'69 Barracuda Build Ideas

[Snake45]

A while back I bought a resin hood for the MPC/AMT ’69 Barracuda kit that includes the hood scoop of the ’69 440 6-pack cars. It’s a cool piece and I’m thinking of building a model around it. Would maybe like to try a factory phantom—a pure “what-if.”

Which one of these ideas would work best for such a project?

1.       ’69 AAR Cuda: This would have most or all of the ’70 AAR styling cues on the ’69 body—black hood, wing spoiler, side-exit exhaust, bigger tires on rear, and so forth, probably in a bright color. 340 engine, of course.

2.       ’69 383+6: The 440 engine was a mess in the ’69 Barracuda and a 6-bbl version would have been even worse (and been too much competition for the B-body cars), but what about a 383 six-pack, sort of a little brother to the 440+6 Road Runner? Would still have been plenty hairy and competed with 396 Novas. This would have a black hood and black open wheels, same as the 440+6 B-bodies.

3.       ’69 340+6: Visually the same as the 383+6 just described, but with a 340. This would have been a real kick-ass but very streetable little car.

Thoughts, ideas, opinions welcome. Fire away!

[Motor City]

Wasn't the '69 Barracuda one of those messed up tools that had emblems and other details resurrected?  Is it too jacked up of a kit to make anything realistic out of?

[Snake45]

1 minute ago, Motor City said:

Wasn't the '69 Barracuda one of those messed up tools that had emblems and other details resurrected?  Is it too jacked up of a kit to make anything realistic out of?

Irrelevant for purposes of my phantom model. 

[Mark]

The restored '69 body is somewhat different from the original annual kit body (side trim is gone) but is pretty clean overall.  The chassis is a bit heavy-handed, but that can be swapped for something else with more detail.

[CapSat 6]

5 minutes ago, Motor City said:

Wasn't the '69 Barracuda one of those messed up tools that had emblems and other details resurrected?  Is it too jacked up of a kit to make anything realistic out of?

It's not too bad- it mostly builds a decent '69 Barracuda. They restored the Formula S emblems & turn signal indicators to the body.

The mold is just kind of tired- the grille in later issues is a bit soft & sloppy. On top of that, the chassis is very simple, and has inaccurate front inner fenders, owing to it's early annual roots.

The body & interior still aren't that bad. It takes a bit of work (a LOT of cutting), but putting the chassis & engine room (& perhaps that nice small block) from the AMT '71 Duster works wonders.  

[CapSat 6]

22 minutes ago, Snake45 said:

A while back I bought a resin hood for the MPC/AMT ’69 Barracuda kit that includes the hood scoop of the ’69 440 6-pack cars. It’s a cool piece and I’m thinking of building a model around it. Would maybe like to try a factory phantom—a pure “what-if.”

Which one of these ideas would work best for such a project?

1.       ’69 AAR Cuda: This would have most or all of the ’70 AAR styling cues on the ’69 body—black hood, wing spoiler, side-exit exhaust, bigger tires on rear, and so forth, probably in a bright color. 340 engine, of course.

2.       ’69 383+6: The 440 engine was a mess in the ’69 Barracuda and a 6-bbl version would have been even worse (and been too much competition for the B-body cars), but what about a 383 six-pack, sort of a little brother to the 440+6 Road Runner? Would still have been plenty hairy and competed with 396 Novas. This would have a black hood and black open wheels, same as the 440+6 B-bodies.

3.       ’69 340+6: Visually the same as the 383+6 just described, but with a 340. This would have been a real kick-ass but very streetable little car.

Thoughts, ideas, opinions welcome. Fire away!

I love questions like these. Are you thinking actual phantom study, or a street machine with these elements? I think these cars & kits are pretty overlooked. I have a secret project that I'm very psyched about (nothing like these three proposals) that I'm working on using one of these as we speak.  

