the 1970 Plymouth Barracuda

I love this car. its a rare hemi cuda convertible with a shaker hood! they can go for $500,000 in original condition!
I have heard rumors that they were trying to bring this sweet ride back to the 21st century!
Could it be true?

reply to post by paranormal78


years ago a friend had a 2 dr hardtop that looked a lot like this car. it was fully restored, looking showroom new. nice bright orange and in flat black on the fenders was "440 six pack" painted on. he bought it as a gift to himself after a miserable divorce. when he would start it up in the garage it was so deafeningly loud it almost brought tears to your eyes. even though it was properly tuned the entire car would shake & rumble from the insane horsepower under the hood. awesome!

there were so many awesome muscle cars in the day. my older brother had a pristine, dark green 1970 Mustang Mach I. Simply gorgeous. The huge rear windshield was at such an angle it was almost useless for looking out of. Black grainy interior with a cool hidden stash compartment in the center console.

a drinking buddy years ago had a similar color scheme in & out on a 70 or 71 (?) GTO. that car had awesome lines, very smooth and flowing, simply beautiful.

when i was a boy my neighbor, in his late teens/early 20's, had a 64 or 65 GTO, a big boxy square car, in a nice shade of maroon. three deuces under the hood. yum yum yum. smash on the gas and get pinned to your seat.

I always liked the 70 'Cuda too....simple clean lines...






Here's a close up on that hood scoop...






Since this is ATS after all...did you guys know that Hemi engines were banned from NASCAR ?
Simply because they trounced the competition from GM and Ford ??

When the 426 Hemi was introduced in 1964, it was strictly a racing engine. On February 23 of that year, four Hemi-powered Mopars swept the Daytona 500, finishing 1-2-3-4. This single event caught the racing world by surprise and eventually prompted NASCAR to impose stricter production rules on Chrysler.

This forced Mopar to race their Hemi's on the drag strip where they trounced the competition once again...




www.allpar.com...

Even if they do bring it back, it can never compare to the origional. There was just something about the way we built cars back then that can never be duplicated. The body lines, the shapes, I don't know anything we make today would be little more than a knock-off. Yea, it might look great, but the motor would last long enough for you to finish paying an unreasonable amount of money for it. The cars of today steadily depreciate. People are just stupid for buying them. I drive my 1971 Torino almost daily. That car sold for $3995 brand new off the showroom floor in 1971. Now 40 years later, and considerably more battle scarred, it is worth more than it was then. I do like the retro-vehicular designs of today, but they're still just knockoffs.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/cacd9481051d.jpg[/atsimg]

I would flip my lid if they brought it back and messed it up as bad as they did the GTO. However 1971 Hemi Cuda's have and will always be my favorite care of all time.

reply to post by Bobaganoosh
Hey b. The 71 Torino is a nice car. Ilike the one from starsky and hutch. that had some cool costom work done on it. Is the one in the photo yours?

I do love american muscle its just a shame a lot of muscle cars dont corner so good.

reply to post by paranormal78


Yea its mine. She's my pride and joy. No showboat, no racecar, just loved and driven daily. I just had too have it declared an antique so that I don't have to get an inspection sticker anymore. They'll never get her off the road if I get my way.

The AAR 'Cuda handled very well. Well enough to compete in the Trans Am Series with the Boss 302, Z28 and Trans Am. All very good handling cars.

The AAR Cuda had a lighter all fiberglass hood and also a lighter but potent 340 6 pack V8 under the hood for better balance and handling.




Check out the sound of this classic AAR Cuda.....developed from the stock AAR race ready standard side pipes....





As a Euro Car fan and former BMW owner...

Note that 40 years later the new BMW M3's are also running small block V8's now....so there's no replacement for displacement.

The 70 Cuda AAR had all that, V8 power and handling some 40 years ago...

1971 marked the end of the musclecar era

This is why I prefer the 1970 'Cuda over the 1971.

1971 was actually the end of the muscle car era due to unleaded gasoline being phased in that year.

This translated into lower octane fuel (lead was used as an octane booster) requiring lower compression ratios , typically from 11:1 to 9.5:1 in the engines resulting in 10%+ less horsepower than the equivalent 1970 models.

The pre 71 engines also used the lead in the gas to reinforce the valve seats requiring one to add lead to their gasoline today to prevent damaging their engine.

On the other hand, from a car collector's perspective, any 1971 model car and later would have the hardened valve seats allowing it to run fine on the unleaded gasoline of today as one ATS member can attest to.

Fortunately, Modern engines are back to 10-11:1 compression ratios of old and are developing as much power of the older carbureted engines of the muscle car era AND getting better fuel economy due to fuel injection and advanced engine timing and ignition electronics.

reply to post by nh_ee
The 1970 just kicked so much ASS! I got intrested in the 1970 cuda from that 2004 american animated comedy Megas XLR. In the show a guy in Jersy stumbels across an 80 foot giant robot from the far future at a local junk yard. He does some hot rod costom work and sense the original control center was gone he gets a car that is a 1970 plymouth barracuda convertable with a shaker hood. But because the show didnt use the badges seen on the real car they were able to get away with using the car for the show. That car is perfict for that show. The show involved three things i like: cars, video games, and food + good comedy and action.

