Although the Ford Mustang is credited with starting the “pony car” movement in 1964 for which it was nicknamed, the Plymouth Barracuda got to market 17 days before it. By 1970, a whole new Barracuda was released, losing its roots to the Valiant compact. But the market for muscle cars was starting to wane at this time, and Barracuda sales wouldn’t be excluded. This forlorn ’73 ‘Cuda 340 has been sitting outside in Westminster, Massachusetts for ages and Mother Nature has begun to claim it. But you can save it here on eBay if you outbid the current ante of $6,600.
Third-generation Barracuda’s (and similar first-generation Dodge Challengers) are sought after today by collectors and examples with a Hemi engine run well into six figures. But that motor was gone after 1971 and the detuning of America’s performance cars was underway. 19,281 Barracuda’s were built in 1973, down from 48,867 three years earlier. 9,305 copies would wear ‘Cuda badging and those with a 340 V8/automatic transmission would see a production of just 4,576 units. This Plymouth should be one of them.
This is said to be a one-owner car with 78,000 miles. It was last registered in 1978 and last driven in 1985. Whether it’s been parked in the same spot since that time isn’t known, but time and rust have taken their toll. What’s left of the faded paint job looks to be purple/burgundy which we can’t quite match to an original color. It used to have a vinyl top which is long gone and may have been white to match the worn-out interior in this Plymouth. This was one sharp-looking hot rod back in 1973.
We assume this car was parked due to some mechanical issue. So, there’s no telling what’s going on with the engine and transmission. Sellers should refrain from portrait photos because they limit what you can see of their wares. Back in the day, this would have been considered a parts car, but at the current bidding that’s a lot of money to harvest a fender or trunk lid for. This has the potential of being a $75,000 auto according to Hagerty, but it’s going to take a lot of detailed work and money to get there.
Man that car is rough. Does it deserve to be restored? Of course, but this would have to be a labor of love. You are looking at easy 6 figures after you buy the car and probably 5 years before you get it back. So $125-$150k for a car that might be worth 70-90k. And in 5 years maybe sanity has come back and this is a 50k car restored..tough one.
I had a 73 Cuda when I was in the Navy. Green with white striping, white vinyl top, white buckets. 318 2bbl. I trust at all. I went out to sea for a month or so and it was stolen. Never been found.
Looks like it’s sat in that location for like 20 years. I wonder how many people knocked on the door asking about it and got a reply of “It’s not for sale, I’m going to fix it up someday”.
Sad.