True or False: The Ford Mustang was the first so-called “pony car” to enter the market. And False is the answer. The Plymouth Barracuda beat the Mustang to the game, which debuted at the 1964 New York World’s Fair, by 17 days in April of that year. A redesign came in 1967, and a convertible model was offered for the first time. The seller’s vehicle is one of them, and it was just pulled from a barn after 41 years of hibernation. Located in Fogelsville, Pennsylvania, this solid restoration project is available here on Facebook Marketplace for $11,500. When it comes to tips, Zappenduster strikes again!
Just as the Mustang had its roots in the Falcon compact, the Barracuda shared its foundation with the Valiant. For the 1964-66 first generation, the car was only offered in one body style, a fastback, which had a huge wraparound rear window. The car sold in much smaller numbers than the Mustang, perhaps at first due to a lot less hype. While Ford sold 1.2 million Mustangs in 1964-66, Plymouth only delivered 126,000 Barracudas. Once the Chevrolet Camaro arrived in 1967, the Barracuda would always remain in the background.
As the story goes, the seller pulled this Barracuda from a barn where it had been since 1985. We don’t know why the car was parked after 18 years and 93,000 miles. Everything about the machine seems original, from the blue paint, white top, and matching interior. Because its domicile was dry, the vehicle has survived without major disruption to its framework. The car is said to be complete, so chasing rare parts (some of which were shared with the Valiant) might not be as difficult as many projects like this can be.
The automobile’s 273 cubic inch V8 is not locked up, and its TorqueFlite transmission may or may not function. All the seller has done is clean up the car and vacuum out the interior to gauge the degree of effort that may be required to restore the little Mopar. Only 4,228 of these ragtops were produced in 1967, the convertible’s best year until it was discontinued in 1971. We’re told (and a photo backs it up) that the canvas top still goes up and down. We hope that the buyer will choose to revive the car without mods, such as dropping in a larger engine.
If i as 20 id do a full restoration/ but time is not on my side…
Me too….just pulled my 1969 Cuda convert -production about 1446 – from a 30 year rent house storage and actually found out I had bought it in 1987. Selling it along with a 1969 Cuda coupe pretty soon.
This is nice one but not a $12,000 nice one…..flipper is hoping on a big pay day….there are waaay to many restored drivers under $20,000 around my area at the moment. There was a nice 1969 340 convert listed on here maybe a year ago ?
Definitely a diamond in the rough if I had to proper funds and room and space I would most definitely do a frame off restoration and overhaul and rebuild and restore that power plant. What it’s complete I would add it to my antique, Classic and Vintage Automobile Collection Museum
Definitely a diamond in the rough if I had to proper funds and room and space I would most definitely do a frame off restoration and overhaul and rebuild and restore that power plant. What it’s complete I would add it to my antique, Classic and Vintage Automobile Collection.
But I would take the time and have it done right correctly.
There was an option of a 275 horse 273 in 1966 darts ,,,,pretty quick little cars !!!!
That would be the D-Dart which was raced in D-production class….look up the results from 1966 races….you’d be surprised….
I had one of these. Nice car. Bought it in 1970 in Virginia and drove it west only to trade it on a 69 Mustang Mach 1. It was the 2 barrel V8 with the automatic so not a muscle car, but still it ran with the best. Green with black interior and a white top. I might well be interested in this car for nostalgia reasons. It can sit with my Mustangs.
The Barracuda may have beat thw Mustang to the segment. But the “pony car” name of the segment came from the Mustang.
This looks like a great project car providing the tin worm has not had it’s way with it. Remember, it’s from the rust belt. You don’t have to install a larger engine to get some serious horsepower from a 318. A hot camshaft, better heads, serious intake manifold and headers will get you over a 50% improvement and still return reliable service.
Love this year but there is a LOT of bondo on the passenger side and the driver side is heavily creased not running and trans iffy? $11,500 is wishful I believe I might be interested if it was 4-5 grand less
The new generation most dont have any interest hopefully someone will bring it back to life. My 68 fast back was a great car factory disc brakes and a/c also power steering factory am/fm door pockets blue with black interior
Would love to buy it! Always liked the ’67-’68 convertibles. Thank God it is on the other side of the country!
This is a great project car. No, it doesn’t need a bigger motor. Great color combo. I can never understand why if you are going to save / store a car in a barn because you don’t want to part with it, can’t you at least cover the damn thing?
as it sits not running 7k. get it running maybe more. these are a niche market car. looks good except that 1/4 panel. smart of the owner to fully clean it.
I had one of these, but mine was red. The clutch pedal was like working out on a Nautilus machine.
I give them credit for actually washing it off and cleaning it up after taking it out. ’67-’69 are my favorite years for these. I’m not a convertible guy at all but it looks like a nice clean solid base to start from if you are.
Looks like it needs new quarters. Buyer needs to look at floor boards too for rust.
Any idea how many of 67 barracuda convertibles are still around, can’t be many since ther was only 4228 that’s not many. Great little cars i reckon, needs to be saved.