Saving a '66 Barracuda...my story
On the spur of the moment, I recently bought a 99% original and complete, one owner '66 Barracuda, loaded with options including factory air, Sure-Grip rear, the Commando engine package, with 118k original miles. I went to an auction to buy a tractor with a front end loader, and came home with this rare find instead.
Sitting amongst a couple hundred or more, generic cars and trucks, and another hundred or so tractors, used fencing and old farm implements, was a forlorn looking pale yellow Barracuda. It was right next to a nice restored Oldsmobile convertible, which was the only other "interesting" car there. The Olds drew a lot of attention, and nobody was really looking at the little Plymouth.
I had seen the car from the road, prior to the auction, but figured it would go for a solid $4500 to $5000, and wasn't thinking much about it. I already have two Dodge Stealths, along with a '99 Dodge Durango and a couple GMC work trucks. Last thing I needed was another car, even a sweet one like that. They started it up, and boy did it sound good. But the Olds was shiny with fairly recent charcoal gray paint, and the Plymouth looked kind of poor with her dull pale yellow coat and several surface rust spots. A couple people kept hanging out by the Barracuda, pointing at the engine and admiring the interior, but the majority walked right by her, and admired the Oldsmobile. I thought to myself, "this isn't going to end well for the Barracuda...unless there's some real car enthusiasts in this crowd, not just two-bit used car junk dealers looking for a quick flip."
Took a closer look, and noticed the Commando badging...I had assumed it was going to be a Slant Six car...haha! It turned out to be a quite healthy and lively 273 4bbl with the Commando/engine chrome package, with an automatic transmission and center console shifter. The interior was excellent, and if it weren't for a small but unfortunate dent in the driver's side rear corner right under the trunk lid. It was complete and practically untouched at 118k miles...a real survivor. Even still has the little plastic clips and wire ties, and the spark plug wire clips still on the chrome finned Commando valve covers.
The auctioneer finally got to the Olds, and the bidding was pretty intense, as I expected, and it sold for around $8500. Still thought, ok, there's people here who know cars, it's going for over $5000 I'm sure. I stuck around out of curiosity, to see how much it went for, attempting to distract my spouse's attention..."why don't you go check out the old Ford 600 with the three point hitch and front end loader?"...you know, "just in case". lol
It didn't work. My affinity for old Mopars has never gone away, even though I'd grudgingly dispersed my previous collection in the interest of martial harmony. So I waited until the auction started, certain it would go for at least $3500 to $4000, even in this unlikely crowd. The car was complete, it ran great, and it was a wonderful unrestored classic. Bidding started slow, and the junk used car geezer dropped out not much over scrap price. The guy from the drag strip thought he had it for sure, but I decided...if he wants it, he better want it bad enough to pay for it, because if it's going cheap, it's going home with me.
And I was fully prepared to ignore any whining about it. ;)
I ended up buying it, after a brief battle of bids with the guy from the dragstrip. I just couldn't let that car go to a small town "buy-here-pay-here" junker dealer, let alone see it end up with 36" rims and a flea market subwoofer rattling that enormous back glass with thumping and muffled obscenities.
And I knew the other guy would either drop a big block in it and run the hell out of it, or flip it quick to who knows what kind of home.
Neither cared a damn about the car, what a survivor it was. And the owner, an elderly man, was obviously emotional about parting with it.
The car meant a lot to him; he had bought it new, went on his honeymoon in it, and had resisted all efforts from his family to make him get rid of it. But now he was ready, and it didn't look good for his beloved car, one he had owned for almost half a century. It was going to come to a bad end, and he was there to see it.
Oh hell no.
I got it at an excellent, but fair price, and drove it home, after hearing the entire story of the car from the original owner himself, and reassuring him it would not be going to someone who would destroy it.
I've spent the past few weeks going through it, and doing what's basically the "120k service". Took it to a friend who's a real mechanic, put it up on the lift, and checked everything out. Everything so far has been nothing but good news.
No rust other than the surface spots on the body, the floorpans are perfect, there's no rust or flakiness under the wheelwells. Transmission shifts smooth and sweet once we did the filter and fluid change. Factory a/c even works, amazingly.
So now it's my daily driver, to work and where ever.
Yes, it needs new paint, and that little dent in the rear corner under the trunk lid fixed, but it's such an iconic car. And reliable!
I still need a tractor with a front end loader, so I don't know how long I can keep her. But at least I can wait until I find a good home for her, and know it will be loved and taken care of, and cherished for the solid, classic survivor she is. And until then, I'll enjoy driving her.
Here's a picture of the odometer, one of the interior, and one of the car before I bought it, sitting with a horse trailer, and old camper (that sold for $40!), and farm equipment, at the auction preview by the highway.
