It’s rather ironic that both the birth of the “Pony Car” movement in the mid-1960s, and its eventual death in the early 1970s, would be brought about by the “economy car.” Perhaps even more interesting, and less well known, is the fact that the first car to officially enter this “Pony Car” world and the last to renounce its muscle car ways would be the Plymouth Barracuda.
Panda for the Masses
The early 1960s saw a ground swell shift in the demographics of the United States with the coming of age of the “Baby Boomer” generation. The country was soon overrun with young adults born from the ravages of World War II, and with this enormous new population of potential consumers, American automobile manufacturers were scrambling for ways to tap into this new, potentially lucrative market. But these new young adults didn’t share the same tastes and habits as their more staid parents. They looked different, dressed different, listened to strange music and, in general, wanted nothing to do with the “old ways”…including their parent’s cars. This new generation began to eschew Detroit’s “Big Iron” ways, for smaller, “sporty” cars; they wanted something very different than their parent’s giant, lumbering Cadillacs and Buicks.
As a result, by 1962, design studios at Detroit’s Big Three were hard at work developing concepts for newer, smaller “economy” cars that this large group of young consumers could both afford and want. At Chrysler’s studios, designer Irv Ritchie began making sketches of a fastback adaptation of Chrysler’s Plymouth Valiant. Ritchie’s early sketches piqued the interests of Chrysler’s styling chiefs enough that a full size clay interpretation was ordered. Both Ritchie and fellow Chrysler designer John Samsen were directed to create detailed design studies, using Ritchie’s fastback concept, but ultimately it was Samsen’s design that was chosen to be brought to life in full-size clay. According to Samsen, “I was happy when I was chosen to direct the clay modeling of my design. I’m sure Ritchie was disappointed that he did not get to direct the clay work, but he was given credit for the initial design.”
Samsen’s final design featured reverse-slant C-pillars and an enormous glass backlite that gave the design its fastback silhouette. Samsen’s concept was scaled to be built on Chrysler’s 106-in wheelbase, A-body platform, which was launched in 1960 for cars such as the Plymouth Valiant. As a way of saving money on expensive tooling for a new model, Samsen’s new design not only incorporated the Valiant’s A-body platform, but also the Valiant’s hood, headlamp bezels, windshield, quarter panels and bumpers. Unique to the new design was the expansive rear backlite, made by Pittsburg Plate Glass Co., that encompassed 14.4-sq.ft. of glass—the largest rear window of any production automobile up to that point in time. Mechanicals for the new model were also all Valiant-sourced including the 170-cu.in. or 225-cu.in. Slant-6 Chrysler engine options, as well as independent front suspension via unequal length wishbones suspended by torsion bars and leaf sprung live axle. However, unlike the Valiant, this new “sporty” model would also be offered with Chrysler’s new 273-cu.in. V8 that, with 2–barrel carburetor, produced 180-hp compared to the 170-cu.in. Slant-6’s rather anemic 101-hp. With the new, sportier Valiant derivative’s spring 1964 debut date quickly approaching, Chrysler executives decided to name the new model the Plymouth Panda. However, Samsen and his fellow designers positively hated the name—knowing full well that it lacked the sex appeal necessary to sell to its intended young audience—so after canvassing the design staff for ideas, one of Samsen’s suggestions was ultimately chosen—the new car would be dubbed the Plymouth Barracuda, after the be-toothed fighting fish.
Lame Pony
The new Plymouth Barracuda made its debut on April 1, 1964, making it retrospectively, the first “Pony Car” of the 1960s. With a list price of just $2,500, it was also the market leader…for all of two weeks, until on April 17, when Ford released its new model, the Mustang. While the new Barracuda hit the mark on the economy side of the equation, it couldn’t compete with the new Mustang in terms of performance and sex appeal. The new Mustang with fresh styling and better performance numbers captivated the young American market like nothing else before it, resulting in Ford selling almost 1.5 million examples in the first two years of production. While the Barracuda sold well for Chrysler—relative to its existing product line—if it was going to compete in the new Pony Car wars, which saw the addition of the Chevrolet Camaro in 1966, it was going to have to find a new look and a lot more muscle.
