I added another 69 Cuda to my collection today

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jimharvard

JimHarvard
FABO Gold Member
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Location
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I am proud to say i added another 1969 Barracuda to my collection today.

I attend car cruises around the Pittsburgh, PA area in the summer and have met a lot of very nice folks - many of which now know that I have a collection of Barracudas.

About a month ago, a guy that i know called me to say that he had been driving in a smaller community just South of where I live in Scott Township (South Hills, Pittsburgh) and passed by a blue 69 Barracuda fastback sitting in the front yard of a house. He said he stopped and the owner was an older gentleman who had owned the car many years. My friend asked him if he would be interested in selling the car and the guy said, he was "attached" to the car but that he now had some difficult medical issues and that he would consider selling it "to the right person."

My friend called me and gave me the car owner's phone number and I called him to set up a time to look at the car.

The car has the deluxe interior option with headrest bucket seats. it's a 318 automatic with power steering and "factory air." it has the original air dash and the chrome vent attachment under the dash and a couple of belt pulleys on the motor. But the big air compressor is gone. The car does have a lot of rust on it but both front fenders only have small holes at the rockers and the rear rockers also have holes. There is some rust under the hood on the inner fender wells. And sadly, the rear big window was broken by a tree branch. However, the car has a LOT of very good parts.

I will be selling the 318 and the auto trans and the remaining factory air stuff including the dash bezel, under dash vents, what's left under the hood and even the rear window glass that still have the original "Chrysler Air Temp" decal. It's not my intention here to offer stuff for sale as this is not the right forum. I'm just "talking" (... Joey?... LOL!).

The car just arrived on the slide-back truck tonight and I haven't had a chance to clean it up and do a full inventory of parts that may be available. I'll be posting more pictures later.

I got this car for $3500 which I feel was fair to the owner given the car's condition and fair to me given what I wanted from the car. The OEM headrest seats will be going in the M-Code car i'm building. The driver's fender will go on the gold 69 383 fastback S car that i am also doing presently. I had posted here on FABO for a fender, however, the fenders and prices offered to me were not in line with my "internal price estimates" - but i do thank the FABO members who offered fenders to me. I'm finding that it may make more sense just to buy entire cars now rather than individual parts.

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Congrats Jim! Sounds like a good score for what you were looking for!
 
Nice catch!!

I find it amazing that a 69 Barracuda is sitting in the front yard under a tree in 2021. It gives hope to others looking for that Barn Find.
 
Congrats Jim! Sounds like a good score for what you were looking for!


hey Rusty Rat... thanks for the kind words. the complete interior in this car is "driver's quality" which means i "might" just put it in the M car. i will definitely use the headrest buckets though as they are still in decent shape. i do have a set of these seats but the coverings are completely gone and the frames are rusty. i was happy to have found those ones when i did. it will be great to just unbolt these new seats and bolt them back in as is. THAT'S the "easy" way to do these cars.. LOL! the other thing about this new car is that it has a bunch of parts that i have no use for or interest in which will greatly reduce the investment when i sell those parts. i love these cars, however, i DO NOT just "throw money at stuff." whatever i buy - the price and part value has to make sense to me. and as to the overall investment in all my cars, i have structured each deal to represent an investment where i could recoup 80-90% of the money in each car and as to my finished 68 and my 69 383 car, i could actually make money on these cars if i were to sell them. i would never tell a guy that he should just think about the "economics" of this hobby because these cars mean so much more to people than just a "bottom line" profit/loss analysis. but i have also seen guys who are losing HUGE amounts of money on their cars because they apparently spent too much going in; spent a lot fixing the car; and then unfortunately found out just how far "upside down" they were when they sold the car. i want to enjoy these cars - but i'm also NOT intentionally trying to lose large amounts of money either.
 
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Nice catch!!

