Where Are They Now, Part 8: Road Runner Became Superbird

Today, it’s Richard Petty Blue, lives in Estonia, and has been transformed into a Superbird. But once upon a time, it was orange, lived in Sweden, and looked just as good. This is the story of Patrik Bergwall’s 1970 Plymouth Road Runner.

It was Bergwall’s first American car. Maybe not his first choice when he bought it in 2016, but definitely so a few years into ownership.

“I’ve always been interested in American cars, especially the Dodge Charger after seeing movies like Bullitt and The Fast and the Furious from 2001,” Bergwall says.

In 2015, the urge became too strong to ignore, and Bergwall contacted Johan Forslund at Skanstulls Bil & Däck in Sweden’s capital, Stockholm. Bergwall had 300,000 SEK (about $30,000) and wanted a 1968 Dodge Charger. Johan let him know that it might be difficult to get the money to stretch far enough if Bergwall wanted something drivable.

“So I said that a Coronet, Super Bee or Road Runner were also possible options – as long as it had a big V8. And that’s what happened,” Bergwall says.

Good thing it did. Today, in 2026, he would hardly find such a nice Super Bee or Road Runner for that amount. But ten years ago, it was fully possible.

25,000 SEK – about $2,500 – was what Patrik had to pay beyond his budget. But in return, he received a very handsome Road Runner, a Plymouth as nice in real life as it was in the photos. And it came with a 440 under the hood. The car arrived on October 19, 2016.

So what has Bergwall been up to since then? The Road Runner was already in very good shape when it arrived in Sweden. Well, there’s always something to do.

“I swapped the shifter for a Pistol Grip, a Hurst copy. Then I hunted down a set of nice center caps on eBay for a while until I finally found the ones I wanted. I also built a new exhaust system with an H-pipe and replaced the radiator with a new aluminum unit,” Bergwall says.

He also replaced all the body bushings. The front end received original-style rubber, and the rear got polyurethane. The car also received new sway bars. Before that, the Road Runner wandered across the entire road, drifting between lanes, and afterwards it became much more stable – night and day. Bergwall adds that the Road Runner originally rolled off the assembly line with a 383 and in a light-blue color called Blue Fire.

The 440 has also had a freshening. After five years of hard launches, it’s only smart to give things a checkup. For the job, Bergwall hired local Mopar_® guru Anders Andersson at Double A Custom.

“My goal was simply to have Andersson go through the engine. Then I wanted a meaner idle, so it got a new camshaft, lifters and springs. After a dyno session, the numbers landed at 435 horsepower and 666
Newton-meters. Unfortunately, a lifter collapsed, so the camshaft had to be replaced and I bought new ones from Mopar Performance,” Bergwall says.

Luckily, that small failure led to even better numbers. With the revised valvetrain, the V8 landed at 460
horsepower and 705 Newton-meters.

“According to Andersson, the power output is something of a record for a mostly stock 440, at least in the
dyno used. If I want more power, I’ll need to replace the 906 heads,” Bergwall says.

Aside from what’s already been mentioned – that the 440 is relatively stock – the V8 is equipped with Hooker Competition headers and a Holley Street Avenger carburetor rated at 750 cfm. The 727 transmission is from TCI – their Street Fighter model, rated to handle up to about 650 horsepower. Out back is the classic 8¾ rear axle with 3.55:1 gearing and an Eaton Detroit Truetrac torsen-style differential.

Goals? One of them is to run a high-12 on the drag strip. So far, Bergwall has pushed the Road Runner through the quarter-mile in 13.3 seconds at a trap speed of 164 km/h (102 mph).

“I want to improve those numbers. Otherwise, it’s just great fun to go to various car meets. The kids and my wife enjoy tagging along. And, of course, you always want more. It would be fun to run Street Week, the Swedish version of America’s Hot Rod Drag Week.”

When Bergwall isn’t wrenching on or driving the Road Runner hard enough to make the tires scream, he works as a driving-school instructor. He became certified in 2007 and has since taught both car and motorcycle driving. He estimates that he’s helped close to 1,000 people earn their licenses by now. He’s never short on anecdotes and notes that switching from car to motorcycle isn’t always easy.

“The turn signals don’t cancel themselves, and it’s not uncommon for beginners to completely lose track of right and left because they’re so focused on handling the bike. The worst incident? Probably a woman who had just started her MC training. She took off on the rear wheel despite being told what to do if she felt uncomfortable – pull in the clutch and release the throttle,” Bergwall says.

It ended with 10,000 rpm, the front wheel in the air, and the woman being launched. She was shaken and didn’t know what had just happened.

“She absolutely didn’t want an ambulance, but I managed to call a few acquaintances who picked her up. And afterward? She actually came back three weeks later, finished the training, and got her motorcycle license. That’s probably why I keep doing this. Being allowed to follow a student from start to finish. Unlike a regular car license, a motorcycle license is a lifelong dream for many. They may have dreamed about it for 20 or 30 years. It’s beautiful to see people fulfill their dreams. They’re so happy when they finally get that license,” Bergwall says with a smile.

Today, Patrik Bergwall’s Road Runner has been transformed into a Superbird by the Estonian car-building company Erkki Engineering. The transformation began in 2023 and was completed in 2024, and the car now resides in Estonia. See the photographs for the final result!