64-66 Barracuda Race Cars Post your Pictures
- Thread starter Hyper_pak
- Start date
-
Just love it! I don't know who, what, where, or why........ I just do.
cudavert
DARTAHOLIC
Hyper_pak
Old School Chrysler Fan
Sunday
Hyper_pak
Old School Chrysler Fan
Shamelessly stolen from Random Picture thread!
Hyper_pak
Old School Chrysler Fan
Old cars.
funnykarman
Well-Known Member
I was at Person county drag strip when he wreaked the 66 Trader Barracuda ...
ddartdude
Well-Known Member
This picture was taken at the 1965 US Nationals in Indy. Ralph drove 'The Politician' to the F/SA class win. He was co-owner of the 1966 D/Dart also called 'The Politician'.
Hyper_pak
Old School Chrysler Fan
Another Oldie
Wow, you are part of that history. It would have pained me to see that. Thanks.
Vintage drag race tribute '65 Barracuda. Apparently was or is for sale:
1965 Plymouth Barracuda | Classic Auto Sales Ltd.
1965 Plymouth Barracuda | Classic Auto Sales Ltd.
JDMopar
Well-Known Member
Wow!
That is one of the EXTREMELY rare 64 split window Barracudas! I can't believe somebody made a race car out of it. 
Hyper_pak
Old School Chrysler Fan
Yea, it is creative.
Took weight out right where it's most needed.
Took weight out right where it's most needed.
Hyper_pak
Old School Chrysler Fan
Another old one
I drove this SCCA A/Sedan racer on the street, beginning mid-70s. It was a racer until then and I was told it ran much of the Trans Am series in 1966, including the first race at Sebring. It was updated throughout the evolving A-Sedan rule changes, thus the extensive metal body mods (no fiberglass). I built a high compression 340, used the TA heads from the race motor, and a new 6BBL setup. I am lucky to be alive... I rigged it with full bootlegger rear light blackout switch and ran Cibie headlights plus aircraft landing lights in the grill bezels, all with big relays. Matte black was a stealth attempt, long before it was fashionable.
geminimotors
Well-Known Member
Daaang! I’d love to see more photos if you have any.
OK, sorry about the pics and the post, I'm not a digital image guy. At the time I wasn't much about taking pictures of my cars, these come from a girl friend's Instamatic that I in turn snapped with my cel.
I can describe some of the mods:
The front clip was "wedged", you can see how it changes angle slightly in front of the doors. Leading edge of the hood was probably an inch or two lower then stock. The front fender opening was re-radiused and bulged over 15x8 wheels, if I remember right. No non-stock hood scoops or vents were allowed but the hood is "max adjusted" so its trailing edge is ~2" high from the cowl. You can see the blowout straps on the back glass and tabs on the windshield. Air pressure at speed could pop the glass out of the rubber. It had under-chassis headers made at the time by Doug Thorley's shop. The driver's side was four pieces that needed to be assembled from above and below. Front spindles were machined for Shelby GT350 one piece rotors with the Ford bearings, the MOPAR rotors were two piece and warped too easily. Trans was an slick-shifted 18 spline, flywheel and pressure plate hat aluminum. It used a panhard bar in the rear to eliminate any side movement. I ran different pumpkins in the 8.75, usually 3.23 or 3.91. I sandwiched real Corvair turbo mufflers into the 3" race dump pipes, using a reducer in and flipping another reducer for the outlet. The pipes did a 45 deg bend at the header outlet and another 45 to exit on driver's side in front of the wheel. No ground clearance and every cop who heard it stopped me. I had a Massachusetts State Trooper drop his sidearm from the holster while on his hands and knees looking under it.
I can describe some of the mods:
The front clip was "wedged", you can see how it changes angle slightly in front of the doors. Leading edge of the hood was probably an inch or two lower then stock. The front fender opening was re-radiused and bulged over 15x8 wheels, if I remember right. No non-stock hood scoops or vents were allowed but the hood is "max adjusted" so its trailing edge is ~2" high from the cowl. You can see the blowout straps on the back glass and tabs on the windshield. Air pressure at speed could pop the glass out of the rubber. It had under-chassis headers made at the time by Doug Thorley's shop. The driver's side was four pieces that needed to be assembled from above and below. Front spindles were machined for Shelby GT350 one piece rotors with the Ford bearings, the MOPAR rotors were two piece and warped too easily. Trans was an slick-shifted 18 spline, flywheel and pressure plate hat aluminum. It used a panhard bar in the rear to eliminate any side movement. I ran different pumpkins in the 8.75, usually 3.23 or 3.91. I sandwiched real Corvair turbo mufflers into the 3" race dump pipes, using a reducer in and flipping another reducer for the outlet. The pipes did a 45 deg bend at the header outlet and another 45 to exit on driver's side in front of the wheel. No ground clearance and every cop who heard it stopped me. I had a Massachusetts State Trooper drop his sidearm from the holster while on his hands and knees looking under it.