I am a diehard car fan.

Even though I was very young at the time, I was fortunate enough to have been witness to the Musclecar era 60's. I even taught myself how to read by associating the name of the car names with the alphabet.

C-O-R -----COR ----VETTE......CORVETTE !!
I was the best reader in my entire school in 1st grade !!! All because of my love for cars.

I miss the roar of those high compression V8's of old.
I was too young to drive then but My relatives in the Midwest of Ohio and Michigan having had some very fast cars.
They liked me because I knew so much about them at a very young age....

Corvettes, GTOs, Catalinas, Rivieras...and Buick GS 455 to name a few.

I believe in reincarnation because when I was very very young like 3-4 years old I remember already having an affinity towards Beer, Pretty Women in tight pants, Airplanes and Cars !!

reply to post by nh_ee
Every time I think of the 1970 plymouth barracuda I have this song in my head: short hair on youtube

reply to post by paranormal78


Every time I think of a 1970 'Cuda this is more reminiscent of 'Cuda Music to me....just listen to that high performance Cam and those 4:11 Gears !!






Now THAT's Music !!!

reply to post by nh_ee
Cool video nn_ee. Now where do I get one of those? J.K. I know that I couldn't afford it. But its fun to talk about this car and all its glory. Have you ever driven one before? I was lucky enough to get a close look at one in a local car show in my town.

reply to post by paranormal78


Unfortunately I was too young but my older brother and I did once take my Uncle's Convertible 64 GTO down a side street alone when he was only about 14 years old making me about 9 years old at the time.


Back then that was how you learned to drive.

You were given the keys and told...."You know where the Brake Pedal is !"
"Now Go For it !"

We did a couple of slight burnouts in merely barking the tires which were very easy to do due to the power of those high compression 389 V8's , dual exhaust and 4 Barrel Carburetors...

That same uncle, who is a successful Attorney, also owns a classic 1971 British Racing Green E type Jaguar 2+2 which I HAVE driven though....

Amazing car...very fast and a work of Art besides....looks identical to this...except for a saddle interior.










Not to derail the thread but It looks identical to this one...hood disapears from view at 50 mph.

The 1970 'Cuda's Cousin....The Dodge Challenger

Not to derail the thread but since Plymouth is no more.....the Dodge Challenger, cousin car of the original 'Cuda still lives !!

I think that it is one of the better looking Retro pony cars on the market today.
And they just brought back the 392 Hemi engine for 2011 !!!

I would really consider buying one of these....for it comes standard with a 6 speed gear box ....but I would likely lose my Drivers License in a matter of weeks !




392 Cubic Inch Hemi V8

13 Flat Quarter Mile @ 111 mph

0-60 in 4.6 seconds

60 - 0 117 feet -----> it stops too !






I thank Chrysler for bringing out a beautiful retro muscle car that captures the essence of the past and includes modern technological advancements ....like brakes that actually work !

There's a great National Geographic program on the 2010 where and how they are built....here's a short vid on the program. I will post up the entire program later...it's great if you are a true gear head and love Hemi engines !



I do have a Dodge Challenger in Gran Turismo 5 in Hemi Orange !!! Fun car to drive with my Logitech Steering Wheel !!!
It handles very well with coil over suspension...and the sound of that Hemi is great in surround sound !!

Here's the National Geographic Program called "Ultimate Factories" on the new Dodge Challenger..

Great overview and tutorial of how simple stamped steel is formed into a car... for those gear heads and future automotive engineers out there.


Definitely watch in HD at 720P....it is amazing !













Enjoy !!

reply to post by nh_ee
Good stuff nh_ee. My big bro got to drive the 4th generation 2011 challenger. he said he didn't like the way it handled very much. and it is the brother of the Plymouth Barracuda. Also I know a dude in my town who owns a 1970 challenger R/T in lime green. Beautiful car if i say so my self.

There was a plan to bring it back as early as 2006 but they wanted to badge it a Chrysler which would be an absolute disgrace to the legendary Cuda nameplate and was told to bring back the Plymouth badge for it but since Chrysler won't we got the Challenger instead.

The rarest of the rare of the Cuda's was the 1971 Hemi Cuda Convertible 440 with the shaker for which only 14 were made and are worth north of $1.5 - $2.0 Million starting. The lower the milage the more expensive.

Other rare fishey's :
1970 AAR Cuda 340 - 2,724 made, current value about $500,000 - Trans Am racing variants are worth about twice.
1970 Hemi Cuda Coupe 440 Shaker - 652 made, current value about $500,000 - $1,000,000 depends on milage.
1971 Hemi Cuda 440 Coupe Shaker - 6.228 made, current value about $250,000