I’m not going to bellyache about a seller being skimpy on a car’s history and details. The seller shares that it was in a person’s collection in Nevada for 55 years and was sold as part of a three-car group by the owner’s estate. The next owner, a Nevada police officer, had it for several years, did a lot of work to it, and the car has had two owners since then, one being the seller. The exterior is in very good condition. This first-year ‘Cuda looks sharp in its Code AA-1 Barracuda Gold Poly paint that is very presentable. I’m not spotting any rust or accident damage, but I wish the seller had included photos of the undercarriage. The chrome, trim, and glass (including that massive 14.4 square foot rear window) looks very good.
The ‘Cuda’s gold and medium brown interior looks good overall and is “very Valiant” in appearance. There is some visible wear on the driver’s bucket seat and the woodgrain steering wheel is wrapped and a brown dash pad is atop the instrument panel. (They may or may not be hiding cracks or other imperfections.) The back seat, which Plymouth advertised as seating three, looks very good and the factory air conditioning is said to blow cold. Although a four-on-the-floor stick shift with Hurst linkage was available, this ‘Cuda left the factory with a push button TorqueFlite automatic transmission. It was also ordered with optional power steering.
Under the hood, you won’t find a Slant-Six, but the desirable 273-cubic-inch V8 that has been rebuilt (with receipts). When new, it could generate 180 horsepower at 4200 rpm. The seller says the upgraded disc brakes have been newly replaced and the car has a new aluminum radiator, new exhaust, and new coated factory headers. I’ve always liked the look of the ’64 and ’65 first-generation Barracudas. Given Plymouth’s limited budget, they did a decent job of making the vanilla Valiant into something a little more sporty.
When these came out I wasn’t quite driving yet but I remember thinking, “that would be a heck of a back window to break”.
Sixty years later I’m still thinking the same thing. I can’t imagine new replacements are available. And what would the cost of a “used” window be if one could even be found?
From what I’ve read and heard, they’re not as hard-to-find or expensive as you’d think.
I always thought these were almost as cool as the Ford Cortina GT my dad drove.
In later years, I always imagined that the rear window let in an incredible amount of sunlight and made it difficult to keep the interior cool. A cool interior is essential in Southern California.
I saw a car just like this one at a cars and coffee in Tustin. It brought back a lot of memories.
This one’s right up my ally. I happen to own a very early `65 Barracuda with some unusual features. My mom was the first owner; it had been a factory rep’s car that our dealer snagged. Mainly, its red with a black factory vinyl top (think `65 Dodge Dart GT). I cannot find any production figures to tell me how many were so equipped. And I have only seen `66 models with vinyl tops–not many but one or two in my lifetime. My car has 14″ wheels vs. 13″, came equipped with the 2bbl. 273 V8, PS, PB, AM radio. The red interior is in original shape but the carpet has faded over 60 yrs. It doesn’t currently run, and I’m needing to sell it.
This looks like the same car that was on barn finds in December.
https://barnfinds.com/pristine-machine-1964-plymouth-barracuda/
Price then was $25000, now $23300. It may have sold then and new owner selling it now or it’s that same owner lowering his price.