No rust? Seriously? I’m so used to seeing completely rusted out shells on Mopar E-bodies that this 1974 Plymouth Barracuda really knocked me for a loop. It’s listed for sale here on eBay and bidding is only up to $13,600 as I write this and there is no reserve left. Seriously, is this for real? It’s located in Litchfield Park, Arizona, which may well explain the lack of rust.
The seller tells us that the hood will close but not latch; I’m surprised that since this was purchased as a project car and is obviously in a shop of some sort that this detail wasn’t sorted before the car was put up for sale. The owner has chosen to concentrate on a 1968 Charger project they have and is therefore putting the Barracuda up for sale.
Can anyone tell what the decal is within the stripe? I looked to see if I could find any special edition 1974 Barracuda versions and came up empty, but perhaps there’s a more knowledgeable Barn Finds reader out there that can tell us if this is anything special? Presumably this picture was posted by the seller to show the scrapes on the fender that are mentioned in the ad. Could this even be original paint and decals?
It’s a shame that the original upholstery is damaged on the driver’s seat, but if the vinyl around the outsides is intact perhaps a good upholstery shop can let in some original material or something close.
Under the hood we find a 360 cubic inch V8 (don’t know if it’s the original one or not) that runs attached to an automatic transmission that we’re told leaks. However, the car originally had air conditioning and is still equipped with power steering and power brakes. I realize this isn’t the most desirable set of options, but I’ll take a rust-free (or almost, I realize that is usually a misnomer) relatively plain car over a rust bucket highly optioned one for my own use any day. How about you?
It looks to be a Jesus sticker.
The very last year, wow. Yes, that 360 could be original. It replaced the 340 during 1973.
I’m sorry but it didn’t replace the 340 as the 340 was still an option in 73
Decal within the stripe is “Jesus”. Anti Hellcat-Demon.
Ahh, excuse me, but what is wrong with air conditioning and power steering? Or is it the 360 that laments you?
I fondly remember seeing a brand new Challenger on a lot in 1975 that had a 318 4 speed. It was well priced being an older model, and by that time, they had fallen out of fashion. I really wanted to buy that car but being still a minor, my Dad thought I should save my cash for other things and would not allow me to buy it. . ( Heck, I had a job, I was responsible, and now I wanted what I wanted.) Wonder if I would still have that car today? What I great car, I can still see it, blue, no vinyl roof, white interior, nice wheel covers, and white wall tires. Can’t even remember if it had a radio, most likely just the AM in those days, though Chrysler made some sweet AM FM models in those days, my 1970 had one, I bet I could have swapped it!
Just for the record, I had a friend w a ’68 Camaro. The trunk floor was so rusted, the rear suspension popped right through the floor and into the trunk while he was on the highway. We remember thinking “man, these Chevy’s rust bad”. No brand was safe.
My brother bought a 72 (I think) ‘Cuda with a 318 and three speed on the floor. Bought it at a Mopar dealer at night and didn’t notice a couple of things. First, the car had apparently been parked under trees for a long time and the drains were plugged, and there was a postcard-sized hole rusted through the firewall. Just as bad, the dealer had put a brand new floor mat in the trunk to hide the fact that the floor was hugely missing due to rust. They refused to take the car back or do anything though it clearly was a con job to put a new trunk mat over a floor that was nearly missing. Eventually he returned the favor and traded the car back in one night, and apparently they didn’t take a good enough look at it either before they got it back.
In the partial serial number provided is a G which means 318 2bbl. Under the hood it looks like the passenger apron has been hit with a primer and glaze putty to hide the all the rework. Actually it appears there is alot dull oxide primer spots under the hood. Probably why hood is tweaked. I mean these look like very strategically taken pictures. Door jambs have been painted up the pillar. Could have easily washed the dust off and hit it with a sham-wow. Could have also put it on the hoist the other barracuda is parked on and took some bottom side pics to back up the no rust. I’m thinking that paint finish is the tremclad in the gallon size shot with a wagner electric spray gun. It just looks thick without any depth. Rims look great, don’t even have any trim ring scratches or bleeding rust bubbles. Seller has worded this ad carefully with lots of buzzwords. Probably lotta putty in the rockers, maybe the quarters too. There is something off about this car. Funny how none of the interior has yellowed. Dunno.
AGREED Something’s off with this one
For the record, ” I want to believe”. But the reality is there is always some unscrupulous seller making fantastic claims of a car that is on a lot of peoples bucket list. There is a hoist not ten feet away from the car, ( oddly car on hoist is visually the same down to the stripe just black interior and the wear on it looks honest ) so why not take some pics? Wipe it down? Look if this car was anything being in Arizona, it would have been shined up and off to Barret Jackson. Buyer beware
Not bad for a chicks car
I would inspect this up close, that it is isn’t a polished rust bucket.
What’s up with the front bumper? Looks like somebody attacked it with a ball peen hammer. Still looks like a pretty nice car from what can be seen
A real 360 would have the exhausts exiting through the rear valance, and would have “360-4barrel” call outs on the hood scoops. In addition, the rear name tag would say ‘cuda by Plymouth. It is also missing the front bumper impact guards as well. IIRC, the ‘cuda would have had the Rallye dash option as well, w/ the tach and full gauges. Personal inspection would definitely be the way to go on this one, otherwise a nice looking car. :-)
CORRECTION: The hood call outs would say “cuda360″…my mind is not what it used to be!!LOL!! :-)
Power “breaks”. Indicates how much they care about their ad, indeed the whole process and the car itself, making me even more suspicious that they’re full of you-know-what.
