Tuesday, October 09, 2012

Whew! Close Call!

From USA Today

Stunning Plymouth Barracuda droptop saved from junkers


Talk about rising from the grave: One of the cars expected to fetch big money at Barrett-Jackson's Scottsdale auction in January will be a 1971 Plymouth Barracuda that had been abandoned, covered in weeds and just days from being shredded at the scrappers.

This particular 'Cuda convertible was one of only 11 made, painted in that famous "Plum Crazy" purple. It has been restored and was part of Barrett-Jackson's own display in Scottsdale.

A "Hemi 'Cuda hunter," Harold Sullivan, is the one who found it neglected on New Year's Eve in 2001, five days before it was headed to a scrapyard, Barrett-Jackson says. It underwent a two-year restoration. It has a 426-cubic-inch Hemi V-8 with two four-barrel carburetors, an automatic transmission and was the only model year that Barracudas had four headlights and fender gills.

"It is a true automotive milestone and extraordinary example of 'American Muscle' at its finest," said Craig Jackson, CEO of Barrett-Jackson.
I'd love to drive this baby, fer sure. Too bad I'd have to be some kind of multi millionaire to afford it!

8 comments:

lisa said...

I think a lot of us would love to have that baby! (or even the money to able to buy it)

Jeffro said...

I think you are right, Lisa!

threecollie said...

Whoa, what a beauty!

Anonymous said...

I'd rather take the check, thank you very much.
If I choose.

Then I'll buy myself a Jaguar and hire a chauffeur.

Jeffro said...

Ahhh, Tatyana! The tactile world of driving a performance oriented car is something you have never experienced. There is something primal about a huge thumping V8 pounding your ears and vibrating your body, and the feel of the car dancing under your fingertips when it breaks the rear tires loose in a burnout. Or the g-forces under your control while cornering hard with a sports car - feeling the power make the car dance at the edge of traction, the tires starting to protest by squealing...

There is something truly satisfying about driving well.

drjim said...

I hate that color, and I'd NEVER get a convertible with that much torque and horsepower, but I sure am glad *somebody* saved it!

Jeffro said...

I'm no fan of convertibles, either, and it's not just because some big block could twist the car into a pretzel. I like my creature comforts, and convertibles are too much of a compromise for me.

But I still like that color! Plum Crazy, man!

drjim said...

I'd always feel like I was driving a Popsicle!
I was just never a fan of those colors, like the "Grabber Green", Panther Pink", and the others.
There was a "poor little rich girl" in my old hometown town who wanted to hang out with us bad-ass street racers, and try to be cool, so Daddy bought her Dodge Challenger R/T convertible in Panther Pink with white interior and top.
It was good for making beer runs, but had power everything, a TorqeFlite, and the deluxe interior, so it weighed a ton (or two!), and needed that 440 to get out of it's own way!