I like the Gulf Oil livery.

I'm sure you could grow a nice crop of tomatos under that rear window

Cue Heart

"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOh Barracuda!"

Now here is where that Hemi should go. We need a new "HEMI UNDER GLASS".

I thought back then and I still think now, that the Barracuda badly missed the mark that had been set by the Mustang. I got my license in '61 and during the Barracuda's brief time in the sun I drove a sharp '64 Galaxie 500 fastback and neither my friends nor I would have been caught dead in a Barracuda. I think that this example's paint job says it all.

Is the urban legend true that 1gen Barracudas would get significant lift at high speeds due to their wing-shaped profile?

A Three on the Tree. That sure takes me back, though I always parked mine (which was a Rambler American BTW) in Reverse, so it looked like I had an Automatic to anyone who passed by the car. (Yes, I was that shallow)

I wonder if the rear glass on those Cudas were bigger than the rear hatch on C4 Vettes? Either way, that's a lot of glass to replace.

@Tanshanomi:

I'll never forget the line used to describe this first Barracuda in a year-by-year car chronolgy book my high school's library had:

"Unfortunately, the Barracuda turned out to be just a mild-mannered fish, and not the wild slasher its name promised." Classic!

Of course, some years later, the 'Cuda would become the stuff of musclecar legend.

BTW Murilee, wasn't the pushbutton automatic done away with by '65? (Federal law or something?)

@-chet: With the two-tone blue, it's a Gulf Oil Fish!

When you see these "move your damn junkheap" stickers, do you ever get the urge to write on an offer and your phone number?

Faux finished Gulf Oil livery and a '65 Dodge Dart GT stripe..... a combination of 60's racing heritage and LSD. I'm impressed.

Speaking of early Barracuda's and Gulf Oil......

[www.earlycuda.org]

I dig that crazy rear glass.
Also, one of my favortie transmissions ever was a three on the tree. Even if it was more for the reaction on passengers faces as I started rowing gears than for the driving dynamics. (Mind you this was in high school during the Reagan era - not many cars w/ three on the tree at that time.)

"wasn't the pushbutton automatic done away with by '65? (Federal law or something?)"

Last year for typewriter-drive was 64. Chrysler did it on its own as part of a "Let's get rid of all the freaky oddball stuff and move some units" program.

@Maymar: Or a new supplement, Gulf Fish Oil!

I love these cars. This was actually one of the first cars I ever drooled over when I was a youngin'. I was about 14 and we were looking at buying it, but it was missing the rear glass.

It drove fine, had a straight body. That rear glass at the time couldn't be had for less than $4,000. So, no Barracuda for me.

There is a white one just around the corner where I live... I love all that glass!

I could just never find the love for the first-gen Barracuda. Gulf livery or no, this is just ugly.

I'm sure I've told this story before, but when my dad brought his '65 Barracuda home form the used car lot, he took a bunch of my siblings and various neighborhood kids for a quick drive downtown. Eleven bodies in all packed into the car, including my dad.

Today on Martha Stewart Living, we're going to show you how delightful, textured, faux decoupage rag painting can turn a dead '65 Barracuda into a truly elegant and whimsical garden gnome.

@rognbrow: Right on the money. When this thing first came out, my buddies and I refered to it as the "Valiant with the greenhouse option."

The only thing close to a muscle car in my family, and my sister owned it! (Used, circa 1973.) It was a '66 with the same record-size PPG fastback glass. (I like the front end of the '65 better.) Floor shift auto, must have been the two-barrel 273ci V8. Sounded great!
Presumably Chrysler's attempt to quickly capture some of that Mustang madness, the front end looked like grandma's Valiant econo-car, the back looked like "THE FUTURE!". [en.wikipedia.org]
(I'm assuming that's a dry brush technique on this one, and that the paint didn't actually oxidize like that? Good hue match!)

Look what I found out there: [alamedarides.com]

A Dueling page?

This thing really is a mullet, Valient/hyperuncool in the front, fastback in the rear. These first generations were just losers/wanna-be, but boy howdy they evolved.
The paint job looks like a swimming pool--I'm sure whoever painted it had that theme in mind--fish/water. Very subtle.

The Marlin would eat this for lunch. Mmmm...oily.

I owned two 65's and loved them both. The Barracuda vs. Mustang debate may rage forever but I'll always know the truth. The Mustang was just a Falcon in a Speedo. The Barracuda was Mopar A body good to it's core. Yes the packaging was a bit stale and the marketing was worse but the proof was in the driving. Oh, the Barracuda actually did hit the market two weeks before the Stang as a 64 1/2 and those were the only ones with pushbutton Torqueflites.

I had a '65 Val & loved it

Since the Barracuda beat the Mustang to market by a month or so, and both were quickly followed by the AMC Marlin, shouldn't we refer to "pony cars" as "fish cars?" I mean, one car with a horse-related name, two cars with fish-related names. I think I'll start referring to them as "fish cars" just to mess with people.

@CurlyQLink: and @Armand4: Interesting... and in a parallel universe somewhere Jalopnik-dot-something fans are lamenting the end of that incredible fish-car era. That reminds me, what do you think of the new Marlin? ;-)
(Oh and also we had the Stingray and the GM showcars Mako Shark and Manta Ray... oh, and the Opel Manta! Fish-cars all.)

I grew up in the back of a '65 Barracuda. (No, that's not what I mean.) Dad bought his new and drove it until '82. I spent my childhood riding in the back.

I remember going to the drive in with Mom and Dad in front. We'd fold the rear seat down and spread out our sleeping bags. We'd be asleep right after the Disney flick and Mom and Dad would stay for the Bond movie and drive home with us sacked out in the back.

Dad's was the 273 2 bbl with the 4 speed and Hurst shifter. Ohio winters were not kind, big holes in the fender tops and the rear quarters.

It was killed in 1982 when T-boned by a potato chip truck. That big rear window must have popped out in one piece, since it was gone and not a piece of glass in the rear.

Ah, memories.

I saw this at the Alemany flea market today!