1966 Plymouth Barracuda Formula S - Rare Early Mopar Muscle!

Plymouth Barracuda 1966 Description

View our eBay StoreSign up for our Email Newsletter 1966 Plymouth Barracuda Formula S offered with a reserve This exceptional example is very nice in every respect. and needs nothing really to be immediately showed or toured with confidence. Only about 10% of these cars were delivered with a manual gearbox which makes this car even more rare. Sporting an amazing original interior. finished in a very unusual and attractive color. the car has so many nice little touches its really a tour de force of the designers pen. Note the rear bar behind the seat and the fully collapsible rear seating perfect for your surfboard storage when heading out to the beach. The chrome foot rest and fuel tube in the rear. I coudl go on and on there are so many neat little things that make this car special. Outside the paint and chrome are without fault. all the glass is perfect. and note the subtle sweep ridge in the roof. This is really a great litlle car and when you start it up. thats when you really get the full impression of the this car-It's powerful! It sounds like a muscle car should. with a nice beefy V8 rumble. Early under the radar Muscle cars such as this one are rapidly gaining the interest of the marketplace. now is the time to buy this car! We have many more photographs of this car. please click on any image to be taken to our full-size image list! The Plymouth Barracuda is a two-door car that was manufactured by the Plymouth division of the Chrysler Corporation from 1964 to 1974 model years. The first-generation Barracuda. a fastback A-body coupe based on the Plymouth Valiant. had distinctive wraparound back glass and was available from 1964 to 1966. The second-generation 1967 to 1969 Barracuda. though still Valiant-based. was heavily redesigned. Second-generation A-body cars were available in fastback. notchback. and convertible versions. The 1970 to 1974 E-body Barracuda. no longer Valiant-based. was available as a coupe and a convertible. both of which were very different from the previous models. The final model year for the Barracuda was 1974. Automotive trends in the early to mid-1960s had all the U. S. manufacturers making vehicles in the rapidly increasing sporty compact-size market segment. Chrysler's A-body Plymouth Valiant was chosen for the focus of the company's efforts in this direction. Ford's Mustang. which significantly outsold the Barracuda. gave to this type of vehicle its colloquial name "pony car". but the Barracuda fastback. released on 1 April 1964. pre-dates the Mustang by two weeks. Plymouth's executives had wanted to name the car Panda. an idea that was unpopular with the car's designers. In the end. John Samsen's suggestion of Barracuda was selected. The Barracuda used the Valiant's 106 in wheelbase and the Valiant hood. headlamp bezels. windshield. vent windows. quarter panels. and bumpers; all other sheet metal and glass was new. The fastback body shape was achieved primarily with a giant back window. which wrapped down to the fender line. Pittsburgh Plate Glass (PPG) collaborated with Chrysler designers to produce this rear window. the largest ever installed on a standard production car to that time. Powertrains were identical to the Valiant's. including two versions of Chrysler's slant-6 six-cylinder engine. The standard-equipment engine had a piston displacement of 170 cu in and an output of 101 bhp ; the 225 cu in option raised the power output to 145 bhp The highest power option for 1964 was Chrysler's all-new 273 cu in V8. A compact and relatively light engine equipped with a two-barrel carburetor. it produced 180 bhp. The Barracuda sold for a base price of US$2. 12. In 1965. new options were introduced for the Barracuda as the competition among pony cars intensified. The 273 engine was made available as an upgraded Commando version with a four-barrel carburetor. 10. 5:1 compression. and a more aggressive camshaft with solid tappets. These and other upgrades increased the engine's output to 235 bhp in the Formula S which included the Commando V8 engine. suspension upgrades. larger wheels and tires. special emblems. and a tachometer. Disc brakes and factory-installed air conditioning became available after the start of the 1965 model year. For 1966. the Barracuda received new taillights. new front sheet metal. and a new dashboard. The latter had room for oil pressure and tachometer gauges on models so equipped. The 1966 front sheet metal which. except for the grille. was shared with the Valiant. and gave a more rectilinear contour to the fenders. Deluxe models featured fender-top turn signal indicators with a stylized fin motif. The bumpers were larger. and the grille featured a strong grid theme. A center console was optional for the first time. Although the first Barracudas were heavily based on the contemporary Valiants. Plymouth wanted them perceived as distinct models. Consequently. the "Valiant" chrome script that appeared on the 1964 model's trunk lid was phased out on the 1965 model in the U. S. market. For 1966. a Barracuda-specific stylized fish logo was introduced. Our Ebay Policies: Significant Cars is one of the largest Collector Car Brokers and Dealers in the Country. Since 2003 we have worked hard to "change the way collector cars find new homes" by providing unparralleled web presentation of the cars we are representing. Most of our cars have over 30 photographs. and these can be viewed by visiting our website (our eBay handle dot com). or by clicking on any of the photographs in the black background area of our EBay listings. 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