Barracuda

When all was said and done in 1974, the Barracuda had by far its worst sales year ever, and production was only 11,734, which also represented the lowest production number for any pony car.

In 1973 the Muscle Car world was fading, and that year’s Arab oil embargo didn’t help. The 73 Model was almost an exact clone of the 72 except for the use of 5 MPH bumper reinforcements on front and rear.

As the ‘72’s hit the streets, both emissions and safety were grabbing government (and insurance company) attention. In response, the big-block was gone from the ‘Cuda’s option sheet.

The ‘71 Plymouth Barracuda was very underrated car at the time. With a few changes coming to the ‘71 the new grille gave the appearance of the car having teeth like a Barracuda, and, for the first (and only) time the Barracuda had quad headlamps.

Serious about performance in 1969, Plymouth was upgrading the Barracuda as a serious contender to be reckoned with.

The new Barracuda was completely restyled and no longer shared any kind of sheet metal with the Valiant, although under the skin the platform was still shared with that car. The engine bay was widened so the big-block 383 would fit.

The Barracuda received only minor styling changes for 1968 – the big news was under the hood. The 225-cube slant six continued as the entry-level powerplant, but even the base V8 was significantly upgraded, with a huge bore increase resulting in 318 cubic inches, still with a 2-Bbl carburetor.

The Barracuda beat the Mustang to market by two weeks (April 1, 1964).

Much stayed the same in 1965 for the Plymouth Barracuda. The big news was the introduction of the new "Formula S" performance option that included the Commando V8. The standard 170 slant six was replaced by the 225 Slant Six as the standard engine.

Engines were the same in 1965 and 1966. Like the 1965 models, no badges on the car indicated the car was a Valiant Barracuda, though it was still a Valiant with a fastback and modified grill (which, as with prior ‘Cudas, would bolt into a Valiant).