On the spur of the moment, I recently bought a 99% original and complete, one owner '66 Barracuda, loaded with options including factory air, Sure-Grip rear, the Commando engine package, with 118k original miles. I went to an auction to buy a tractor with a front end loader, and came home with this rare find instead.
Sitting amongst a couple hundred or more, generic cars and trucks, and another hundred or so tractors, used fencing and old farm implements, was a forlorn looking pale yellow Barracuda. It was right next to a nice restored Oldsmobile convertible, which was the only other "interesting" car there. The Olds drew a lot of attention, and nobody was really looking at the little Plymouth.
I had seen the car from the road, prior to the auction, but figured it would go for a solid $4500 to $5000, and wasn't thinking much about it. I already have two Dodge Stealths, along with a '99 Dodge Durango and a couple GMC work trucks. Last thing I needed was another car, even a sweet one like that. They started it up, and boy did it sound good. But the Olds was shiny with fairly recent charcoal gray paint, and the Plymouth looked kind of poor with her dull pale yellow coat and several surface rust spots. A couple people kept hanging out by the Barracuda, pointing at the engine and admiring the interior, but the majority walked right by her, and admired the Oldsmobile. I thought to myself, "this isn't going to end well for the Barracuda...unless there's some real car enthusiasts in this crowd, not just two-bit used car junk dealers looking for a quick flip."
Took a closer look, and noticed the Commando badging...I had assumed it was going to be a Slant Six car...haha! It turned out to be a quite healthy and lively 273 4bbl with the Commando/engine chrome package, with an automatic transmission and center console shifter. The interior was excellent, and if it weren't for a small but unfortunate dent in the driver's side rear corner right under the trunk lid. It was complete and practically untouched at 118k miles...a real survivor. Even still has the little plastic clips and wire ties, and the spark plug wire clips still on the chrome finned Commando valve covers.
The auctioneer finally got to the Olds, and the bidding was pretty intense, as I expected, and it sold for around $8500. Still thought, ok, there's people here who know cars, it's going for over $5000 I'm sure. I stuck around out of curiosity, to see how much it went for, attempting to distract my spouse's attention..."why don't you go check out the old Ford 600 with the three point hitch and front end loader?"...you know, "just in case". lol
It didn't work. My affinity for old Mopars has never gone away, even though I'd grudgingly dispersed my previous collection in the interest of martial harmony. So I waited until the auction started, certain it would go for at least $3500 to $4000, even in this unlikely crowd. The car was complete, it ran great, and it was a wonderful unrestored classic. Bidding started slow, and the junk used car geezer dropped out not much over scrap price. The guy from the drag strip thought he had it for sure, but I decided...if he wants it, he better want it bad enough to pay for it, because if it's going cheap, it's going home with me.
And I was fully prepared to ignore any whining about it. ;)
I ended up buying it, after a brief battle of bids with the guy from the dragstrip. I just couldn't let that car go to a small town "buy-here-pay-here" junker dealer, let alone see it end up with 36" rims and a flea market subwoofer rattling that enormous back glass with thumping and muffled obscenities.
And I knew the other guy would either drop a big block in it and run the hell out of it, or flip it quick to who knows what kind of home.
Neither cared a damn about the car, what a survivor it was. And the owner, an elderly man, was obviously emotional about parting with it.
The car meant a lot to him; he had bought it new, went on his honeymoon in it, and had resisted all efforts from his family to make him get rid of it. But now he was ready, and it didn't look good for his beloved car, one he had owned for almost half a century. It was going to come to a bad end, and he was there to see it.
Oh hell no.
I got it at an excellent, but fair price, and drove it home, after hearing the entire story of the car from the original owner himself, and reassuring him it would not be going to someone who would destroy it.
I've spent the past few weeks going through it, and doing what's basically the "120k service". Took it to a friend who's a real mechanic, put it up on the lift, and checked everything out. Everything so far has been nothing but good news.
No rust other than the surface spots on the body, the floorpans are perfect, there's no rust or flakiness under the wheelwells. Transmission shifts smooth and sweet once we did the filter and fluid change. Factory a/c even works, amazingly.
So now it's my daily driver, to work and where ever.
Yes, it needs new paint, and that little dent in the rear corner under the trunk lid fixed, but it's such an iconic car. And reliable!
I still need a tractor with a front end loader, so I don't know how long I can keep her. But at least I can wait until I find a good home for her, and know it will be loved and taken care of, and cherished for the solid, classic survivor she is. And until then, I'll enjoy driving her.
Here's a picture of the odometer, one of the interior, and one of the car before I bought it, sitting with a horse trailer, and old camper (that sold for $40!), and farm equipment, at the auction preview by the highway.
