Pleasanton Street Sighting - 1967 Plymouth Barracuda Convertible

The holiday season is nearing the home stretch now. Time for another replay of "All I Want For Christmas is 'U'". Are you sick of it yet? Buick, Datsun, Peugeot, Austin-Healey, Lotus, Triumph, and now back to America with a 1967 Plymouth Barracuda convertible in a seasonably festive downtown area. While the other cars this month were dug out of my archives, this one was just spotted a week ago as of publishing.

San Jose Street Sighting - 1970 Plymouth Barracuda Gran Coupe

Every year for the 4th of July I like to do a group of features called Independents' Week, focusing on independent American automakers. But since my archives are out of those right now, we're looking at defunct mainstream American brands in the colors of the American flag. We've already had a pair of Mercurys representing red and white. Third in the set this week, representing the color blue, is a 1970 Plymouth Barracuda Gran Coupe.

San Francisco Street Sighting - 1965 Plymouth Barracuda

This one broke my heart when I saw it. I've become a big fan of the 1965 Plymouth Barracuda, with its sporty profile, big wraparound rear window, and underdog ponycar status. So naturally I got excited when I ran across this lovely silver fastback while in the city with my dad. A near-immaculate 273 V8 car with black Formula S styled racing stripes and mag wheels, how can you lose? I got out of the car and photographed it. Then I got around to the passenger side...

San Francisco Street Sighting - 1967 Plymouth Barracuda

As you probably know, I'm a sucker for '60s muscle cars. However, like most people I've always been dedicated more to the Fords and Chevys than the Mopar products. It's not that Chryslers, Dodges and Plymouths of this period were bad; far from it. Some of the greatest muscle machines ever made came from the Pentastar. And in 1967, a slow-selling variant of the Plymouth Valiant economy car came into its own.

San Francisco Street Sighting - 1965 Plymouth Barracuda

Before it was a neon-colored, billboard-striped street terror known simply as the 'Cuda, the Plymouth Barracuda was more like this: a sporty fastback version of the Plymouth Valiant. It was introduced in 1964 as a competitor to Ford's Mustang, but it never would be a serious threat in the ponycar wars, at least not in the sales department.