They really have broad tastes, in this city. Classic kei cars, German luxobarges, French hatchbacks, Italian racers – you can find anything on the street if you look hard enough and in the right places. There is one category I haven’t had much luck in finding up to now: classic American muscle cars. Time to address this gap with this gargantuan convertible ‘Cuda – the champagne of muscle cars?
The Coke and Pepsi of the Muscle Car era were the Mustang and the Camaro, I guess, with their respective Mercury and Pontiac sister models as Sprite and 7-Up. And in this highly dubious (and perhaps offensive) simile, the AMC Javelin would be the root beer of the bunch. So what makes the ‘Cuda not just fizzy, but also far more valuable and intoxicating than its peers?
Well, some might say that the Plymouth was in a different class because it was the only one that had the famous 426 (or 7-litre, in new money) hemi V8 churning out 425hp (gross). Not that this car has that rare engine – only 14 hemi drop-tops were made in 1970, and this is certainly not one of them. Nor does it pretend to be, to be fair.
Otherwise, the 440 (7.2 litre) could be roped in for 375-390hp, depending on the carburation. Or the 383 (6.3 litres), which could provide 275-300hp. Last and least V8 on the options list was the 318 (5.2 litres). Two flavours of slant-6 were on offer as well.
I have no idea which of these many motors is in this particular car, but if I had to guess, the 440 would probably be it, given the license plate. Remember, the number four is usually avoided in this country, just like 13 is in other places, so having a “444” number plate is pretty ballsy. But then so is driving a fifty-year-old convertible that doesn’t fit in ordinary parking spaces.
Transmission options included a 3-speed or a 4-speed manual or the 3-speed Torqueflite automatic. Our CCuda of the day has the slushbox, which makes sense – giant cars with enormous engines are enough of a handful without adding manual shifting into the mix. Can’t say the interior is all that exciting to me, especially compared to the outside. A very ‘70s trait.
I mean look at this thing! Not a bad angle on it. The single headlights and thin blade-like bumpers add to the front end’s mercifully simple yet aggressive design. Ford had the same idea with the original Mustang, but had pretty much lost the plot by 1969. Mopar’s designers showed it could still be done in the ‘70s.
The proportions in this 1970-74 generation are still fairly harmonious: the overhangs were kept in check, the car is long but not ludicrously so, the width is huge (certainly way more than would be practical for daily driving in Japan), but no worse than other performance-oriented Detroiters.
Horizontal triple-strip taillights to counter the Mustang’s famous vertical ones, eh? We’ll let that one slide, ‘Cuda. Not merely because we woulda, but because we shoulda.
So this thing has the brawn and it has the looks – that’s all you need to be muscle car royalty. Or champagne, or whatever the lousy metaphor I feebly tried to shoehorn into the start of this post actually meant. Point is, this ‘Cuda meets my wholehearted approval. Hope it meets yours.
Related posts:
Car Show Classic: 1970 Plymouth Barracuda Gran Coupe – The Broughamiest ‘cuda Around, by Tom Klockau
Cohort Sighting: 1971 Plymouth Hemi ‘Cuda – The Last And Most Famous Hemi, by PN
Very nice… love your posts, Tatra.
If the car is a real AAR ‘Cuda, I believe the engine would be a 340 with three 2V carbs.
Not even close. This might be an original ‘Cuda convertible, but there was never an AAR version of the one-year-only 340-6v car. And to show the engineering commitment of Chrysler at the time, that engine was beefed-up from the normal 340-4v (which was no slouch, either). It’s hard to say what this car has but, as mentioned in the text, due to the odd license plate number, a 440-4v would be a good guess.
And, while the owner did a nice job with the stripe (with their varying strobe effect, not an easy thing to apply), it’s out of place on this car. If the guy was going to go that route, he could have at least sourced the proper NACA-style AAR scoop fiberglass hood.
Finally, a word on the interior. It looks to have original, upgraded leather seats and the one-year-only ‘Slap-Stick’ shifter with a metal handle. It was Chrysler’s take on Pontiac’s ‘His and Hers’ shift gate. They worked okay but the very next year, were replaced with a cheaply-made, plastic T-handle which was notorious for breaking.
The higher trim interior is another reason this car likely has the 440-4v engine. It would fit with the other deluxe options. The only fly in the ointment is the originality. With the big-blocks, the engine call-outs were on the front fenders. A 340-4v would have had them on the hood scoops.
No telling if that’s even a ‘Cuda and not a Barracuda dressed like one, it’s obviously had some level of cosmetic restoration and in the process may have acquired those leather seats as doners, possibly from a Gran Coupe. If this car had the 440 and presumably came with deluxe options where’s the Rallye instrument cluster?
Something else I just noticed: the location of the fender-mounted turn-signals is way off. They should be in the middle of the fender, not way over to the sides of the fender ‘blade’.
With all the other anomolies, that’s enough to tell me this isn’t an original ‘Cuda convertible.
You are correct. AAR ( ONLY 1970 ) came with a 340 six pack. No other engine options!!
After calling the Mustang and Camaro Coke and Pepsi, respectively, I thought you’d be designating the Barracuda as the Royal Crown Cola of ponycars — always a poor third and nearly forgotten! But I guess a ‘Cuda is in its own class. 😉
You just made my morning. The writing in this post is a real picker-upper!
