1969 'cuda 383 4-speed
i have watched GYC regularly since it first started 10 years ago. i have 4 Barracuda's in my collection, 2 68's and 2 69's. i am working on one of the 69's right now as it is an original M-Code 440 Cuda fastback. i hope to have that car on the road for this summer. i am growing concerned that it is going to become harder to restore all mopars and particularly A bodies as they are not as popular as the B and E bodies. i have already run into two former mopar suppliers slowing down or going out of business. schumacher is either slowing down or will be sold to another company and "Herb's mopars" has gone out of business. if you go on several of the major restoration catalogue websites, i.e. YearOne, Classic Industries, AMD you will run into a lot of "out of stock" for various parts. the same is if you go to Summit Racing or Jegs or other car parts places (Rock Auto) - the parts for A bodies are drying up. i'm sure this is happening because the demand for these cars is declining so the sales of parts are declining so the reordering or even production of various parts are stopping. my view is that if you are trying to restore an A-body Plymouth or Dodge, 67-74, time is running out for this to be done as easy as it was in the past. i was also very disappointed when Mopar Muscle was cancelled because that monthly mag had lots of ads for mopar parts. some guys thought the magazine was just ads, but i liked it. i don't know if there is a MM on line yet or if there will be. as far as i know, Mopar Collector is the only monthly "printed" car magazine left for mopar guys. if anyone knows of other, please let me know. we are all getting older and so are our favorite a-body mopars. i suspect the time is soon approaching when finding parts for an old mopar muscle car is going to be like trying to restore a Packard or a Studebaker or even an American Motors AMX - pretty damn difficult and VERY expensive.