One of the difficulties in buying an original Hemi-powered Dodge or Plymouth is in authenticating that it is, in fact, an original, factory car. Due to the relative ease with which one can install a Hemi V8, into a non-Hemi chassis, it is vitally important to be able to confirm that a given chassis is a factory Hemi. The ideal way to do this is via what Chrysler terms a “Broadcast Sheet.” The Broadcast Sheet is essentially the original build sheet for any given Chrysler product that specifies all the specifications and options that a given chassis left the factory with. In the case of the factory Hemi-powered cars, the existence of a factory Broadcast Sheet can add enormous value to the car, by substantiating its provenance.
While usually placed somewhere in the vehicle upon completion, this vital document is often missing on many vehicles after many years and many ownership changes. In the case of this month’s Profile car, the current owner had all of the original paperwork for the vehicle, including window sticker and bill of sale, but knew nothing of the Broadcast Sheet. However, after the Russo & Steele auction team encouraged him to pull the rear seats out of the car to search for it, the owner discovered that there, tucked into the backing of the seats, was the ’Cuda’s original factory Broadcast Sheet, as well as a handful of 1970s pennies and several small children’s toys from the same era!
Automotive archaeology at its best.
As early as 1965, designers at Chrysler were already sketching away at new variations on the Barracuda concept. One such designer was John E. Herlitz. Herlitz began submitting sketches of his cars to Chrysler’s design department at the tender age of 13! With suggestions and encouragement from the Chrysler staff, Herlitz went to school and received his industrial design degree and immediately went to work for Chrysler, where he was placed in the Plymouth Studio. One of Herlitz’s first tasks at Chrysler was to design a concept/show car for the Barracuda program. His design came to be known as the Barracuda SX and was popular enough with styling management that when it was decided that the Barracuda needed a new look for the 1967 model year, Herlitz’s SX concept was chosen as the basis. In 1966, as Herlitz and the design team were about to translate his sketches into full-size clay, Herlitz was drafted into the National Guard, resulting in John Samsen having to step in to guide the ultimate translation of the new, second generation Barracuda design.
Fresh Fish
The second generation Barracuda (1967-1969) was still based around Chrysler’s A-body platform, but unlike the first iteration, it was stretched to a 108-in wheelbase and all the external sheet metal was now new and unique to the Barracuda. The newly styled car also now came in notchback, fastback and convertible forms and enjoyed a much-expanded range of options and engines to choose from. While the base, entry model still came with the venerable Valiant-based 225-cu.in Slant 6, a much wider variety of V8 options were now available including 2-barrel and 4-barrel 273-cu.in engines, as well as a 383-cu.in. “Big Block”. With demand for “Muscle Car” performance hotly on the rise in the “Pony Car” segment, 1968 saw the further enhancement of the Barracuda engine options with both 318-cu.in and 340-cu.in 4-barrel packages, as well as a “Super Commando” option that wrestled 300-hp out of the 383-cu.in. V8.
But perhaps the most significant development in the Barracuda story came in 1968 when Chrysler elected to build 50, special fastback Barracudas for Super Stock drag racing that came equipped with Chrysler’s game changing 426-cu.in. Hemi engine. Built by Hurst Performance, these high performance weapons included fiberglass fenders, fiberglass hood with air scoop, lightened glass, no sound deadening and no back seats. While these special drag racers were never sold for the street, their lightweight and high horsepower planted the seed in the public’s mind that a Barracuda with a Hemi engine, might be the ultimate road going muscle car.
By 1969, Plymouth was pushing the performance side of the Barracuda program much more, with an even more expanded list of high performance options. These new hi-po versions of the Barracuda came to be known as the ’Cuda package and were available with the 340-cu.in., 383-cu.in., and new 440-cu.in. “Super Commando” V8 engine.