I find it amazing that a 69 Barracuda is sitting in the front yard under a tree in 2021. It gives hope to others looking for that Barn Find.


i have to tell you that over the last two months, i have found at least 3 cars that i seriously considered buying as the price versus condition and parts/overall value of the car was a VERY good combination. i ran across a "decent" red 69 fastback in an police/towing impound lot in New Jersey that they only wanted $2000 for. no information about the mechanics but the body/glass was all there and in good condition. i could have got a 69 fastback with a 440/auto for $4500; i passed on a convertible that was all there but needed a lot of work that i could have got for $2500. i'm on Facebook marketplace every day looking for these cars. i start by looking within 500 miles of Pittsburgh. then i made a list of all the NASCAR tracks all over the country and then search 500 miles from the biggest city close to each of these tracks. i also just look at major cities out west. oddly, Oregon and Wisconsin seem to have been big Plymouth buyers' states. you just have to look. however, sometimes, like the car i just bought, somebody just calls and says "i saw a Barracuda sitting in front of a house."
 
In 1993 I went to Lewiston Idaho to recruit for the Air Force. Soon after I ran across a 1970 R/T Challenger Plum Crazy, 383, pistol grip 4spd sitting under a tree in a backyard. I stopped and talked to the homeowner. His mother bought it new and still had the window sticker. It was running when parked and the only pieces I saw missing was some trim around the back panel and one of the exhaust tips.

Mom wanted $8k and being a SSgt, married with 2 kids i couldn't afford it. Been kicking myself ever since!!
 
like the car i just bought, somebody just calls and says "i saw a Barracuda sitting in front of a house."
Nice find. That happens to me sometimes. I've always had Darts. When I was building my 68 Hardtop a guy pulls in my driveway and say I can have a 68 slant six 4 door sitting in his back yard for $100. Scored Nice driver Bumpers, mint grill and bezels, front and back glass ,Dash assembly and more.
 
Nice finding!
Is it not worth to resore it?
Only Partscar?


well, you've asked a difficult question. this car was likely ordered as a nice "comfortable driver" when it was new. it has a 318 with air and power steering and column shift auto. the buyer/dealership also ordered the deluxe interior option with the optional headrests. this would have been a nice "sporty" car when new but still a "family" car that was practical. if it were restored, it would probably have a value in the mid-$20's. however, based upon what i've seen in the mopar market right now, i'm not sure there would be a lot of demand for an "average" 1969 Barracuda like this one. i did get a good PA title with the car.

obviously, as many of these cars need to be saved from the crusher as possible. so even if i don't try to restore this car, it will be preserved. my other Barracuda's are more in demand right now being all 4 speeds and Formula S cars with some interesting options. my priority is to restore all those cars so using this "mom's car" to fix the other ones seems to be the right decision to me.
 
i'm going to sell some parts off the car but i didn't buy it to part out completely. i haven't gone through the car yet but i will be posting stuff here on FABO when i have a list of stuff i'm not going to use.
Selling parts off a car is the definition of parting a car out. Doesn't matter if it's one or a hundred parts, it won't be compete anymore.
 
i have to tell you that over the last two months, i have found at least 3 cars that i seriously considered buying as the price versus condition and parts/overall value of the car was a VERY good combination. i ran across a "decent" red 69 fastback in an police/towing impound lot in New Jersey that they only wanted $2000 for. no information about the mechanics but the body/glass was all there and in good condition. i could have got a 69 fastback with a 440/auto for $4500; i passed on a convertible that was all there but needed a lot of work that i could have got for $2500. i'm on Facebook marketplace every day looking for these cars. i start by looking within 500 miles of Pittsburgh. then i made a list of all the NASCAR tracks all over the country and then search 500 miles from the biggest city close to each of these tracks. i also just look at major cities out west. oddly, Oregon and Wisconsin seem to have been big Plymouth buyers' states. you just have to look. however, sometimes, like the car i just bought, somebody just calls and says "i saw a Barracuda sitting in front of a house."

