With all the buzz the more muscular versions of Chrysler’s E-Body cars receive nowadays, it’s easy to lose sight of how versatile they were as everyday drivers, at least for those not as inclined to push performance to the limit. That’s how this 1970 Plymouth Barracuda here on eBay started, as it was originally equipped with a 318, a tried-and-true small block that offers decent acceleration but wasn’t one of the real heavy hitters. However, things changed for this one, as it went from being a commuter to making appearances on the drag strip. A restoration is now needed, so head over to Morganville, New Jersey, to see this cool Mopar up close and personal. This one’s priced at $25,000 or best offer, so there may be some flexibility in the cost here.
The transition from street to strip must have taken place fairly early in the car’s life, as the seller tells us this Barracuda has been stored inside since the seventies. Fortunately, nothing was cut up or extensively modified, and I’m thinking the car’s past shouldn’t interfere with restoring it into whatever the buyer has in mind. Currently in the bay is a 383 engine and a 727 TorqueFlite automatic transmission from a 1968 Charger, which the seller claims was driven before it was removed and installed. No timeframe is provided for when this occurred, and there’s no word on whether it would operate now if a carb and other missing components were installed.
There are a few rough areas outside, but overall, the body seems quite a bit firmer than many E-Body projects that turn up in the marketplace. The hood is obviously not original, and the driver’s quarter is also mentioned as having been replaced. I kept staring at the lower section of the quarter panel on the other side, wondering at first if this was rust, but my guess is that this is rubber from tire burnouts at the race track. Both fenders will require some patches, but the floors and trunk are listed as extremely solid.
Many of the interior items will need repair or some sort of attention, but it’s nice to see those vents in the dash, so maybe this one will reemerge with functional air conditioning inside. Cloning this one into a Cuda or a Restomod is certainly a possibility, and I’m curious to find out how our readers would choose to move forward with this 1970 Plymouth Barracuda. How would you proceed here?
For $25,000 you get a non-running, rusty 1970 Barracuda roller that needs everything, which has a 383/727 pulled from a 1968 Charger sitting in the engine compartment. That seems like quite the bargain.
Steve R
Hmmmm … $ 25k for old, non running roller that probally needs alot of work for a $3,000 common car when new seems like a hell of alot. Or I guess I am cheap & old…..LOL
You’re not cheap…you have good sense. 25k for this Barely-a-Cuda is Looney Tunes.
Once again, throw it back!
Looks pertly well striped Looking under the firewall no wiring harness no heater box no tail lights . And looks like too much work for 25k a lot of unforeseens
Do you have any idea how much it’s gonna cost to restore this? The starting point should be around five thousand.
How would I proceed? I would proceed with absolutely not giving this seller 25K for this junkyard dog.
Maybe half the money there asking for and thats a big maybe. There are a lot of better running deals out there than this one.
Yeah I agree. $25k for this is way too much. The more you dig, the more you’ll find missing parts which will nickle and dime you. $15k if you drool for Barracudas but otherwise $10k would be reasonable. If it were more intact then maybe high teens or $20k but not $25k imo.
When new this was a nice cruiser with the bench seat/armrest and column shift. On the plus side it looks to be mostly surface rust as the floors and trunk don’t have any obvious rot holes but dunno about the subframes especially the front as I’m guessing this car was left out in the rain. Interesting the MSD CARB sticker under the hood. Wonder if this was a California car at one point?
I’ll pass on this heap