E-Ticket Ride
While the mid to late ’60s saw the Pony Car war transform into a Muscle Car war—with ever bigger and more potent engines being shoehorned into the Big Three’s “Economy Cars”—this same time period also saw the introduction of ever more stringent government control on automotive safety and smog emissions. While both Ford and Chevy had begun to slowly ebb away from the battle for horsepower supremacy, Chrysler was determined to ride that gravy train until it came slamming into the station. As a result, for 1970, Chrysler elected to completely cast off the Barracuda’s “Economy” roots, with a complete redesign of the Barracuda that fully embraced the Muscle Car ethic.
Back from his tour with the National Guard, designer John E. Herlitz was given the task of creating a new, more aggressive version of the Barracuda. Herlitz’s new design was built on a new E-Body platform, which was essentially a shortened (108-in) and widened Chrysler B-body platform, previously used in such vehicles as the Plymouth Fury and the Dodge Charger.
The new Barracuda came in three versions, the base Barracuda (BH), the more luxurious Gran Coupe (BP) and the sport model ’Cuda (BS), with these packages being offered in coupe and convertible form. No less than eight different engine options were available starting with the lowly and unloved 198-cu.in and 225-cu.in Slant-6 and moving on to 318-cu.in., 340-cu.in., 360-cu.in. and 383-cu.in. V8s. But with the increased size and room afforded by the E-body and its larger engine bay, the Barracuda could now also accommodate the mighty 426-cu.in. Hemi and the 440-cu.in. “Super Commando” V8s, more easily. With 425-hp on tap, the 426-cu.in Hemi sat unabashedly at the top of the Barracuda food chain as the biggest, baddest, fastest, most thirsty (6-mpg!) Plymouth Pony Car of all time. The little economy car fish had evolved into the muscle car equivalent of the Kraken.
While the Hemi ’Cuda package was the ultimate incantation of the Barracuda, it came at a stiff price. The Hemi engine option added $900 on to the price tag of a Barracuda (nearly a 30% premium) making its $5,000 sticker price almost prohibitively pricey for an American car in 1970. As a result only 652 Hemi ’Cuda coupes were built in 1970.
While the Hemi ’Cuda was certainly the shining star of the Plymouth line, sadly, the candle that burns twice as bright, burns twice as fast. Oil prices were soaring, the push to limit smog emissions were increasing and insurance companies were adding massive surcharges onto “dangerous,” high performance vehicles. As a result, the high performance ’Cudas (Hemi and Super Commando) would only be offered in 1970 and 1971. In 1970, Chrysler built only 423 Hemi coupes and 14 Hemi convertibles, while in 1971 those numbers dropped to 108 coupes and 7 convertibles. In the following years, smaller more anemic versions were offered until Chrysler finally gave up on the Barracuda, discontinuing the model on April 1, 1974. Born of the “economy car” movement, the mighty Barracuda ultimately was killed by the very same movement, exactly 10 years to the day after it was launched.
Out of the Barn and Back on the Road
The term “Barn Find” is often overused in the collector car world, but in the case of the Barracuda you see on these pages, it is remarkably appropriate. In July of 1970, this Hemi-powered ’Cuda left the Chrysler Hamtramck Assembly Plant and was delivered to Sacramento, California’s Fair Chrysler Plymouth Dealership. The ’Cuda came equipped with the “R” code, 426-cu.in. Hemi engine option (an additional $871.45!) as well as 4-speed transmission with “Pistol Grip” shifter—a rare factory package as only 284 examples were ever ordered with that combination. Other options included power-assisted front disc brakes, Shaker hood, bucket seats, Rallye instrument cluster, vinyl-covered top and black sport stripes. The ’Cuda was initially sold in September, but within a couple of days was repossessed from its hapless owner! The car was subsequently sold on November 20, 1970, to its first, registered owner, a farmer from Willows, California.
The farmer loved his ’Cuda and, as one might expect, loved street racing it. However, he found it tough to find anyone that would race against his red Hemi—nothing could touch it. As a result, the farmer had the Hemi stripes taken off the car and even went so far as to deceptively install a 383 insignia on the hood, as a way of luring in unsuspecting victims! Over the next 15 years, the farmer lovingly took care of his ’Cuda until 1989, when problems with his wrist made it hard for him to use the ’Cuda’s Pistol Grip shifter, so he put the car away in his barn with just over 49,100 miles on the clock. And there it sat, until he sold it to the current owner in 2009. Since that time, the ’Cuda has been cleaned, polished and serviced, but has only seen an additional 150 miles added to the odometer.
