High quality Swiss made A - Bodies
And the Swiss raced their Barracudas!
This text (and pictures) I stole from another thread in this forum - I think it suits well in this thread too:
New member with Early A! 1964 Barracuda... Rally Car?
In 1966, the Swiss importer (AMAG) of the Plymouth brand came up with something special to prove the suitability of the Barracuda for the Swiss everyday road.
Silvio Moser, Jochen Rindt, Joachim Bonnier, Joseph Siffert (all Racers) tested the first gen fishes at high speed.
"Their job was to hunt the Barracuda over bumpy roads, fast highways, and winding turns. They drove as sportily as the traffic situation allowed. Their superior driving skills allowed them to fully enjoy the possibilities of the Barracuda. It was a real experience to sit in the passenger seat. Striking was the lightning fast footwork, the full concentration, which also transferred to the rider and caused a crackling tension in the car. Also interesting is the fairness to other motorists. It was driven very fast, but safe. Advanced craftsmen were at work, you could learn something.
A surprising conclusion came at the end of the whole action. The Barracuda withstands even the critical judgment of such spoiled professionals."
They alse raced the first gen fishes. Arthur Blank started with a stock Barracuda at Hockenheimring (Race Track):
"Of course I was surprised when the Barracuda was still competitive. [...] When braking the thing, it did not go to his knees, the suspension felt pleasantly taut, yes European. The Barracuda is not a rubber car.
American brakes have been criticized for years. They were outdated and did not meet the demands of braking from high speeds. That was my opinion, too, and I was almost afraid to slow down the 1.4 tons from 200 km/h (~124mp/h). However, my competitors soon made long faces, but I managed several times to slow down the lightweight Europeans. The infamous fading effect remained with the disc brakes even after several laps at the Hockenheimring.
Steering with servo assistance for racing? I clenched my hands over my head. People wanted to kill me, what use was all my steering skills when I had to rely on the reaction of hydraulics. The Chrysler power steering responded as fast as I wanted. My skepticism about the unfamiliar turned into enthusiasm for technical perfection.
In my Barracuda S I had a fully synchronized four-speed gearbox, which was very well graded. Fast times in racing depend not least on how fast the driver works and reacts. English-speaking, short gearshifts and a precise guidance of the stick allowed me here to act in the usual manner. I was quicker than usual.
But I do not want to forget the most important point, the engine. If I always had to keep my revs within a narrow margin on my previous competition cars, I could allow myself to go back 2,000 trips and accelerate fully without having to change gear. "
Here you can find the info in german:
Die hiesigen Rennfahrer und der Barracuda (Oldtimer-Blogartikel vom 10.01.2012) | Zwischengas
"Arthur Blank switched to a '66 Plymouth Barracuda production car with bucket seats and wins 4 more races in addition to Siders Montana and Kandersteg."
Arthur Blank 1967 at International Airfield-Race in "Olympiastadt" Innsbruck (Austria, Europe) in his Barracuda
And the Swiss raced their Barracudas!
This text (and pictures) I stole from another thread in this forum - I think it suits well in this thread too:
New member with Early A! 1964 Barracuda... Rally Car?
In 1966, the Swiss importer (AMAG) of the Plymouth brand came up with something special to prove the suitability of the Barracuda for the Swiss everyday road.
Silvio Moser, Jochen Rindt, Joachim Bonnier, Joseph Siffert (all Racers) tested the first gen fishes at high speed.
"Their job was to hunt the Barracuda over bumpy roads, fast highways, and winding turns. They drove as sportily as the traffic situation allowed. Their superior driving skills allowed them to fully enjoy the possibilities of the Barracuda. It was a real experience to sit in the passenger seat. Striking was the lightning fast footwork, the full concentration, which also transferred to the rider and caused a crackling tension in the car. Also interesting is the fairness to other motorists. It was driven very fast, but safe. Advanced craftsmen were at work, you could learn something.
A surprising conclusion came at the end of the whole action. The Barracuda withstands even the critical judgment of such spoiled professionals."
They alse raced the first gen fishes. Arthur Blank started with a stock Barracuda at Hockenheimring (Race Track):
"Of course I was surprised when the Barracuda was still competitive. [...] When braking the thing, it did not go to his knees, the suspension felt pleasantly taut, yes European. The Barracuda is not a rubber car.
American brakes have been criticized for years. They were outdated and did not meet the demands of braking from high speeds. That was my opinion, too, and I was almost afraid to slow down the 1.4 tons from 200 km/h (~124mp/h). However, my competitors soon made long faces, but I managed several times to slow down the lightweight Europeans. The infamous fading effect remained with the disc brakes even after several laps at the Hockenheimring.
Steering with servo assistance for racing? I clenched my hands over my head. People wanted to kill me, what use was all my steering skills when I had to rely on the reaction of hydraulics. The Chrysler power steering responded as fast as I wanted. My skepticism about the unfamiliar turned into enthusiasm for technical perfection.
In my Barracuda S I had a fully synchronized four-speed gearbox, which was very well graded. Fast times in racing depend not least on how fast the driver works and reacts. English-speaking, short gearshifts and a precise guidance of the stick allowed me here to act in the usual manner. I was quicker than usual.
But I do not want to forget the most important point, the engine. If I always had to keep my revs within a narrow margin on my previous competition cars, I could allow myself to go back 2,000 trips and accelerate fully without having to change gear. "
Here you can find the info in german:
Die hiesigen Rennfahrer und der Barracuda (Oldtimer-Blogartikel vom 10.01.2012) | Zwischengas
"Arthur Blank switched to a '66 Plymouth Barracuda production car with bucket seats and wins 4 more races in addition to Siders Montana and Kandersteg."
Arthur Blank 1967 at International Airfield-Race in "Olympiastadt" Innsbruck (Austria, Europe) in his Barracuda