I wonder what happened to it.
Vintage PR Photo: You Can Have Your 1965 Barracuda In Any Of 17 Colors, Or All Of Them
– Posted on December 20, 2021
-
-
Curbside Classics Archives
I wonder what happened to it.
Wow I have never seen this one. The ’70 Cuda they did was much more famous. From the mid ’60s to the early ’70s Mopar had a great selection of colors. I don’t know how they compare to GM and Ford, but by 1970 they had 3 shades of gold alone.
Chevy had 15 colors in that era, but heavy in blues, greens and turquoise/teal.
The original 1970 Maverick was available in 15 colors!:
Anti-Establish Mint
Hulla Blue
Original Cinnamon
Freudian Gilt
Thanks Vermillion
Candyapple Red
Black Jade
Champagne Gold
Gulfstream Aqua
Meadowlark Yellow
Brittany Blue
Lime Gold
Dresden Blue
Raven Black
Wimbledon White
I would love to see the data plate – it would take up most of the inner fender. 🙂
Also available in a handy take-home size:
Hmmm….
I had heard of Striped Bass, but never of Striped Barracuda.
Still, apparently such a thing exists and thus spoils my joke, but it’s only in Australia, kinda like the hemi slant six….
It’s like a Christmas sweater, but I like it. In fact I can’t help but think that although it’s likely to be considered heresy the Bristol 401 in the next post up would look rather more interesting with the same scheme.
Yeah an ugly Christmas sweater at that.
Reminds me of the Houston Astros sweaters they used for a bit in the seventies. They were bad too.
Make mine the teal-ish blue that wraps over the roof at the B-pillar.
We had the green right in front of the teal. The little 273 V8 could get up and go.
Sad to think that if many manufacturers did a similar car to illustrate their color choices today it would resemble a zebra that needed a bath.
I particularly like the deliberately ironic placement of a “Tudor” style building behind the striped ‘cuda. 🙂
That was done by Chrysler Canada Limited on a 1965 Valiant Barracuda.
1964-66 Barracudas were marketed as Valiants, not Plymouths, in Canada. Even the 1966 models which were all imported from Detroit without “Barracuda” nameplates anywhere on the car.
And no stripes either – down the centre of the hood – in Canada. There are a few of them around, I know, but the centre stripe was not an option in Canada.
Always wondered if Chrysler would do a multi-stripe paint job, as above in the photo, for a customer. Would be easier to do if the car had no interior, exterior trim, etc.
Wonder how much that multi-stripe paint job would cost, too.
I like it, even if it does remind me of the those Harlequin VW Polos.
Works better than the Paul Smith stripey cars
With today’s color palette it would just be two tone
What’s the closest analogue to the Barracuda? The Challenger? Lose the three gold/cream tones and it’s pretty close. 13 hues available currently for 2022.
The ponycar market is decidedly less mainstream today than it was in 1965, so the closest analogue to the Barracuda today would actually probably be a crossover of relatively meager sales. Two shades of white, two shades of grey, black, and maybe a red or a blue on average.
I was thinking the same thing. At least FCA/Stellantis has kept something of the original E-body’s wide color palette (including the occasional retro High Impact color), if only in limited release.
The one I’m going to guess that isn’t going to make a reappearance is what was known as Panther Pink (Dodge) and Moulin Rouge (Plymouth). Not exactly a macho color choice. IIRC, it sold so poorly that it was only offered for a half year before being withdrawn and an original car in that shade is a rarity, although I don’t know if that actually makes it more valuable.
The second worst selling High Impact color was Sublime (Dodge) and Lime Light (Plymouth). I think FCA ‘did’ bring that one back for a short time.
One of the more fascinating aspects of the High Impact colors is that since they’re ‘inorganic’, they’re actually the most safe since they won’t blend in to the surroundings (the opposite of the now common grey shades that look way too much like pavement) and the most easily seen, the equivalent of an automotive safety vest.
My favorite of the high impacts was Green Go (sassy grass), which was offered a few years ago for one year only I think (2017?). Very green but not nearly as lurid as sublime. Citron Yella was pretty cool too, and probably the ultimate safety color
Look up Tuscadero Pink for the current Jeep Wrangler. 30,000 orders since August, and availability has been extended through the end of the year. Hugely popular. It’s very similar to Panther Pink.
That’s some astute marketing by Jeep. They’ve figured out that the outdoors lifestyle the Wrangler projects is popular with both genders and are offering a color accordingly.
The old, musclecar-centric E-body wasn’t nearly as successful with the ladies. All of the ponycars managed to take themselves out of the ‘secretary special’ market when they balooned up in size in the early seventies to accomodate big-block engines (which didn’t last long), making them a whole lot harder for shorter drivers to live with.
OTOH, Panther Pink/Moulin Rouge was offered on the A-body Duster, too. Seems like that car in pink would have been an okay ride for a young, single woman looking for a sporty, easy to drive car.
Don’t underestimate nostalgia, I’d put money on anybody buying aTuscadero Pink Wrangler had one of these as a kid or were friends with a kid who had one.
I’m amazed someone hasn’t done a tribute version of this already. I think this may be from Canada, will go back and see if I can find where I read that.