The Plymouth Barracuda was one of the fiercest cars to come out of the muscle car wars. This 1971 ‘Cuda needs a bit of finish work, but a large majority of the hard stuff seems to be done. Found here on eBay with a current bid of $18,600, the car is located in Folsom, California. Based on the photos, this seems like a really solid project. Check it out and let us know what you think.
While the 426 Hemi and the 440 6-pack engines dominated on the street, the 383 found here should hold its own. This car also features a 4-speed manual along with the famous pistol grip shifter. The seller is up front about the engine and transmission not being original, but this car is far from original anyway. The engine is also missing its pulleys, exhaust, and some of the wiring, so it’s going to take work to get running again.
The major components of the interior look complete with the iconic pistol grip shifter nestled between the bucket seats. You can see the floor covering is missing, but this gives prospective buyers a good look at the floor pan. These cars are notorious for rust and it’s nice to see everything stripped and ready for a thorough inspection. The ad also has quite a few photos of the interior and trunk. It appears to be solid for the most part.
The body panels on this car are a bit of a mix and match. The ad has a list of areas that have been addressed already. After a coat of paint (or even primer) this car will look a lot better. These ‘Cudas have great styling and are highly desired by collectors. With the knowledge and budget to finish this car right, the new owner will have a great starting point with this project. What do you think? Is this a diamond in the rough?
the dash is a standard unit and not the rally dash. While it started out as a low level car, it could be turned into a nice clone
I actually liked the standard dash better. My neighbor back in the spring of 75 bought a 71 Cuda in bright yellow. (same standard dash) Perfect paint in a color I thought matched the car perfectly. I thought it rocked but he went right out and had a cheap black paint job done to it. You could still see the yellow in the door jams (etc) as I didn’t do a total repaint. Despite what I thought was stupidity, the wonderful 340 and 4 speed still made a nice sound when he took off, usually quite quickly. Everyone seems to like 1970s, but as with the Challengers, I prefer the 1971s. Maybe because of that car, wonder what happened to it? Gee, it has only been 43 years, maybe it is still in his driveway, or then again, maybe not. Wonder how the paint survived. Hope it flaked off, miserable lout would never let me drive it despite my strong hints. Would have been a blast, the small blocks had ample power and handled beautifully, unlike what we have here.
Yes, please. Looks like a solid candidate. These are so fun to work on and you can get almost any part you need for them. And when you pull into a gas station, young and old, male and female give you a thumbs up. Trying to get one for a reasonable price from a reasonable seller is what sucks the worst about e-bodies.
Yup. Only 40 grand more and new owner will have a 30 grand car
I’m becoming convinced that our media has conditioned Americans to the point where most believe there will be a bailout for all of our stupid financial decisions. A real shame.
If someone wants to restore a car that they enjoy and likely plan to keep, how is that stupid?
For some, money is not everything. I just think when you look at this from a financial perspective it doesn’t make a lot of sense. But that’s just my opinion. Obviously, I am pretty far off the mark in terms of what I think some things are worth and what people are willing to pay, so who am I right?
As the old saying goes, something is worth what somebody will pay for it. The trouble with that is when trying to analyze whether an investment is smart or stupid, you have to consider that sometimes, tastes and markets change. We have had a lot of discussions on here about the potential fate of the muscle car market post Baby Boomers.
But regardless of that these cars are definitely hot right now! No doubt about it.
I would love to have this car and if you do most of the work yourself I think you could have a respectable show car ( not a trailer queen #’s matching )show car for less than 30K invested and I think if you finished it you could get more than 30K as MOPARs of any condition are hot right now Cudas especially. JMO
Get it running nice, pait it flat black and go
The 383 ran improved 440 factory heads high compression, was exact same motor put into Road Runner.
With 355 posi made a good cruiser, add on newer suspension pieces and drive on twisted improved.
Add a decent cam, and lifter kit, clean up bore , headers a must, junps the horse into 350-375 range.
Make into fine cruiser if got tools and time and not lose a decent return in couple years.
THIS IS FOR SURE A CUDA, AND NOT A Baracuda?
Dang…just look at them floors….and a pistol grip 4 speed…..let’s go hunting !
Id like to see Dodge resurrect the Baracuda name on a new 2020 hotted up model. But most important…have it in a smaller size than the challenger or charger. A sports model of some sort, that doesn’t break the bank account. Even in an inexpensive convertible with automatic would be sweet! Oh and, No one keeps manuals with 8 speeds these days cause all you do is shift,…constantly. That hand should spend some time with your girl…IMHO.
Mine was more rough than this one and missing just about everything and I paid handsomely for it. Luckily I do all my own work and enjoy it. Hoping to finish it within the next year. I would have liked to have this one to start with though
New owner may want to change low hanging oil pan or install a skid plate. Crunch.
Has anyone else noticed the vin tag on the dash has been changed? The wrong rivets are installed along with the body tag easily changeable.
Yup. Good eye. They were attached with rivets at the factory, not with Phillips head screws as these appear to be. So someone at some point removed them from this or some other car and reattached them.
It’s hard to tell, but they look like rivets, and not far off from what the factory used. The door decal and fender tag both have the same VIN, so not sure that anyone would go to that much trouble to fake a car like this that needs a lot of work.
’71 VIN sample:
I dunno. Those don’t look like factory rivets to me, And the data plate is definitely screwed on.
But, I’m not a Mopar expert, and don’t even play one on TV LOL! I’m curious as to what others think that know these cars.
As to why, even in this condition, this car is going to bring over 20 grand. Maybe someone was planning on creating a high dollar ‘Cuda clone out of a 318 Barracuda and they gave up on the project. Who knows? Again, I’m not saying that’s the case but those plate rivets/screws just don’t look right to me.
Yeah, tough to tell what someone will do to make a few extra bucks, but he freely admits that the drivetrain is not numbers matching, so this was never going to be a high(est) buck resto.
Just so you know, the fender tags are always held on with philips head screws. One painted, one not. There is a reason for that, but I can’t remember why right now.
This is why we ask. It could be perfectly legit and factory. I just think when you’re near $20k for a project that’s probably going to need $20k more in work, these kind of things would be important.
Well, some people might not care. But other biddèrs will be bidding on it as an original ‘Cuda, so that will drive the price up. Even without the numbers matching drivetrain, a factory ‘Cuda will bring more than a 318 Barracuda.