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Apr 11, 2008 09:00 AM
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Detroit, 5:18 PM
Tue Feb 9
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We love our Chrysler A-bodies around here, no doubt about that. For that reason, I'm overjoyed to have finally found one of the later A-body-based Barracudas in Alameda. Cool as the 'fastback Valiant' early Barracudas were, the 1966-69 cars were the ones that really looked like their sleek carnivorous namesake (the E-body Chryslers- those that avoided being hooned to death back in the day, that is- are probably worth too much to the nostalgio-freak crowd to be seen parked on the streets of Alameda, but I'm still hoping to find one).
A high-school friend of mine had a gold '67 like this one, equipped with lumpy-cammed 340 and 4-speed, and it probably took 15 years before his car's burnout marks finally disappeared from the stretch of Encinal Avenue in front of the school. My friend was also an ardent supporter of the Alameda High tradition of Open Header Fridays (eventually crushed by do-gooder teachers and motorcycle cops with strong ticket-writing hands, the tradition supposedly stretched back to the island's car clubs of the late 1940s), and the Barracuda may have been the ideal straight-pipe machine. California law at the time stated that cars with engine displacement under 1600cc were not required to have mufflers, so every day was Open Header Friday for my '58 Beetle (which technically qualified, though its engine was actually quite a bit larger than 1600cc). Damn kids these days with their turbochargers quieting the engines down!
Right. So, this Barracuda is pretty rough, but I don't see any rust and it drives (or at least changes it parking spot) regularly. For '67, your Barracuda came with the good ol' bulletproof Slant Six 225 as the standard engine; those wanting a V8 could have the nearly bulletproof 273 or the hoonage-enhanced 383 big-block. With Malaise 360s so widely available in junkyards these days, I'm guessing there are more 360-powered '67 Barracudas out there than examples with 273s. Not that there's anything wrong with that, of course.
It's Friday, which means it's Poll Day! You pick your favorite DOTS Plymouth so far, and what a variety we have to choose from! Frankly, I can't bring myself to pick one, though I'm leaning in the direction of the '47... or maybe the Fury... no, wait, the Evil Satellite! And, yes, Plymouth-badged Mitsubishis count, too.
Send an email to Murilee Martin, the author of this post, at murilee@jalopnik.com.
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