CAR CULTURE
Plymouth Barracuda & ’Cuda: 1964–1974 | From Glass-Back Fastback to Hemi Icon
The Plymouth Barracuda story began in 1964 as a sleek, fastback evolution of the Valiant, defined by its massive wraparound rear window. In Formula S guise, it quickly found its teeth with bucket seats, GT stripes, and the high-winding 273 Commando V8. As the pony car wars intensified, the Barracuda evolved into a handsome standalone model, offering notchback, fastback, and convertible variants to rival the Mustang.
By the late '60s, the horsepower wars were in high gear. The Formula S graduated to the potent 340 V8 before Plymouth began stuffing monster 383 and 440 big-blocks under the hood. The 1970 redesign saw the arrival of the legendary ’Cuda, a brutal E-body machine that offered everything from the high-revving 340 small-block to the "Big Daddy" of them all—the mighty 426 Hemi V8.
Tunnel Ram has curated this gallery of original, vintage print advertisements, charting the Barracuda’s decade-long journey from 1964 to its final performance in 1974. Step back in time and explore the marketing that defined one of the most iconic American muscle cars ever built. »»