Last edited:
I cut a new aluminum dash to replace the raced one so I could add a speedometer, gas guage and other stuff like turn signal indicator lights etc. I put a heater box back in it, those are MGB rotary knobs that work push/pull cable for the temp and heat/defrost controls. I installed two Fiat 124 Spider bucket seats....
@DC 340 Since you ask, I'll add a little more. I try to be mindful of not turning my hobby into some obsessive and boring life story. To hint what I mean, I'm not a dealer but I've personally owned over 300 cars since the early 70's and many of them could be called exotic.
I bought this Cuda from the nephew of the last SCCA racer who ran it, in the New England division, which means the end of its career was probably logged at Lime Rock. I picked up on bits of its history at the time but unfortunately didn't pursue leads when they were fresh or take notes. At the time it was just an obsolete discarded race car. The nephew had bolted in a stock 360 engine and put plates on it before promptly losing his license. The 360 being an externally balanced crankshaft was shaking the thing to death. The 273 race motor was included but wiped, though it had the heavily worked TA heads I was able to freshen and use. It's interesting to me it was not updated in engine spec post-1970 when destroking a larger bore block (short stroke 305 from a 340) wasn't taken advantage of. Before that, A/Sedan eligible cars had to be factory produced with a max 5 liter motor for use in the class 5 liter limit. Thus the genesis of the DZ 302 Chevy and Cleveland headed Boss 302 homologations. AMC's 304 was a convenient coincidence.
I spent a year with what was a comprehensive and extensive street conversion but the recession killed my business on Cape Cod in 1979 and I had to divest, in fact I up and joined the Air Force to get away. I sold it to an SCCA related guy from Rhode Island, I remember him showing up in a really nice Triumph TR4A. Several years later, after I was in uniform, a car friend from Cape Cod told me he saw the car with the front end destroyed, with no drive train, at a shop in Rhode Island. I assume it's gone but can't say with certainty. I don't believe any original early A-Body Trans Am race cars still exist. There are other A/Sedan veterans and reproductions out there, certainly. It was suggested to me by several at the time that this car had some association with Chrysler engineering and Scott Harvey, (senior chassis engineer, Rally and Road racer, developer of the Formula S, etc). But I have no proof.
I bought this Cuda from the nephew of the last SCCA racer who ran it, in the New England division, which means the end of its career was probably logged at Lime Rock. I picked up on bits of its history at the time but unfortunately didn't pursue leads when they were fresh or take notes. At the time it was just an obsolete discarded race car. The nephew had bolted in a stock 360 engine and put plates on it before promptly losing his license. The 360 being an externally balanced crankshaft was shaking the thing to death. The 273 race motor was included but wiped, though it had the heavily worked TA heads I was able to freshen and use. It's interesting to me it was not updated in engine spec post-1970 when destroking a larger bore block (short stroke 305 from a 340) wasn't taken advantage of. Before that, A/Sedan eligible cars had to be factory produced with a max 5 liter motor for use in the class 5 liter limit. Thus the genesis of the DZ 302 Chevy and Cleveland headed Boss 302 homologations. AMC's 304 was a convenient coincidence.
I spent a year with what was a comprehensive and extensive street conversion but the recession killed my business on Cape Cod in 1979 and I had to divest, in fact I up and joined the Air Force to get away. I sold it to an SCCA related guy from Rhode Island, I remember him showing up in a really nice Triumph TR4A. Several years later, after I was in uniform, a car friend from Cape Cod told me he saw the car with the front end destroyed, with no drive train, at a shop in Rhode Island. I assume it's gone but can't say with certainty. I don't believe any original early A-Body Trans Am race cars still exist. There are other A/Sedan veterans and reproductions out there, certainly. It was suggested to me by several at the time that this car had some association with Chrysler engineering and Scott Harvey, (senior chassis engineer, Rally and Road racer, developer of the Formula S, etc). But I have no proof.
Last edited:
-
