1970 Plymouth Hemi 'Cuda

Hemmings ^ | 5/2018 | Terry McGean

[DallasBiff]

C hrysler's Plymouth division had sand kicked in its face. Twice. First, when its all-new-fastback Barracuda's debut was completely eclipsed by the Ford Mustang, despite beating it to market by a couple weeks. Then, after redesigning the Barracuda for 1967 with dedicated sheetmetal that totally obliterated any traces of its Valiant origins, and adding a coupe and convertible, Plymouth's entry was again overshadowed, this time by the release of Chevy's first-ever Camaro.

Chrysler execs were no doubt keenly aware that the still-new personal-coupe market didn't just generate sales, it garnered lots of attention for the makers of the category's hero cars. The image enhancement enjoyed by the brand with the hippest youth cars was a prize worth nabbing, and this was likely the motivation behind Chrysler's third effort at a pony car—a pull-out-the-s

[Repeal The 17th]

Late 60’s-early 70’s...
What a time to be alive!
Great cars.
Great music.
Great times.

[HartleyMBaldwin]

I always wanted Kowalski’s ‘70 Challenger. Well, not so much after it hit the dozers.

[BOBWADE]

Dad had a 66 charger with the 383. He said that thing was killer fast. His buddy had the same car with a Hemi and he said that car actually scared the crap out of him. His buddy ended up at room temp following a high speed meetup with a tree. Dad always bragged about how the charger was ahead of it’s time. Fast back with the split folding rear seats and a console all the way to the back. Red exterior with white interior.

[MountainDad]

Late 60’s-early 70’s... What a time to be alive! Great cars. Great music. Great times.

Boomers had the BEST music! (And cars)

[Flick Lives]

Fair a car that is a half century old, that’s freaking awesome looking.

[smokingfrog]

https://www.americanmusclecarmuseum.com/plymouth-vehicles/232-1971-plymouth-cuda.html

[Blood of Tyrants]

The ‘70 Cuda and the ‘70 Olds 442 are two of my favoite muscle cars.

[T.B. Yoits]

I saw a show where they were restoring a Barracuda and was surprised to see Mopar didn't beef up the unibody design despite increasing the horsepower.

A few companies make a full frame chassis designed for the Barracudas/Challengers.
https://www.motortrend.com/how-to/1212phr-mopar-suspension-guide/

A few make unibody stiffening kits:
https://store.uscartool.com/dodge-challenger-E-Body-chassis-stiffening-pack.html

[Species8472]

Had a 67 Fury 3. Bought it at a used police car auction for a grand. Had the hemi and the interceptor tranny. Fastest car I ever owned!

[\/\/ayne]

The movie Phantasm has a '71 Cuda

[Jimma]

I have a 1970 Plymouth RoadRunner. Original 383 motor 727 trans on the column 323 rear end power steering power brakes power windows factory AC (not completly installed) no tictok bench seat very Bright Sublime Green 2 1/2 stainless exhaust w/ flow masters. Big car drives great very loud. No complaints from me.

[posterchild]

My father was a very practical family man. He came home with a brand new 1969 Chevy Malibu one day. It was the most practical car he could find presumably.I also miss the 1963 Ford Falcon he drove and i drove underage offroad.

[Delta 21]

Neighbor across the street has one. He brings it out for parades and such. It shakes the ground a block away.

[posterchild]

I recall him teaching me at age 16 to drive and park. He said ‘you tapped the curb’ (1980 Chevette). If we were in the (1975) Nova you would be on the curb. If we were in the (1969) Chevelle you would be through that building behind us.

[dznutz]

Mopar unibodies were engineered to twist a bit. If you add frame connectors, that stress is going to pop up at some other area of the car that wasn’t designed to handle those forces. It is better to install torque boxes in front of the rear leaf-springs front hanger. That is what high horsepower and convertible cars have, convertibles obviously need torque boxes because of less support for not having steel pillars and roof.

[Pollard]

Yeah most had that stripped down and ready for the stock car track or 1/4 mile kind of look. They dominated Nascar until the 1969 Mercury Comet Cyclone Spoiler II.

I had one of the Gurney editions but most were Cale Yarborough editions. Kinda funny because I found it in FL and Gurney was West coast guy.

Mine was a rust bucket/basket case with title I found at a yard/estate sale of an old farm who's owner's dad that had collected a lot of old cars and car stuff. I also got a Torino with no title for a spare sheet metal donor. Got them for $500 and ended up moving so I sold them on ebay for $1200. Could have got more but by the time I had the VIN verified as a Dan Gurney Edition, I couldn't edit the auction because it was so close to ending. Some came with a 440 six pack but the one I had was 351 big block with 2bbl so it was never going to be "the one". Chryslers just don't have the value of Chevys and certain Fords either. Would have been a $20k car in primo condition back then, 25 years ago. $30k if 440 six pack.

[Robert DeLong]

These amazingly realistic pictures of car models come from a 14-year-old's unique perspective

The above was from the page your article was on. These are pictures of models cars, (diecast cars etc.) not real cars. Really very interesting, and quite creative of this young man.

[Pollard]

That’s why they all came up with recent modern, similar looking versions of their popular late 60s muscle cars. Camaro, Mustang, Charger, Challenger.

[algore]

“Mopar unibodies were engineered to twist a bit.”

That explains a lot of things. I swore to my father that his 71 twisted, he refused to believe it and he got mad at me when I insisted that it did under high cornering loads and not only could I hear it I could watch it.

He took the keys away too.

Thanks

[Huskrrrr]

Well my Dad was not a hot-rodder, but he did own a 69 LTD with a 390. I learned how to drive with that car. Pretty darn quick.