My guess is the Cuda was first, and here is why…
The Sox and Martin team was probably the first to get one, and Plymouth was very anxious to have the car ready for a Car Show in the Coliseum in New York in the Spring of 1968. The day after the team was supposed to compete with the car.
When The Team picked up the car it didn´t have an engine nor trans in it. Interior was far from complete, and it took most of the Burlington Garage Staff three days to complete the Cuda in time for the trip to New York, for the Show and the race the following day.
It is likely, since Plymouth so badly wanted the car to be ready for the Show and the Race, no other team had gotten a car prior to the one the S&M Team got. The S&M Team was the Flagship of the Chrysler Plymouth Corporation, and it is not likely another team was allowed to steal the show at the Race Track this early spring day.
Now if Dodge had similar plans for their Dart, and since there probably was quite some rivalry between the two Companies I don´t know. Hopefully someone step in and put this story right.
One of the very first pictures of a race ready 1968 SS-Hemi Barracuda.
An absolutely stunning picture... If one was to pic one single picture of a Drag Race Car, this should be it. This is the beginning of a racing era beyond all
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