Mopar Pony Project: 1966 Plymouth Barracuda
While the Ford Mustang is credited with starting the “pony car” movement named after it, the Plymouth Barracuda hit the market 17 days earlier in April 1964. It was based on the compact Valiant platform and sold in decent numbers, but production output never could keep pace with the Ford. This ’66 edition of the Barracuda has been sitting for a while and needs work. It has a rebuilt 318 V8 that has never been started.
The first generation of the Plymouth Barracuda (1964 to 1966) was overshadowed by the Mustang. While Plymouth managed to build more than 36,000 Barracudas in 1966, the headcount for the Ford exceeded 607,000 copies. So, a Barracuda in any condition today is harder to come by than a pony from FOMOCO from that period. One thing this era of the Barracuda shared with the Mustang was that small-block V8s were the only way to go for power. A 273 cubic inch 8-cylinder was tops in the ’66 Plymouth.
The body and paint on this car are rough and rust can be found in several places, along with some filler material. The curved back glass, which is perhaps the most expensive thing on these cars to replace, seems to be intact here. The interior will need work, including the front bucket seats, carpeting, headliner, and dash pad. A set of old-school mag wheels are on the Plymouth and the tires are rather ancient.
Instead of a 273 engine, this Barracuda has a 318 with a 904 automatic transmission. The odometer reads 28,000 miles and that may be on the second time around. The transmission shifter needs to be remounted; the car requires a distributor, radiator, and an exhaust; and the brakes are going to need help. Also, some of the keys are missing. Located in Florissant, Colorado, this project Mopar is available here on eBay where a single bid of $3,550 has been cast (there is no reserve).
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Comments
I always liked these 1st few years of Barracuda. Plymouth sure did show what could be done with the dowdy Valiant, and did it again with the Duster 6 years later. I never knew that there were that many more Mustangs than Barracudas. We had a local Chrysler/Plymouth dealer and a local dodge dealer back in our rural area. So we had a lot of Mopars running around. When I worked in the local station they stocked almost as many parts as some parts stores. When they 1st opened they found rather quickly they had to stock double what the supposed to for Mopars. This one looks like a worthwhile project as long as the under side checks out. I’d rather one with 3 pedals (AKA stick shift) but I’m not always in the majority with that opinion.
With my 3rd and 4th cars respectively being Valiants, I always liked the original Barracuda, however, looking beyond the car, by golly, it looks like an early 60s IH VCO 190 cabover, with a V8 gas motor. I recognized the town on the door, Guffey, not far from me, as the crow flies, that is. Not much of a town, with a population of 111, I didn’t think they even had a fire dept.
The car is very typical of what is out here. Bodies usually in good shape, and so much the lack of salt, it’s just so freakin’ dry here, we have negative dew points, but tired mechanicals, often from sitting. I say, with as unusual a car as it is, groundbreaking for the time( but the Marlin wasn’t, go figure), but I’d go with a Slanty. Be more than adequate and paint the dang thing!
Howard A … we agree again…. did you see my response to you about the Monfort trucks in another post ?
Anyway, my first 2 cars were a 2 yr old Valiant convertible and then a 1 year old 67 Barravuda notchback… both were slant 6’s… great little cars…
This is one I’d pass on….just to many 1966 better Cuda’s out there….nice to see it still retains the optional one year only center cap on that steering wheel !