History Of The Barracuda

[1971demon]

No I did not have a Mod top! I did replace the standard 340 block and replaced it with a 340 six pack block because it had 4 bolt mains!

BKuz

I made the same swap in my 71 Demon..(I was 18 @ the time)..had a 12.5/1 short block built for the car...freaked my father out that I took a perfectly good motor out of a new car to put another motor in it...(he was never a car guy)

 

[Confuzed1]

A friend from decades ago up the street from me had a '68 Barracuda. I loved that car! Had a 273 Commando 4 speed with the 4 barrel carb and duel points distributor. I recall it having a lot of power for only 273 cubes!

-Also had a buddy in high school that had a '70 Barracuda....with a slant 6 automatic. Ran forever but was anemic and needed a V8 badly. As far as the newer style, the '71 was my favorite.

 

[EricG]

Those '70-'71s are just so awesome! No surprise so many of us have flocked to the modern Challenger.

 

[Finface]

Finface,

Great article! Thanks for sharing!

BKuz

And rock and roll babes in Heart sing a song about it! Not a bad song either!

 

[Dennis H]

70 ‘Cuda designed by John Herlitz. In Clay. Before CAD and committees destroyed styling.

 

[Dennis H]

 

[Finface]

View attachment 24004

Truly the lines of the 70' Barracuda captured the muscular nature of its engine. What a great job by Herlitz to be able to sculpt a new car whose design still elicits admiration 50 years later. Our modern Challengers...in many respects almost the same pretty lines. Poetry in motion!

 

[Demoniccat]

Both 69 M code 440 ’Cuda, and the 68 426 superstock prepped by Hurst were legendary. Can’t forget the Plymouth Savage GT modified by Auto Craft in Milwaukee, available w/ a 340, 383, or 440, fiberglass deck lid, roll bar, Lake side pipes, unique grill inset amongst other rare goodies. Very few built even less survived. There are a few web sites out there, and a Savage Registry for those interested.

The 66 barracuda could be had with a solid lifter cam, that was a more aggressive profile, holly carb, special intake and tubular headers, rated at 275 HP. Not bad for 66. 1Hp per cube in a fairly light car.

 

[1971demon]

70 ‘Cuda designed by John Herlitz. In Clay. Before CAD and committees destroyed styling.

The guy deserves the Nobel Prize...

 

[Demoniccat]

The guy deserves the Nobel Prize...

How about 1968 to 70 Dodge Charger that designer Richard Sias conceived and designed then Bill mitchel basically stole the credit for it when it became a block buster exceeding all sales expectation. Rich had a smaller clay model done up in the studio, Bill Mitchel told him to destroy it. Against the bosses wishes he worked on it in his own spare time in secrecy. Bill Mitchel went on vacation when he came back from vacation he saw the clay mock up and got pissed but the his boss Burt Bouwkamp saw it and liked it. The mock up was so good it went forward to production Mitchell got the credit, Rich worked a few more years and quit, talk about deserving a posthumous Nobel prize.

 

[1971demon]

How about 1968 to 70 Dodge Charger that designer Richard Sias conceived and designed then Bill mitchel basically stole the credit for it when it became a block buster exceeding all sales expectation. Rich had a smaller clay model done up in the studio, Bill Mitchel told him to destroy it. Against the bosses wishes he worked on it in his own spare time in secrecy. Bill Mitchel went on vacation when he came back from vacation he saw the clay mock up and got pissed but the his boss Burt Bouwkamp saw it and liked it. The mock up was so good it went forward to production Mitchell got the credit, Rich worked a few more years and quit talk about deserving a posthumous Nobel prize.

Wow...what a story...never knew the historical aspect of the design...amazing men..and a classic case of a historical design that almost never was...hard to imagine