1974 Plymouth Barracuda

Description

Wow, talk about a cool car with a great look! This 1974 Plymouth 'Cuda resto-mod nails the pro-touring movement with a lowered stance and oversized wheels, and few cars are better proportioned than the early Barracuda. The builder put this one together for himself, and the attention to detail definitely shows.

The color is traditional Hemi Orange, which is perhaps the ultimate Mopar color with a ton of history behind it, so it looks flat-out amazing on the E-body's aggressive bodywork. Thanks to the road race stance, the blacked-out ducktail spoiler, the 440 hockey sticks, and dark gray hood treatment, this Barracuda looks vastly more potent than its stock siblings, particularly those that were coming out of the factory in '74. There's also a trick hood and blacked-out tail panel to complete the pro-touring theme without losing sight of the original look. There are fans who like the later Barracuda's grille and headlight treatment, and you can count me among them, and the color-matched elastomeric bumpers are the perfect framework for those particular details. Someone clearly spent a ton of money getting this car to look this good.

The interior is pretty stock, and with the Barracuda, Chrysler designers were hitting on all eight cylinders. Stock high-back buckets, that driver-oriented center console, and a full complement of Rallye gauges plus a column-mounted tachometer, keep an eye on the hot big block under the hood. A carbon-fiber pistol grip shifter brings the '70s interior into the 21st century without dramatically altering its looks, and a restored Tuff Wheel is just the right choice. The original radio is gone, replaced by a Clarion AM/FM/CD stereo head unit, and yes, this car does have factory A/C with R134a refrigerant upgrade. There's no trace of the original Lucerne Blue paint, even in the trunk, which also carries a correct reproduction mat and full-sized spare tire with jack assembly.

By 1974, the big block E-bodies were gone...or were they? The original 2-barrel 318 is long gone, replaced by a 1969-vintage 440 cubic inch big block that definitely makes a statement. Rebuilt to stock specs plus a mild cam and an Edelbrock Performer intake and 750 CFM carburetor combination, it's making a legitimate 400 horsepower without being too radical to drive every day. It runs superbly with that fat big block torque curve, with a correct A833 4-speed manual and 8.75-inch rear end full of 3.73 gears behind it, performance is bound to be impressive. Giving it that dramatic "in the weeds" look are a set of heavy-duty torsion bars, KYB shocks all around, and re-curved leaf springs out back and the factory disk/drum setup remains in place and is actually surprisingly effective, since Chrysler was always well-known for having the best brakes in the business. A new dual exhaust system with Flowmaster mufflers uses the stock rectangular exhaust tips for a factory look and awesome sound effects. The finishing touch is a set of awesome charcoal-colored Boze alloys wearing 245/45/18 performance radials.

'Cudas will always be cool, but some are definitely cooler than others. Take this one home today and watch the Hemi guys stop in their tracks to watch you roll by. Call today!