Looks like it has a floor counsel too!
WATCH OUT! This Cuda appears to have been hit on the Passenger side near the front fender & bumper. Noticeable bodywork in the engine compartment explains the reason the hood can’t latch or the missing AC line. It’s time to pull the nose over to where it’s supposed to be then the hood will close!
As pointed out this started life as a 318.
Body looks shady
The decal on the stripe has no Mopar signifcance.
As previously pointed out, something is not right. Previous accident victim ?
318 car
Something is off here
Think this was an accident victim
I don’t know about 74 barracudas but 70 barracudas with 318 engines had 6 cylinder trans, rear, suspension, and brakes. It would take a whole lot of Money to turn this into a Cuda clone.
I don’t see anything to indicate rust, but this definitely too a hard hit to the right front at some point in its lifetime. Not a very good repair either.
The twin flags in the decal, word under flags say’s jesus. Nothing to do with originality. Must be an add on.
Hey, I striped a thousand cars like this in the late 70s and early-80s- for car dealers in Oregon. That looks like about $60-$75 in the pole barn at the back of the big lot on 82nd Ave in Portland after the owner snatched the big red car at the local auction.
Without some kind of trim these looked like rent-a-car cast-offs. By the end of the E-body run, that’s who was buying a lot of them. I’d wonder what happened to the front bumper pads but aside from that it looks decent.
Ad doesn’t say anything about being a Cuda 360. Says Cuda project. This a 318 car. Not all 360’s in 1974 were 4 barrel. Barracuda could be ordered with 360! Seller seems pretty honest about description.
Looks to have been a shade of brown before maybe from underhood paint?
just a decent driver that will bring close to 18000-20000.
I don’t know what computer you’re using but my big screen iPad Pro can read it plain as day.
It’s the special ‘Jesus’ edition!
It’s at $16,000 with time still left. The author is making this sound like it’s peanuts but I still consider $16,000 to be a lot of money, especially for a smog era 150 horsepower 318 Barracuda. But I guess in this era of empty dislike for money and Baby Boomers who have a lot of it, this IS probably a good deal, defining “good” very much in context. I just don’t exist in that kind of world.
Where are the marker lights on the front fenders? Fiberglass perhaps?
Holy it all makes sense now. That whole clip is glass even the bumper. That’s why there’s no bumperettes. Probably couldn’t get the metal to line up. What a crime. The buyer is gonna be feeling sick when he takes delivery.
So, I put the ebay ad up on my 65″ and it’s really amazing what you miss on a cell. I’ll start at the front
-bumper is metal, just junk, you can see where the bumperettes were
-no AC condensor, rad support is pushed back and up on RT side
-no washer tank or hoses to hood, RT apron is mangled. pics from front show all pushed to left and pushed up on RT side, that’s why hood sits like it does when “closed”, doesn’t appear to be a hoodlatch as rad support is way out of whack anyway
-header, valance, front fenders fiberglass, no front marker lights
-RF head bucket not mounted properly, grill cracked, some fender bolts look to be a bolt and large washer, rad overflow not hooked up
-no radio antenna, missing chrome on top of doors as well as hood/fender chrome against windshield
-not going into my opinion of the interior
-both sides are really wavy, door corners look like heavy paint on rust, may have installed wheel well chrome to detract from body, IE wow that wheel well chrome is barely corroded, must be good metal under it.
– trunk has no seal, yet no rust, axle hump to LT wheel tub has holes, wheel tub to floor both sides been patched, trunk floor on passenger side has large layer of fiber glass, driver trunk pan scraped and painted with thick paint more or less over whole trunk area, some body plugs painted, some not, probably hit the trunk floor with a oily/greasy rag after, then swept shop and spread the dirt around to make it look like 15 y/o dirt
– and lastly the decal is a copy made from the other car as a template, what are the odds he found two cars with the same decal, and this one looking so fresh with no cracking?
I know TLDR, but if the front marker lights wasn’t pointed out I was gonna bid. So thank you cunnanm. I had doubts about the no rust claim, and the damage didn’t look that bad on my phone. It looked like a bad repair that needed tweeking. Note to self: don’t look at buying cars out of town on nights shift using the sellers word and your phone for inspection.
Fun fact , when you blow up the passenger door picture and look through the glass at the other car, there’s a very nice bumper on the floor in front of it. No doubt this was the parts car that got pillaged and then prettied up. But as mag195455 says, “Seller seems pretty honest about description.” With canadian exchange, that would have been a 20k mistake plus shipping. When it got here I am sure I would have been oh fiddle sticks! yep post too long, I call it therapy…..
The hood wont latch because the front end is probably swayed to the left, by the looks of that RF inner apron, it was hit in that corner. Time for a trip to a frame bench for proper repairs. Not necessary a deal breaker if purchased for the right money. Anything north of 14K is not the right money.
You can bet the bottom was not only bent but rusty as well. If it was solid as the seller claimed, it would have been fixed. Probably give it a pull or two and the apron or the torque box would go with it.
Nrg8 i need you around when im car shopping!
Nah, had one in high school. Trying to find a good bones driver to replace it is next to impossible. I have to face it, 20k for a vehicle I wont drive daily to get myself to work or shuttle around the kids with is definitely not in my tax bracket. But it is what it is. I have a price cap and this car would have been an undrivable time/money pit to get roadworthy. And to flip it to the next guy without disclosing the issues expecting to recover financially would be impossible. The price of admission is out of reach fo me. Luckily, my bucket has alot to choose from and I don’t want to be in debt for a hemorrhoid car that will sit most of time. The hunt will continue, something will come along that fits me.