1964 Barracuda
- The 1964 Plymouth Barracuda's rear window was the largest piece of glass (14.4 sq-ft) ever installed on an American car.
- Unlike any other year, all automatic 1964 Barracudas had a push button shifter on the dashboard.
- The 1964 Barracuda was the first pony car. The Barracuda would become one of the great muscle cars of the period.
The new Barracuda was based upon Plymouth’s compact Valiant. It was designed to compete with Ford’s new Mustang. To say that the Barracuda was just a restyled Valiant was an understatement. The car even had a “Valiant” badge on the rear of the car. Some of the major changes included the large rear glass that turned the car into a fastback. Also included were standard bucket seats, are rear bench seat that could fold down and substantially increase the cargo area. The major weakness of the Barracuda was the available power plants. The engines were underpowered compared to options available in the new Mustang. The Ford could be purchased with a 289ci engine with 271 horsepower. The top of the line engine available for the Plymouth was a 273ci engine with only 180 horsepower. The 1964 Barracuda was not yet a high performance muscle car.
1964 Barracuda Statistics |
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| 1964 Barracuda 273 | |
| Base Price | $2365 |
| 0-60 Time | 12.9 sec |
| 1/4 Mile Time | 17.8 sec @ 72 mph |
| Engine Used | 273ci/180hp |
| Source | n/a |
Production Numbers |
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| Hardtop | Total | |
| Barracuda 273 | 20,530 | 20,530 |
| Total production of all Barracudas in 1964 was 23,443 | ||
Available Engines |
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| Code | Size Cubic Inch | Fuel System | Horsepower @ rpm | Torque @ rpm |
| I6 | 170 | 1x1bbl | 101 @ 4400 | 155 @ 2400 |
| I6 | 225 | 1x1bbl | 145 @ 4000 | 215 @ 2400 |
| V8 | 273 | 1x2bbl | 180 @ 4200 | 260 @ 1600 |









