
Original notes
A 1968 Plymouth Roadrunner sits dormant in the corner of Apex Auto Works, carrying with it the weight of memory and loss. For Richard Tomlin, this muscle car isn't just a project—it's a living connection to his father, who died in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. After years of seeing it gather dust, Richard has finally found the perfect reason to breathe new life into this family heirloom.
The catalyst came from an unexpected source: a customer discussing his dream of racing Pikes Peak in a car like the one he once shared with his own father—who had passed away at the famous hill climb's starting line just three years ago. This serendipitous connection of father-son legacies sparked an ambitious plan that automotive purists might call sacrilege, but Richard calls love.
What makes this build truly fascinating is the technical approach. Richard and his team are performing a body swap, mounting the iconic Roadrunner shell onto a donated 2015 NASCAR truck chassis, complete with racing suspension and an 830-horsepower engine. The finished car will maintain its classic muscle car appearance while gaining the performance capabilities needed to tackle America's most famous mountain road. They're even restoring it to its 1984 appearance and incorporating its longtime nickname "Big Bird" into custom touches like the valve covers.
The timeline is ambitious: debut at the SEMA show in November, first competition a week later, then to the PRI show in December, before finally challenging Pikes Peak next June. For Richard, this isn't just about speed—it's about preserving memories, honoring two fathers, and demonstrating how automotive passion can transform grief into something that roars with life.
Whether you're a muscle car enthusiast, a racing fan, or someone who appreciates how mechanical projects can heal the heart, this story reminds us why we love cars—they're vehicles not just for our bodies, but for our most meaningful human connections. Follow along with Richard's journey and witness the Roadrunner's rebirth on the In Wheel Time podcast.
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In Wheel Time Podcast: Your Go-To Automotive Talk Show
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