The Plymouth Barracuda received a new lease on life in 1970, shedding its roots with the Valiant compact and gaining a new platform (shared with the Dodge Challenger). Sales jumped by 50% in the first year, but demand dropped rapidly due to a decline in muscle car interest (which the Barracuda was associated with). The selling dealer has a ’71 Barracuda for sale that sports a 1972-74 front clip (why?). Located in Celeste, Texas, this project comes with a rare sunroof and is available here on eBay for $29,500.
While Plymouth sold 49,000 Barracudas in 1970, sales dropped to 16,000 in 1971. Those cars were the only Barracudas to have quad headlights. It was a one-year feature as the car reverted to dual peepers the very next year. The seller’s car is a mystery in that the VIN decodes it as being a “high” trim model, which would imply the Gran Coupe. Yet some of the badging on the car says ‘Cuda, but the ‘Cuda didn’t come with anything smaller than a 340 cubic inch V8 until 1972. The VIN confirms this was a 318 vehicle when assembled.
We’re told that the Barracuda here has a rare factory sunroof, postulating it may be the only one so equipped in ’71. Or perhaps it was added by the dealer or someone else. The installation may or may not have anything to do with the deterioration of the vinyl roof, which resulted in some serious rust in the passenger side quarter panel and below the rear glass. The badly worn dark blue paint on this car looks like a repaint and a color change to me, but that’s just a guess. A pic of the fender tag would clear that up.
No mention is made of numbers matching or whether this vehicle is in running condition. A lack of a battery in the photos supports “no”. But the inclusion of the Magnum valve covers may indicate something more than stock resides under the hood with a TorqueFlite automatic. You could restore this Barracuda to original specs, make a 340 clone out of it, or go the restomod route as a Hellcat, as the seller suggests. What’s your assessment?
$29.5 is a fair chunk of change for a Bitsa. More cobbled than downtown NYC.
Wait……what!?
Did the sunroof appear when the roof rusted out?
Looks like it’s about to become a 1 of 1 convertible.
I typically think of rust as a lower-body phenomenon. This poor Barracuda clearly illustrates that it can show up, in serious quantity, elsewhere.
I agree. I was used to lower front fenders and quarter panels and rocker panels rotting out. But a roof? Scary.
This is the overpriced dealer that has been featured on this site countless times. They find cool cars, mostly thrashed and needing full restoration, like this Barracuda. They set a really high price and wait, many cars currently listed on their website were featured here at least a year or two ago.
Steve R