Here’s a Barracuda with a rather unusual vision all the way around, and frankly I’m a bit torn on whether I’m kind of on board with what’s been started here or if it’s making me want to cringe. There’s a lot to take in and things are sort of hard to follow, but we’ll try to break down what the next owner is in for should he be up for the mission and choose to accept it. This 1970 Plymouth Barracuda is located in Norwood, Minnesota, and can be found here on eBay. The bidding has reached $16,600 thus far, but the reserve has yet to be seen.
The car actually began life as a 1970 Plymouth Barracuda Gran Coupe, the more luxurious offering of Plymouth’s E-Bodies that year, and it was originally sold in Alexandria, Virginia when new. Then in 1982, the car traveled West to Los Angeles, where it resided until the seller acquired it 3 years ago. It’s said to have been mostly an original and solid car at that time, but one of his ideas was transforming the Gran Coupe’s body to an AAR ‘Cuda clone and it’s overall convincing, along with a patina that you wouldn’t have to worry about getting another scratch on every time you get behind the wheel.
A bigger changeover involved another car the owner purchased, a running 2016 Dodge Charger with the police package, and that 5.7 Hemi is now under the hood of the Barracuda. There’s also a transmission from an SRT Challenger with a custom driveshaft, but the story here goes that the shop doing all the swap-out work didn’t get things completed in what the owner felt was a reasonable time frame, so he reclaimed the car and it’s been in storage for the last 5 months with more still left to be done. The good news is that the engine, transmission, and electrical work have been done, but some other details such as interior reassembly have yet to be finished.
The seller says this is the most solid original car from this vintage he has ever owned and claims that overall the floors are good, but that they do have some rust in the front, which he thinks is minor enough that they’re still serviceable. The trunk is said to be perfect, with the battery having been relocated to this area, plus numerous additional parts are also said to come with the car. To finish the project, the seller estimates that around 10 hours will be needed, which sounds optimistic and my estimate is more. How about yours?
Respectfully, this listing is a case study in run-on sentences.
I guess you are here for the literary experience, but even so, it isn’t necessary or even helpful to criticize writing that is accurate, understandable and doesn’t confuse the reader in any way, unless you are teaching a class and giving a grade, which is probably not happenin’ here, in my opinion.
Why bother with the AAR conversion? A Gran Coupe with a modern Hemi is at least as interesting.
Watch this starting at 55 seconds! …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlwfEWKokRI
Ok..this is interesting.. I like the AAR idea but the dash board with the gauges are missing from the pictures. I seen these conversions before cannot use the stock gauges they need to use the gauges out of the charger since it’s all electronic setup that goes with the motor and transmission. I believe Dakota gauges have a setup for this vehicle. The next owner and I’m being light on this is going to need another 15 or $20,000 to complete the job the right way. ( Brake system suspension system)After all that work. I would repaint the Hemi orange and get new decals. The Cuda would look and drive fantastic. Good luck to the next owner..🇺🇸🐻🇺🇸
Interesting that the rust on the underside is very orange, indicating “flash rust” (thin layer of new rust due to stripping paint and not priming). Maybe not as bad as it first looks.
Man, I wish I was 20 years younger. This would be just the kind of project I liked! I will be a fun ride for someone.
10 hours to complete? it will take 10 hours to figure out what is missing and what needs to be redone.
I agree with Brett, Looking at the items touching the ground I’d be concerned something essential either is missing or not connected. It will take some one who knows this type of car to figure out what’s what. Seller should take the $16K bid and run.
10 hours LOL
I always thought them plain top aftermarket shinny radiators look bad at least they could paint it black