The Formula S option was an upgraded handling package on the 1965-69 Plymouth Barracuda. It included heavier torsion bars, an anti-roll bar up front, and added leaves in the rear semi-elliptical springs with heavy-duty shocks. It also had beefier drivetrains and could be considered the precursor to the ‘Cuda models of the 1970s. This 1967 Formula S has been completely dissembled, though some of the photos show it mostly together. In a garage in Troy, Michigan, this cool project is available here on eBay where $6,700 will have to be topped to take it home.
Based on the compact Valiant, the Barracuda debuted the same month as the Falcon-based Ford Mustang, April 1964. But the “Flying Fish” never saw the sales success of its closest competitor. The Barracuda topped out at 65,000 units in 1965, while the Mustang hit 607,000 copies in 1966. The A-bodied Chrysler compacts were redesigned in 1967, so the Barracuda benefitted from those changes. The Formula S with a 383 cubic inch “Commando” V8 would sell fewer than 1,800 cars in 1967, which is how the seller’s fastback was equipped.
The VIN on this car agrees with the seller’s assessment, an “H-code” with the big-block motor. This is a project for which the seller has too many, so it must move on to someone else to finish the job. The engine is numbers matching and has been rebuilt but never run. The Plymouth has been taken apart and is ready for a media blast. There is no mention of rust and what we see here looks to be solid.
An assortment of spare parts will come with the Barracuda, including an extra hood, grille, and wheels. This Plymouth has bucket seats and a console for the automatic transmission shifter. The car had 71,000 miles on it before becoming a restoration candidate. In the resale market, the Formula S seems to be overshadowed by the third generation ‘Cudas, especially the 1970-71 models built before the detuning process began. Still, Hagerty says one of these can be worth north of $40,000 in the right condition.
One of my good friends bought a brand new one like this, though had more common sense than to put a 383 in it. His was a great 225/3sp. It was blue with a white interior. I felt, though, it was a beautiful car, but it really wasn’t practical for him as he had a wife and two small children. He had a perfectly good 1963 Plymouth Fury four door already. He smiled and said he was going to keep that one also. I gasped. Two cars in one family! What was he, a Rockefeller? I had never known any family to own more then a single car. It was not like his wife needed one as she was a homemaker after all. His comment, “I’m not getting any younger, got to enjoy life when you can.” (He was 31 at the time) The sad fact was, he was right. Several years later he was gone. I am glad he got to have his “sporty car” as he called it. A good lesson in life, never deprive yourself by putting some simple pleasures off for another time, life is short.
Had a 67 formula S with a 273 semi hemi and 4 speed. Red with white bucket seats and red carpeting. Sold it when I joined the Navy not knowing that my first duty station would be shore duty 4 hours from home. Also sold a 63 Wagoneer 2 door that I pulled from a barn. Love to gave either of them again.
Had a ’69 340/4-speed fastback that I got new while in college. It was great fun, handled and accelerated decently (ran low 14s and mid ’90s in the 14, on the stock street tires at L.A.’s old Irwindale track the one time I ‘ran’ it). But, it was the biggest P.O.S. for quality that I have ever owned…the fold-down back seat broke the first time I used it. leaving the seatback at a 45-dgree forward angle for the 3-plus weeks it took the dealer to get repair parts from Chrysler. it started getting rust bubbles around the rear window –in Orange County, California before it was a year old. The front seat (bench, with folding armrest) had to be partially reupholstered, on warranty, at about 9 months (and I’m wasn’t a heavyweight, about 140 pounds at the time) because the vinyl was splitting apart along the seams on the driver side. The heads were rebuilt at about 10,000 miles and 1 1/2 years because the 340 was burning oil and smoking from defective valve guides. The clutch linkage broke (bent due to a missing retainer somewhere under the dash) and I drove it home in second and ran red lights (it was late at night, on the way home from a girlfriend’s parents’ house. It sat at the dealer service dept. for several weeks, again waiting for parts. I dumped the car when it was nearing end of warranty. It was a lot of fun and looked good, but was, by far, the biggest piece of junk I have ever had — which is over 50 cars and a couple pickups, including 3 Corvettes (’76, ’99 Hardtop, 2000 coupe, several Mustangs (from ’64 1/2-69, and Fox bodies including 3 ’86 SVOs, a supercharged ’90 LX and co-owned a road-race ex-cop car) 3 BMWs (including a gray-market E21 323i Alpina C1), and a ’99 Firebird Formula WS6/6-speed car. None of ’em began to near the abject lack of build and parts quality of that ‘Cuda. I still have ‘warm-fuzzies’ for it but I will never consider owning another MOPAR!
My good buddy has two of these. One is his wife’s where he put a 440 in it. Claims its too heavy that way and the frame needs re-enforcement. His current build is going to have a Hellcat motor in it. He put all kinds of re-enforcement into it.