Walking around this Rally Red ’Cuda the first thing that impresses is its magnificent patina. The paint, the trim, the vinyl top is all original and in remarkable shape for a 43-year-old car. One of the facets of this car that I really like is the fact that it is so factory original and not “tarted up” with larger wheels/tires, wings, and other accessories that seem to have made their way onto so many E-Body Barracudas. There’s a kind of purity of line and authenticity to this car that you don’t often see on Muscle Cars from this era.
Open the door and slide into the high-back, vinyl bucket seat and you literally slip back into 1970. Black vinyl dashboard, simulated woodgrain dash, long black steering column with thin wood and plastic steering wheel—all the hallmarks of the dark days of ’70s American car manufacturing are here! But what truly amazes is that, as poorly made as these components notoriously were, they are all preserved on this vehicle, like they were locked away in a museum. Not new, not shiny, but preserved. It’s such a genuine ’70s flashback, I’d swear I could hear Flip Wilson and Mary Tyler Moore talking in the back seat.
But give the steering column-mounted key a twist and the real purpose for this car’s existence comes to life—that Hemi engine. With a lumpy, bass note like a gorilla slamming around inside an Airstream trailer, the Hemi booms to life leaving the Shaker scoop on the hood to start its rhythmic dance. No amount of cheap plastic or vinyl can taint the automotive magic living under that hood. Grabbing the wood-handled “Pistol Grip” shift knob, I dip the clutch, select first by driving the shifter forward with literally my entire arm, squeeze just a few ponies out of their cage and let the clutch pedal rise from the floor. The ’Cuda is off…like a shot.
Driving down the road the ’Cuda feels firm and solid. While the steering is both heavy and somewhat vague, once the car takes a set into a turn, it remains solid and feels locked in. While the steering is unassisted, and therefore heavy at low speeds, the brakes are power boosted which give them a positive, firm grab, without the need for the driver to push himself out the back of the bucket seat to slow the ’Cuda down. Of course, when discussing the handling properties of the Barracuda it’s important to reaffirm in one’s mind what the car is and what it isn’t. The Barracuda is a Muscle Car, not a sports car. While it certainly turns and stops without problem, cornering was never its prime directive. The prime directive was to get from Point A to Point B in a staggeringly short period of time and to do that with a certain amount of “Hey world, check me out” flair. In these two departments the Hemi ’Cuda is right on target. Choose any gear, bury your right foot and the ’Cuda launches forward with an incredibly satisfying roar. Grab that Pistol Grip and snap it back from say third to fourth and re-bury your foot and you’ll see what good old fashioned horsepower can do…and why the 1971 movie classic “Vanishing Point” was made.
The Hemi ’Cuda occupies a very unique place in the world of both Pony and Muscle cars. Built for only two years it was a reasonably affordable beast, made during a time when beasts were becoming extinct on American highways. The Barracuda started life as the first Pony Car and ended it as the last Muscle Car. For all intents and purposes, it ranks as the last giant of its time.
The example featured on these pages will be auctioned at Russo & Steele’s Scottsdale auction January 16–20, 2013.
SPECIFICATIONS
Bodyshell: Steel unibody
Front Suspension: Unequal length wishbones with torsion bar.
Rear Suspension: Live axle with elliptical leaf springs
Wheelbase: 108 inches
Front Track: 57.5 inches
Rear Track: 61.3 inches
Length: 186.6 inches
Width: 74.9 inches
Height : 50.9 inches
Weight: 3,620 pounds
Engine: Hemi V8
Displacement: 426-cu.in. (6.9-L)
Bore/Stroke: 4.25-in x 3.75-in
Carburetion: Dual 4-barrel Carburetors
Compression: 10.25:1
Power: 425-hp @ 5000 rpm
Torque: 490-lbs/ft
Transmission: 4-speed
Rear End: 9.75-in Dana 60
