Plymouth Barracuda – 1970-1971
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It’s hard not to think about the Barracuda and not have the opening to the Heart song of the same name start playing in your mind. While there were a few generations of Barracuda, it was the third generation that shone through as a performance car. Between the Barracuda and the Superbird, Plymouth had some bonafide performance in 1970.
Engine options varied in 1970 from 275 horsepower up to an impressive 425 horsepower coming out of a monster Hemi V8. Because of the sheer amount of power that was being put down by some of the best engine offerings, the Barracuda had to give itself some upgrades to handle the power. If you ordered one of the big engines you also received upgrades to the suspension and body to handle it.
Pop Pop!
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The Barracuda was able to stand out from the competition thanks to the bold choices of the vehicles. When it came to the color palette available to purchasers, almost everything was bold. Even the names of the colors were impressive. There were several options in neon greens and yellows. While the paint didn’t glow in the dark, it was only one step beneath it. If a blur of color went past, there was a good chance it was a Barracuda flying by.
Sadly, the Barracuda didn’t quite have the racing chemistry of a lot of other American vehicles at the time. The Barracuda was raced in the Trans-Am series with other cars like the Camaro. Unfortunately, the Barracuda never managed to win a race during the 1970 or 1971 seasons.
There wasn’t a whole lot of change between the 1970 and 1971 versions of the car. Mostly it was just basic changes to the trim. The most serious change was going from dual circular headlights to 4 circular headlights and a new grille. It can be argued which one looks better, but the design on the 1970s is arguably cleaner and a bit more desirable.
