How many 65 Hemi Barracudas were built?

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seabee

seabee

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Today I had a guy follow me to my house, and park in my driveway while I was pulling into the garage. Turns out it was just an old timer who wanted to talk cars, and I'm always happy to hear some old stories from those who lived and drove in the era my car was built in (I'm 35). He commented on my kegerator behind the car and I poured us a few beers and we shot the stuff for awhile. Of course, his tales seemed extra tall after a couple beers and he got more animated about the race stories etc..some of which I have heard from other guys in exact detail, but it was fun none the less. But one thing he said to me stuck out like a red flag since I have heard it at least a half dozen times before:

"What year is your Barracuda?"
"It's a 66'"
"Ah, I had a 65' with a hemi"

Last week a guy ran across 4 lanes of busy traffic to tell me the same thing. Maybe it's the Southerner in me, but I don't correct elders when they are mid-story and see no real point in doing so. But it now has me wondering, was there a 65 Barracuda option with a Hemi? Of course I know the answer is "No" but it is really strange that from the half dozen or so that told me this story it was never a 64, 67, 68,.......always a 65' and always a hemi. Was there a popular 65 Barracuda Hemi project in Hot Rod Magazine or something that has woven it's way into the tall tales of ancient gear heads? Like many of the old racing tales you've heard over and over again?
 
well u can put a hemi in it lol i got a 1/2 hemi in mine lol sant 6 car may be we can do some parts trading i have a 66 parts car not much left tho
 
The ''D'' Dart was known as the ''Baby Hemi''.
Maybe that's what they are referring to.
 
Built by who? There were no doubt a couple "Hemi Under Glass" race cars built over the years, but none of these were factory. The 426 Hemi was a B-body engine only, with the exception of one batch of 1968 Darts/Barracudas which were not intended for the street.

I've had enough old cars and trucks over the years to have heard just about every has been/wannabe BS story out there. Smile and nod.
 
Richard Petty built one to go Drag racing in 65 in retaliation to Nascar's attempt to ban the hemi.
 
As recently as last night I had a guy tell me, "I had a car exactly like yours (64 Barracuda) when I got out of high school except mine had a Hemi in it. Ya nothing could beat that push button tranny with a Hemi." I don't know if some folks just make up stories or if the age of psychadelia (the acid age) caused them to believe weird halleucinations........
 
If you were to tell them a Hemi wasn't an option they would say you were an idiot. If you strapped them to a lie detector they would pass. They have told that story so many times that it is now true to them and there is no way to convince them otherwise. Best just to smile and nod.
 
Actually the 273 Commando was called a baby Hemi. Not that it was a Hemi, but it had black crinkle valve covers, a chrome air cleaner and breathers, and ran like a scaulded dog in its day.
 
LOL! Yep just smile and nod. Thats what I do. You can try correcting them but will find that does not turn out so well most of the time.
 
The only factory built one was the owned by my dad... I wish we would have kept it. He traded it for some beans!
 
I've had so many guys lie to me about stuff, I've lost count. And then, there's the compeletely clueless, the "440 hemis", the hemis with a sixpack", the "427 hemis" and of course ALL 383s have "440 heads" and ALL chivvies swapped into other cars are a "Vette motor."

I used to sell auto parts, and one afternoon some guy came in with a nice ?62? Vette, needed some of the big air/ defroster hose under the hood. So I went out to measure it, and a crowd gathered.

Some guy (of course) says "327?" as if you can tell by lookin.

Some OTHER guy says "yeah you can always tell these Vette blocks, THEY'RE JUST A LITTLE SHORTER THAN REGULAR CHIVVIES." I don't think any of us said a word. The owner and I just looked at each other.
 
Tony Fields said:
Not the same but I had a guy tell me his dad had the V6 Cummins
in his Dodge. I just let it go.
Click to expand...

Actually, this "could be", but not from the factory. A number of years ago some local loggers swapped all KINDS of diesels into their "woods rigs" typically 3/4T - 1T Fords and Dodge pu's. There was everything from small Detroits, 4 banger turboed Cats, to at least one Cummins V6.

AND I don't know if it's in production yet, but Cummins was envolved with developing a V6 and V8 diesel for Dodge pu's
 
It'll really confuse the know-it-alls when you tell them that the Hemi isn't actually a true hemispherical combustion chamber at all and the only engine that has a true hemispherical chamber is the "Y" block 318. Maybe thats the engine they are talking about!!??!!! Also not available in the 65 Cuda though!!! Geof
 
guy i used to work with would go on and on about the T/A cars and swear the T/A heads only fit a T/A block. i just smiled and nodded. knew when the shooting started, i was going to left out 8-)
 
Not from personal knowledge, but learned from Internet research: "A match race against Arnie Beswick at Southeastern Dragway in Dallas, Georgia on February 28, 1965 ended in tragedy. A piece of the front suspension on “43 jr” malfunctioned causing the car to go out of control into the crowd of spectators. Several of the spectators were injured, including an 8 year old boy that was killed."

You can read all about Petty's drag racing experience here: http://www.myrideisme.com/Blog/king-richard-petty-a-drag-racer/
 
..and if I remember correctly, Richard was so distraught that he promptly took that car back to his shop and dumped it in the rivine behind the shop where it was then bulldozed with a number of other wrecks and scrap cars. Only recently unearthed but in unsaveable condition, I believe that Richard had turned down a pretty generous offer to buy that car because of it's tragic circumstances!! Geof
 
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