The playful nomenclature that Detroit — and specifically, Chrysler were applying to model names (and paint colors) back then is worth feeling nostalgia over, and I totally agree with your appraisal of the visual impact of this body style. When these came out, they seemed to up the ponycar game with terrific proportions that promoted power without gimcrackery. Sociologically, there was a touch of genius in the way Chrysler was applying the Warner Brothers cartoon character licensing during this era; then you had this brilliant “‘Cuda” contraction that drew upon the nickname thrown around in countless technical high schools.
When I first saw the picture, I thought, ‘If this is one of those rare cars wherein only 14 were built, why would you park it on the street in Japan?’…. completely forgetting that these came with engines other than that 426 Hemi.
Still, even if it only has the 340, it’s quite the find, T87!
Despite being a Mustang guy, this car is probably my favorite pony car of the era. The ’70 Camaro just looked weird to a 9 or 10 year old me (I like it now), and I’ve always preferred the ’69 Mustang to the ’70. But to my eyes, these were perfect. Ma Mopar nailed it with this one.
One wonders though: Are the Japanese cops as picky as the cops in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware? If so, does that rear overhang earn that guy a ticket? Even though this car is a pony car, albeit a big one, it would appear that it will not fit in the box. I suppose that a ’73 Imperial is out of the question! 😉
And the Lowrider Lincoln 🙂
I was not aware that any AAR ‘Cudas were convertibles. This is the first I’ve seen, but early 70’s Mopars have surprised me before.
According to The Encyclopedia of American Cars, the ‘Cuda had a 383 of 335 horsepower as standard, with the smaller V8 available being the 340…no 318 or slant 6. (The 426 and 440 were options.) Whichever engine this has, only 635 were built.
My guess would be a 383 or 440, as this has electric windows. I can’t imagine a ‘Cuda buyer in 1970 springing for power windows and not going with one of the bigger engines.
During any of your Tokyo street travels do you encounter any Japanese citizen car nuts who do the gawk ‘n shoot thing that you (and us) enjoy? Or, is the Asian camera craze a thing of the past?
As much as I am a fan of E body Barracudas I think the designers ran out of ideas when they got around to the taillight panel, first these tribar Mustang taillights on their side and in later versions round Corvette style taillights, neither of which are particularly flattering to the otherwise flawless design.
The Japanese auto industry is known for its fastidious attention to quality and detail – I often wonder about the reaction of a Japanese buyer to the level of quality that applied to Chrysler cars of this period. I guess a restoration sorts most of that out, but you still have to listen to that horrid E body door slam every time you get in.
Beautiful car. This would be worth a couple of bucks.
Good call on the missing rallye cluster. An original ‘Cuda should have that and could be the giveaway that this isn’t anywhere close to an original ‘Cuda.
I can’t really make them out, but I don’t think it has the correct oval exhaust tips, either. OTOH, it ‘does’ have the correct lower valance panel exhaust cut-outs. And it has the front driving lights, too. I think the rear taillight panel on all the Plymouth E-bodies had a right-side emblem, so it’d be easy to slap on a new ” ‘Cuda ” emblem in place of “Barracuda” or “Gran Coupe”.
Converting a lower-trim Barracuda convertible to a higher-trim ‘Cuda would have taken an enormous amount of work and money, way more than a ‘tribute’ vehicle would be worth in the end.
If that’s what it is, it’s a shame the owner didn’t go ‘all the way’ and do it correctly so everything at least matched. Leaving it stock would have been way better.
Depends, if it was put together as a passion project as most of these cars were before values soared money is no object. On the other hand you’re probably right, ironically if one were trying to clone a AAR out of a convertible body you’d actually be better off starting with a regular Barracuda since real AARs don’t have holes in the valance due to the side exhaust, and you could easily source a reproduction fiberglass AAR hood for the amount of money adding a regular ‘Cuda scooped hood would cost.
Thinking further it’s probably a real ‘Cuda, but since it has all these cosmetic liberties I’d guess it’s a 340 since those are slightly less valuable than 440s and obviously Hemis, and the AAR dress would be fairly conceivable.
Those AAR stripes weren’t exactly applied all that well, either. The pasenger side is okay, but the driver’s side comes down too low in the front, almost halfway between the top of the fender and the side marker light. It’s not that noticable because of the dark lighting and angle, but it’s definitely there.
This might not be stock, but it’s way more tasteful that a lot of stuff I see on the net.
Love the styling on these. Just enough car to convey a (big) engine and a driver.
The Rallye Instrument Cluster was an extra cost option on all ‘cudas, Gran Coupes, and Barracudas in 1970.
This real ’71 hemicuda is a granny dash car with an add on hood tach.
Correct, more to the correlations of factory equipment like the cluster or leather seats with what engine might be in it is inconclusive, it was all optional whether it was added later or not so it’s a mystery as to what powerplant it has without popping the hood.
The “Coke and Pepsi” of the Muscle Car era? Perhaps with a splash of Jack Daniels, ’cause the ’65 Mustang for example certainly seemed to intoxicate the ladies😋
I also owned ’70 Chevelle ( maybe GM’s “Cocaine” of the era? ) that was superior in EVERY way, but it was the lowly ‘Stang in Tropical… that kept the rounds comin’!