Collector Car Corner / Cars We Remember; Plymouth Barracuda memories: the good and the bad

Q: Greg, back in 1964 I nearly bought one of the new Mustangs that was featured at the New York World’s Fair. It sure was sharp and had a design I hadn’t seen before with its large and long hood and sort rear deck and trunk. I went to my Ford dealer in my hometown to take a closer look. 

However, even though I loved the car, the back seat was really tight and because I had kids and my wife it was a major drawback. I felt the back seat was a “for kids only area,” so I decided to go to my Plymouth dealer and check out the new ’64 Plymouth Barracuda. 

This new Barracuda was a real five-passenger car as adults as well as children could fit in the back and it came with engines similar to the Mustang in that you could order a six-cylinder or a V8. I choose the V8 in Formula S trim with a 3-speeed Torqueflite automatic transmission. There were many colors available and I choose bright red. It had Goodyear tires, a 273 performance V8, AM-FM Radio, air conditioning and power steering. Back then, this Barracuda was loaded with features and I wish I never sold it.  

I read your column in our Spokesman Review. Sincerely, Charlie K., Spokane, Washington.    

A: Charlie, thanks so much as what a great letter to receive from a former Plymouth Barracuda owner. In comparison to the 1964 1/2 Ford Mustang, which I also saw at the World’s Fair in New York back then, I always felt that even though the Mustang was a huge hit and sold way more than the Barracuda, those early 1964 to 1966 fastback Barracudas did not receive the respect they deserved. Everything you saw or read back then had to do with the 1964 1/2 Mustangs, which is in direct relation to the size of Ford’s ad budget versus that of the Plymouth ad budget. 

Clearly, there was no comparison when it came to corporate strength, money wise, but there was one area where Barracuda beat Mustang and that was coming to market earlier, specifically beating Mustang by a bit over two weeks to the showrooms. Thus, the Plymouth Barracuda is officially the first ever American built Pony Car, which the class would come to be called soon. Others joined the Pony Car craze including Camaro, Firebird, Cougar, Javelin, AMX and Challenger, the latter that took until 1970 to appear.  

Another thing Barracuda did better than Mustang was turn into an ultimate, smaller wheelbase muscle car with few peers. When Chrysler decided to put the 383 big block V8 into the second generation 1967 Barracuda, it kicked off a frenzy of MOPAR performance that ended up finding the ultra rare 426 Hemi 1968 Barracuda being produced in very limited numbers (they say only 50 were ever built and today are priceless). 

Regardless of whether you had a manufacturer performance car competitor, and there were many competing for top dog honors, I feel those 1968 Hemi Barracudas followed by the Street Hemi 1970 style Barracudas and Challengers rate at the top of the heap, with Mustang’s hemi style Boss 429 a close second.    

Now I’ll tell my readers the story of the famous 1965 Barracuda Formula S from the year 1968 that had a major personal impact on me. I was and still am a very close friend of legendary early day drag race champion Pete Shadinger, known as “Little Daddy” and “Mr. Burnout” on the NHRA drag racing circuit. He is a two-time U.S. Nationals champion in his dragsters and cut his teeth racing any and all types of cars. 

As we both lived in Vineland, N.J., I was quick to introduce myself and Pete took me under his wing. He did a lot of work on the muscle cars from the 1960s and early 1970s in his garage and it was never a surprise when a muscle car enthusiast would pull into Pete’s garage looking to make his car go faster (and boy did Pete know how to do that).

One day a fellow showed up with a ’65 Barracuda Formula S with the same 273 solid-lifter cam Commando V8 with 235 horses and a 4-barrel carb. He gave Pete the needed monies and we installed a set of exhaust headers that exited from the wheel wells (we painted them white of course), an Isky Cam and kit, Mallory dual-point ignition, and new 4:56 rear end gears. 

Back then this was a lot of work to do on a smaller 273 V8 MOPAR, but with the cash up front we dug in with the usual muscle car passion we all shared at Pete’s garage.

Just as we were getting the car finished, who shows up one Saturday morning but the local police department with our “customer” sitting in the back seat of the patrol car. To make a long story short, it didn’t take but a few seconds to figure out why the police were there. 

Said the first of two policemen to Pete, “Sir, the car you are working on has been stolen and is this the man who ordered you to do the work and gave you money sitting in the back seat of our patrol car?” 

Well, that was a swift end to that experience but I would have loved to see how fast we could have gotten that little 273 to go. However, one good thing happened tied to this experience. It seems that the guy who stole the car told us that there was a 1969 Charger sitting in the Bronx, New York, up on cinder blocks and completely pillaged except for the 426 Street Hemi sitting under the hood. 

Pete didn’t hesitate, and said even if there’s a 20% chance the guy was right, he was going to check it out. The next day, Pete arrived home with a 426 Hemi engine in several pieces from his trip to the Bronx and it ended up in his dragster with a blower on it. Only thing missing were the dual four barrels, ignition and intake manifold. 

That’s my Barracuda Formula S story remembrance from my lifetime of car memories, and so very different than yours Charley. 

By the way, Pete Shadinger now lives in the Phoenix, Arizona area and he just lost his loving, lifelong wife, Rose. Together they had seven children and I do stay in touch with several of the kids, too. RIP Rose Shadinger, who always made one heck of a cup of coffee regardless of the time of day or night.  

Thanks much for your letter Charlie. 

(Greg Zyla is a syndicated auto columnist who welcomes reader questions and comments on collector cars, auto nostalgia and motorsports at 303 Roosevelt St., Sayre, Pa. 18840 or email at greg@gregzyla.com.)