The 1970 Plymouth Barracuda was an instant classic. The design was muscular with its long hood and short rear deck. The new Barracuda was larger and wider than the previous model and best of all it could hold all the big block engines in Plymouth’s inventory. The Hemi and the 440ci big block could easily fit between the fender wells.
The engine choices were plentiful with no less that eleven power plants offered. Everything from a lowly 125 horsepower 198 cubic inch slant six to the mighty 426 cubic inch Hemi monster producing 425 horsepower. The Plymouth pony car buyer had plenty of engine options in 1970.
There were basically four models offered in 1970: the base Barracuda, the Gran Coupe, the ‘Cuda and the AAR ‘Cuda. The base Barracuda was aimed at the budget conscious customer. The Gran Coupe was the luxury model with several upgrades including special molding and wheel lips on the exterior. The interior upgrades included leather bucket seats and a molded headliner with a console.
The performance model was the ‘Cuda. It came with the 383ci big block standard and the 440ci, both with one 4bbl carburetor and a “six pack” that mounted three smaller two barrel carburetors together and the legendary 426ci Hemi. All ‘Cudas came with upgraded suspension, larger breaks and larger tires.
Performance wise the big block ‘Cudas were track dominators. The Hemi could push the pony car down the ¼ mile lane in the low 13 seconds. One fault with those heavy big blocks engines was the weight. All that weight on the front end seriously hampered the handling of the car. These big blocks were never designed for the slalom course.
For those looking for both fast straight line performance and the ability to survive a curve or two the AAR ‘Cuda was the obvious choice. The AAR or All American Racers was designed for the Trans-Am circuit. The retail version of the AAR came with a 340ci small block engine matched with the “six pack” carburetor system. The exhaust system was unique to the AAR ‘Cuda. It exited the car just in front of the rear wheels and looked just like the exhaust outlets on the real AAR race car. Performance both in the ¼ mile and the slalom were very acceptable.
This was the pinnacle year for the might muscle car. The performance cars available from all manufactures were plentiful and some would say that the muscle car had reached their limits based upon the technology available at the time. The ‘Cuda was defiantly the right kind of car it just came along a little too late. If this car had come along in 1968 it would have been a much better seller.
