UPDATE 2/17/12 – The auction did not meet reserve at $9,600 with 20 bids.
This 1974 Plymouth Barracuda may appear to just be one of the countless unfinished project cars out there, but it is actually the original tooling proof used by Plymouth to produce the Cuda. It is a miracle that the tags have not been swapped out and the body fitted in place of a rusty donor. That’s not saying that there haven’t been a few build attempts, but the car remains unscathed. Find it here on eBay with bidding at $7,600 reserve not met.
If you look closely you can make out the grid and markings used during production. Usually these bodies were destroyed after their purpose was fulfilled, but somehow this one escaped the factory. It was shipped to Dick Landy to be used as a drag racer. Dick sent it off to be acid dipped, but in the meantime found the Dart he was looking for. The Cuda was forgotten and ended up sitting in the corner of Val Chem’s shop.
A year later a Chrysler employee was looking for a donor to build his dream Cuda. He ended up finding this body and started piecing it together. Family events and health problems halted his plans and he ended up selling the car to a friend who parked it. There is sat until just last year when the next owner decided that the car deserved to be returned to how it left the factory. He actually stripped off many of the parts that had been added.
This Cuda should be no stranger to Mopar fans. It went to auction through Mecum where it did not meet reserve at $20,000 and it was also recently featured in Mopar Muscle magazine. It will be interesting to see what eventually becomes of this special car. The current seller believes that it is a piece of muscle car history and should go into a museum, but we can help but wonder if the third build attempt may be a charm.
Never seen it before,incredible. It should be in Chryslers historical collection.
this is a museum piece
It’s nothing short of amazing how many of Chrysler’s show cars and Pilot Vehicles have survived their slated demise .The rarest of the 1974 E-Bodies (Barracuda and Challenger) has to be the 360-powered “JH23” Challenger and “BH23” Barracuda models . Not many ’74’s were built period ; the majority of 360-powered models were the ‘Cuda and Challenger Rallye . The non-performance models’ status can be ascertained by looking at their v.i.n.’s (“JS”=Rallye , “BS”=’Cuda) and by their flat hoods.
I have one of the “BH23” models and was searching for a donor body when this fine example showed up. I was in the process of re-building my Cuda and found the body to be worse off than I thought (never driven in winter). I bought my car back in 1978 and it started out as yellow with a black vinyl roof.
I would like to offer my garage for storage until needed again. However, when you come back it may have turned blue. Those who know me will understand this statement…
O.K this is all feel good stuff but, let us get down to reality………….. no title, no Vin.What does one do with it? Yes, it should be in a museum………
@Mikey … All that’s needed is an MSO ( a/k/a “Manufacture’s Certificate of Origin” ) ,which is the same document which factory Super Stock race packaged cars received ( 1968 Hurst-Hemi Dart & Barracuda , 1969 Hurst-AMX , et al. ).
manufactures statement of origin
This car should be in the possesion of the guys from Graveyard Cars
Actually, Eddie, it’s “Manufacturer’s Statement of Origin”…and as for Graveyard Cars, what a complete tool that guy is. Mark is a complete embarrassment to the entire Mopar hobby.
I’m very surprised that Galen Govier’s associates haven’t snatched this up for a museum. No vin no title. Ship it to a museum.
One of none makes this car priceless. I want to share a video of a 1 of 1 Plymouth wagon.The video is quite old, but worth the watch. Every time I watch it, it makes me drool. One of One in a Plymouth Wagon is really the quintessential oxymoron. Notice that this car has, I mean, EVERY dang option available, except P/W (?) Back in the day when you could order a car EXACTLY as you wanted; unlike cable or satellite.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5_jNHxWcSw