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Films:
1967 Plymouth Barracuda Formula S: In Torque We Trust
Very interesting video. To a point, Bob and I walked similar paths. My father was very into Euro roadsters and likewise passed the love of those small, lightweight, great handling cars on to me. Because of that, I also scoffed at American cars which you sort of point in the direction you want to go instead of really driving them.
As luck would have it, I wound up repainting one of these back in 1981 while my father was stationed in Hawaii. I remember not thinking very much of it at the time, but now wishing I’d have paid more attention to what the car was and that I understood its historical significance.
Now that I’m older, and can see that I’d love to have one of these in a garage somewhere, I’m still much more deeply rooted in the more elegant approach to motoring that the Euro and some of the Asian cars have delivered. Handling still remains my goal; anyone can build enough of an engine to go fast. I do find it amusing, however, to see Bob discuss the great handling in one breath, but then say that you have to slow down for the corners, creep around them, and power out; that’s sort of the antithesis of great handling. However, I don’t doubt that the upgrades made huge differences in the car compared to its stock brethren, and I’m glad to see this out on the road, tearing it up.
I’d like to send a thank you to all those viewers who commented on the vid of my Barracuda. You’ve made my day! And to a few of you in particular: to “Malicious SRT”, yep, the Green Brick is a legend. To Theodore Vasilopoulos, move to the USA! Lots of cars like this here! To “F Stick”, the 340 powered the ‘Cuda to a 13.6 sec et @ 106 mph at Carlsbad Raceway (RIP). I have the time slip. The math says approx 400 hp. And if I offended “TheBigJakeIII”, I did not make myself clear. I too love Porsches, as it was my honor to special stage rally in a 356, 912 & 911 with Scott Harvey (see his deep resume: http://autologo.tumblr.com/post/4531924373/autoracer-scott-harvey) for 3 years. Finally, to “rosenb37”, you, like Malicious, are a true Mopar guy. But Plymouth did use the term “‘Cuda” in its Barracuda sales brochure for ’67. And its just easier to say.
But most of all, thanks to Josh Clason & Aaron McKenzie of Petrolicious. You are 1st class car guys.
Hi Bob,
Looks like selling my 911 and seeing your video might be the catalyst to getting back into a Barracuda.
I sold my 69 convertible after 14 years of ownership and 350000 miles on the clock as my newborn son came into the world. I bought my zero option 1969 in 1975 for $300 with a worn out slant 6 and a 3 on the tree that sounded like it was filled with gravel. It had one thing going for it that i had not found in other car in the north east, no rust. The car was move from New Jersey to Lake Tahoe and back again when i found it. Your in southern CA and have similar taste in Barracudas, any tips on finding a well sorted fastback with manual trans, a 340 and A/C ?
Thanks in advance,
Keith Knight
keith@knightworks.com
I’d like to send a thank you to all those viewers who commented on the vid of my Barracuda. You’ve made my day! And to a few of you in particular: to “Malicious SRT”, yep, the Green Brick is a legend. To Theodore Vasilopoulos, move to the USA! Lots of cars like this here! To “F Stick”, the 340 powered the ‘Cuda to a 13.6 sec et @ 106 mph at Carlsbad Raceway (RIP). I have the time slip. The math says approx 400 hp. And if I offended “TheBigJakeIII”, I did not make myself clear. I too love Porsches, as it was my honor to special stage rally in a 356, 912 & 911 with Scott Harvey (see his deep resume: http://autologo.tumblr.com/post/4531924373/autoracer-scott-harvey) for 3 years. Finally, to “rosenb37”, you, like Malicious, are a true Mopar guy. But Plymouth did use the term “‘Cuda” in its Barracuda sales brochure for ’67. And its just easier to say.
But most of all, thanks to Josh Caslon & Aaron McKenzie of Petrolicious. You guys are 1st class car guys.
Thanks, Bob.
As I’ve said before, these short films are extra-special for those of us at Petrolicious because we have the memories of making them. Spending days with owners like Bob and cars like his ‘Cuda are one of the perks of working for this outfit!
And here, by the way, is an advert that Plymouth ran featuring Scott Harvey, his family, and his 1966 Plymouth Barracuda Formula S T/A. More pics of Harvey’s rally Barracuda can be found here: http://goo.gl/RA8QEs
Got on to the petrolicious homepage and seeing the side shot of this car at the top of the page had a massive impact to say the least… My dad has a 1968 barracuda 340 formula S, was same colour as the one pictured here, also a fast back. The car was his first car and I grew up with very fond memories of riding around in the passengers seat in the summers. Sadly it has not been on the road for 5 years due to it being restored, I miss it. Thank you very much for this video.
What a great video! The car is a stunning piece of good ole American Muscle. The Formula S package was around on the first and second gen Barracudas. It came with a more powerful engine and with some suspension mods that really helped the car handle better then people would think it could. There was a Barracuda S that won the Shell 4000 rally not bad for a muscle car. I remember Car and Driver did a test between Mustang, Barracuda S, and a Corvair. They said the Barracuda was a great compromise between the two. The Barracuda was almost as fast as the Mustang and offered handling that was almost as good as the corvair. In the end i like stories like this because it smashes the notion that all muscle cars an do is a straight line..thanks for showing off this wonderful beast.
As it happens, it was Chrysler engineer Scott Harvey – for whom Bob Gough navigated several La Carrera Panamericana races – who won that Shell 4000. Rumor has it that the ‘S’ in “Formula S” stood for Scott, who had suggested and designed many of the modifications that improved this car’s handling.