This should be a sticky for guys getting into the Hobby and looking to make a purchase. Timing, position, and patience. Find sites that suit your taste and do your due diligence and be disciplined about it. Yep, deals are still out there.... And you know the drill hence what you are telling are the results! Nice....

JW
 
^^^ Yep it is a lot easier for me to buy a car than sell one!!!! And yes I am darn conservative and just buy projects.
Finding a good old Mopar to buy is like looking thru women, would have to sift thru thousands to find that ONE!!!
 
^^^ Yep it is a lot easier for me to buy a car than sell one!!!! And yes I am darn conservative and just buy projects.
Finding a good old Mopar to buy is like looking thru women, would have to sift thru thousands to find that ONE!!!

ha, i was just thinking of your roadrunner the other day...only 4 or 5 more years, and ill buy it from ya
 


LOL! .... i actually saw that ad on Facebook Marketplace in my "500 miles from Pittsburgh" search. as of yesterday, i think that package had been sold. that was a VERY good deal. i follow the parts market as well as the A-body cars and by my conservative calculation, this package was worth around $2400 if the parts were purchased separately. the price of $1500 for all of this together in one group was a deal, not to mention the difficulty and time in finding and assembling all these parts. it didn't surprise me to see this group sold quickly.
 
Selling parts off a car is the definition of parting a car out. Doesn't matter if it's one or a hundred parts, it won't be compete anymore.

well, OK, i understand your logic. but here is how i view the idea of "parting out" one of these cars. there were thousands of Barracudas manufactured between 1967 and 1969. probably 80% of all the parts on those three model years were/are interchangeable. AND, other than the engine, transmission and VIN number stamped components - and maybe a "few" things that do have "manufacture dates" on them - parts on these cars are all the same. there is no way of telling if a manual steering box on a 68 Barracuda was the one it was "born with" or was changed at some point. so i have sold parts off of the 68 "parts car" i have and i will be selling parts off of this latest 69 i purchased. where i draw the line on "ruining" a car by turning it into a "parts car" is when you start removing welded on body structure or parts. i "could" reinstall the few parts i've sold off the 68 and build that into a complete car. i could do the same with this last 69. so yes, if you sell a part off of a complete car, the car isn't complete any longer and you would have to replace the sold part if you were going to build the car. but in my mind, that didn't hurt the car nor did it foreclose the option of finishing the car.
 
well, OK, i understand your logic. but here is how i view the idea of "parting out" one of these cars. there were thousands of Barracudas manufactured between 1967 and 1969. probably 80% of all the parts on those three model years were/are interchangeable. AND, other than the engine, transmission and VIN number stamped components - and maybe a "few" things that do have "manufacture dates" on them - parts on these cars are all the same. there is no way of telling if a manual steering box on a 68 Barracuda was the one it was "born with" or was changed at some point. so i have sold parts off of the 68 "parts car" i have and i will be selling parts off of this latest 69 i purchased. where i draw the line on "ruining" a car by turning it into a "parts car" is when you start removing welded on body structure or parts. i "could" reinstall the few parts i've sold off the 68 and build that into a complete car. i could do the same with this last 69. so yes, if you sell a part off of a complete car, the car isn't complete any longer and you would have to replace the sold part if you were going to build the car. but in my mind, that didn't hurt the car nor did it foreclose the option of finishing the car.

Or someone could want to build a race car out of it and can just buy fiberglass fenders, if they tub it out the floors are not an issue cause they will cut most of that out as well. Same as for the interior, full race cars usually don’t have a full interior and racing seats. You could swipe some parts off of it and would still not be considered “parted out” ...you could also offer other missing parts to the new buyer at extra cost, still be a good project for someone
 
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I know where there is a really decent 340 formula S not advertised near me, which would put the car at about a 3 hr drive from Pittsburg.
Original paint car, all there, I have thought about buying it, but I already have too many.
 
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