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Solid Find: 1968 Plymouth Barracuda

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This rather plain but solid 1968 Plymouth Barracuda notchback is just begging for someone to love it. It’s mostly original with some good and bad points, but mostly good ones. She (why are all my cars she’s–do the rest of you do that?) is located in Ouray, Colorado and is listed for sale here on eBay, where the buy it now is $6,800 but bidding is far below that.

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The seller had stripped off the vinyl top (under which there was some rust that will need repair and had started to strip the original paint. Having seen a lot of these that are completely rusted out, this one looks pretty darned good. It’s a shame the original paint is all messed up though–I would have liked to see if it could be saved.

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Nice and straight, huh? I can think of a lot of cars I’ve worked on that didn’t look anything like this. I can really see the possibilities here, can’t you?

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The front seats have been reupholstered, for some reason in green. Why green? The car is yellow and originally I thought the rest of the interior is black, but looking closer at the pictures, I’m not sure. But why green? I’m afraid I’d be looking for black replacement components.

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Under hood we have what looks like a largely original 225 cubic inch slant six. Unusually, in this case, with air conditioning! The seller tells us that the Barracuda starts, runs and drives with no problems. They do mention that it could stand some carburetor work and that the brakes are soft. Of course, that air conditioning “needs a recharge.” So my question is this: would you leave this specification with the six cylinder and an automatic, or would you put something more exotic under the hood? Personally, I think I’d keep this original drive train, but if you would use something else, what would it be?

Comments

  1. Avatar Tirefriar

    Snice you are asking a hypothetical question my answer is also hypothetical. I’d stay with the inline lump but would definitely modify it. Auto will give way to a stick. Bring up the rear end to either 3.30 or 3.70 posi. Suspension upgraded for handling while exterior/interior restored to as close to stock as possible. I’d change the color to blue with black interior, steel wheels with dog dish hub caps. Oh yeah, I d recharge the A/C

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  2. Avatar paul

    over priced could easily spend 10k to make it worth 6k, and a 6 syl, not for me

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  3. Avatar Celero

    Would a 426/440 fit in there?

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  4. Avatar Dave

    It’s not uncommon to refer to our vehicles as “she” as they are objects of our affection, many people love their cars, it’s alot nicer saying “she” when it come to something you love than he !!! As for the barracuda I’d leave the leaning tower of power in it ! I had the same motor in my first car when I was 16 a ’72 charger, you can’t kill them !!

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    • Avatar MikeK

      And if you don’t treat them like a lady, they can be a real Bi*^h!

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  5. Avatar Rspcharger

    This would be a good candidate for a junkyard 360 and definitely a manual. Suregrip rear would be an obvious addition.
    Vehicles being “she’s” is the norm, but some of my vehicles are just too masculine to be considered she’s. They all got names too.

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  6. Avatar Mitch

    Somehow I want to think this was an original “Mod Top” car, which was a vinyl roof with psychedelic flowers. (although I can’t be sure as the “Mod Top” stickers aren’t on the rear quarter windows-the broadcast sheet, if available, could possibly tell you) Either way, restore to factory specs. Keep the slant & the auto & restore or fix up to original. These are becoming rare & unusual, because everyone wants to rip out the small engine. Oh & good luck with shoehorning a 440 in there-the few that were made with them couldn’t have power steering or brakes because of space. They were a bear to handle & made mainly for the drag strip.

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  7. Avatar Jeff DeWitt

    I suspect if it’s a Mod Top the interior was green to begin with and they just got rid of the flower stuff (maybe it wore out faster than the vinyl?

    Personally I think it’s pretty hideous, and really would not want a car like that.

    http://www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Plymouth-mod-top-int.jpg

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  8. Avatar Greg Member

    Restore it to factory specs, definitely. There are plenty of restomods already out there. We need to rescue at least a few 1960s GM/Ford/Chrysler slant-6 and inline-4 cylinder models. Besides, they’re still a blast to drive! There’s no sign it had the flower-power package, so no need to add it unless you want it!

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  9. Avatar stillrunners

    don’t ask me I own some……

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  10. Avatar John B

    On mopars of this era, just finding good brightwork (chrome trim etc) is really the tough part. This one will never be a twenty grand car, so paint it up a bit and drive it I say!

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  11. Avatar bill

    This will probably get me a bunch of TD’s, but I think yellow automotive paint should be destroyed wherever it is encountered. Maybe, just maybe, Bananas.

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  12. Avatar Doc

    340 Tri Power built 727 auto 3800 stall converter 3:91 posi,340 leafs with 4 degree wedge between the rear end housing and leaf spring to drop the pinion down 4 degrees so when you nail it the pinion lifts to normal angle taking the small leaf straps off or the rear to allow the straps to spread forcing the rear end down onto the track to insure all of the torque is reaching the ground. Seeeeeeeeeeeee ya! That is how we did it in the old days. It was the hot low buck set up but if you understand the physics it makes sense!
    Keep it simple. A quarter mile at a time

    Like 1

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