Droptop Project: 1971 Plymouth Barracuda Convertible
This 1971 Plymouth Barracuda project seems at a fairly decent point for the next owner to take over, but the reason behind the restoration not moving any more forward already is the saddest tale here. The story goes that the seller’s body man passed away back in June from a terminal illness, although he had operated his business up until just a week before. It’s a blessing he could do what he loved until the very end, but unfortunate that his talents were cut short before this one could be completed and brought back to life. Now, the E-Body is searching for a new owner who has the skills needed to get this Mopar back on the road.
While this Barracuda isn’t exactly eye candy to look at in its current state, the doors and quarters all appear to be salvageable, though some more massaging and a bit of rust repair on the rockers will still be required. The hood, trunk lid, and fenders are missing, but the seller says that $5,000 worth of new metal comes with the sale, including front and rear frame rails, inner fenders, trunk pans, a one-piece floor, and more. There’s no mention of a fresh canvas top, so it’ll be up to the next owner to source this material. Hopefully, the convertible frame rails are still good enough to reuse.
A 318 originally resided in the bay, but both the engine and automatic transmission are gone. Fortunately, the compartment looks to be reasonably sound, and perhaps not all that far away from ready to drop in whatever the next owner sees fit to power the Plymouth. Not that keeping it a 318 is a bad idea, but stepping up to something more hefty is also worth considering, especially since this one’s not going to be numbers-matching again anyway.
The dashpad has some cracking, but the instrument cluster seems to be in reasonably good shape, although the gauges are the basic package and it’s unknown if they all function. The factory radio appears to be intact, and I’m always glad to find a key still in the ignition, even if the car’s a total project. This 1971 Plymouth Barracuda seems well worth the effort, and if you’re ready for a winter project this one’s in Alton, Illinois, and can be spotted here on eBay. So far, 48 bids have taken the price up to $33,789. If this became your project, what direction would you head in with this cool Mopar?
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Comments
Really, $34k ? Are people insane?
Yes Angus, they are. More dollars than sense
Yes, but it’s a MOPAR!
So the guy doing the body work passed away, is there no other body man that will touch it?
Seems a little BSish
Angus, there are several scenarios that make sense.
1) The guy originally doing the bodywork was being paid under the table or gave them a deal and they could find a replacement based on what they were willing to pay.
2) They wanted whoever took over doing the body work to warranty the finished job, including what was done prior to them starting. I have some friends that do restoration work and won’t touch a car that has been started by someone else. They can’t tell how well the prior work was done and know they will get the blame if the finished job doesn’t hold up even if the problems stem from the previous persons work.
Steve R
Absolutely 🤪 😜. Just wanted to add my two cents! Anyone else remember Woolworths 5 and 10 cent stores?
Yes, Angus, people are insane.
Not for me! But thanks for the reminder of Nash Bridges cruising San Francisco in his beautiful yellow CUDA. Great car for a great TV show set in a FANTASTIC city.
Maybe a extra number 3 was added to the price by accident!
Looks like a “Barra” in dire need of the “Cuda” pieces.
The great thing about Barn Finds is that it teaches you that value, like beauty, is in the eyes of the beholder.
For me, I would be hard pressed to give you more than $500 for this 2/3rds of an empty shell. For someone with far more skill, time and resources than I have, I would think $5000 would be a reasonable offer. For those with impressive amount of money and want something that could be pretty rare and impressive when done, well, there you go.
It also teaches you that while beauty is only skin deep, ugly goes down to the bone.
34K? I have to wonder if that bidding is legit. Maybe someone with a vested interest is trying to bid this thing up.This car in it’s present state would cost a Cuda to bring it back to you could say complete restored.
Ive had no luck attaching pics or links. Stephens, can you or somebody talk me through it please ? Thanks
There is no way, if you dropped $34k to buy it and another who-knows-how-many greenbacks to restore it, that you’d get your money back. We’re not talking a numbers matching big-block ‘Cuda here, this is just a run of the mill Barracuda.
Are you kidding me? 34K? I can not believe that’s some sort.of a joke. Mark Woman is pretty secretive about his pricing, but I happen to know someone that had him restore a Challenger and based on that, you’re looking at 125K easy. Crazytown.
And what do they suppose we do with this menagerie?????
Yeah, I think I will sit this one out. In 1978 I got hooked on this hobby when I saw a 318 Challenger for sale, complete, for $25. I thought it would be a great first car. Living in the city, it took me two years to find someplace where I could park a car and work on it – being at that point 15 years old, whatever I got would be parked fro another year and a half. Sadly, “my” Challenger was long sold at that point and I ended up with a ’70 Coronet 500 instead for which I paid $200. It made a nice first car.
Most of the bids have been placed by only a few bidders, so it may be a battle between bidders, or an attempt to boost the price by the seller to just under the reserve to hope that someone takes the bait.
In any case, this looks like a project that has sat in several shops for quite awhile and has lost some valuable parts (engine, tranny, seats, etc.) along the way.
It doesn’t appear to be a reserve.
You are right about missing parts. There are probably a lot of convertible only parts the next buyer will need to track down. The missing engine and transmission don’t matter, a 318/904 aren’t going to bring any added value to this project. Bucket seat cores will, but compared to the current bids it’s not a significant amount.
Steve R
It’s not only lost many many parts, It has lost any and all appeal it may have once had