#1 could be considered an early prototype of the AAR/ T/A package released in 1970. There are factory pics floating around of the Challenger proposal done up with all of the T/A gear, but no stripes, and little "V8" emblems on the fenders. I always thought that car looked cool.

#2 is similar to something that was built in 1:1 a few years back. A builder found a real proposal that Tom Hoover made regarding an A Body drag special they wanted to create for 1971. It was to be based on the Duster/ Demon, and it was sort of like a '68 Hemi A body, but using a 440+6 drivetrain & Max Wedge heads. The thinking was that the proposed car could build awareness of Mopar's Drag program surrounding their big block engines. One Demon was built this way, following Tom Hoover's proposal; do a web search and you will find it. I think they even used a Six Pack hood for it.

#3 might be the way to go. Sort of a mini-A12. That's my vote!     

Edited January 15, 2020 by CapSat 6
errant "s"

[CapSat 6]

Here is that Demon drag package build:

https://moparconnectionmagazine.com/gallery-what-might-have-been-tom-hoovers-super-stock-440-demon/

The original rendering used the Six pack hood, they used a Max Wedge style hood for the build form some reason. I do remember reading that Chrysler did air flow studies of all of their hood scoops, and found that the Six Pack was the most effective by far, since it rose the intakes above the boundary layer of "dirty" air just above the hood...so it stands to reason that they would have used the Six Pack on any drag specials after 1968...

[Motor City]

Mark and Bill,

Thank you very much for the detailed information.

Jim

 

[Sam I Am]

Snake,

I would go with #1. That sounds like a great idea....and since I have a kit, I might "borrow" that idea myself. ?

[THarrison351]

Snake, I kind of favor the the phantom #2, but I would have personally punched an RB block out to 500+ cubes with giant Indy heads all disguised as a 383+6. love the 67-69 bodies. Hate that they were never really mean't for big blocks.

[1972coronet]

Edelbrock made a 3x2 intake for the B-Series ( 350-361-383-400 ) at the same time as the 1969 Six Pack / Six Barrel 440 ; so my vote is obviously for a 383 Six Barrel "test model" . 

Likewise , a "test mule" 340+6 would be fitting as well .

Another option ? Proposed / test mule 1969 "BO29" ---- if the 1968 models weren't such a financial-loss for Chrysler .

[iBorg]

I'd be interested in the AAR concept. My only concern is the rear spoiler. The rear on the street car just doesn't seem the right shape for a spoiler.

[afx]

[michaelbaskett]

Something like this ?????

[Snake45]

4 minutes ago, michaelbaskett said:

Something like this ?????

Uh, no. 

[CapSat 6]

3 hours ago, afx said:

Add a lower-profile hood scoop and you have a REAL winner there!!!

I might have to build that one.

[Snake45]

Thanks for all the discussion and ideas, everyone!  I feel enthusiasm to actually do this building! 

23 hours ago, CapSat 6 said:

I love questions like these. Are you thinking actual phantom study, or a street machine with these elements?

#3 might be the way to go. Sort of a mini-A12. That's my vote!     

Not a study or factory "show car," nor a Day 2 "street machine" with elements. The idea is to make the thing look as if it were an actual factory production car. 

Mini-A12....I like the way you think! 

13 hours ago, Sam I Am said:

Snake,

I would go with #1. That sounds like a great idea....and since I have a kit, I might "borrow" that idea myself. ?

Hey, go for it! I'm sure we'll have different interpretations of the basic idea. 

13 hours ago, 1972coronet said:

Edelbrock made a 3x2 intake for the B-Series ( 350-361-383-400 ) at the same time as the 1969 Six Pack / Six Barrel 440 ; so my vote is obviously for a 383 Six Barrel "test model" . 

Likewise , a "test mule" 340+6 would be fitting as well .

Another option ? Proposed / test mule 1969 "BO29" ---- if the 1968 models weren't such a financial-loss for Chrysler .

Hmmmmmmm.......

12 hours ago, iBorg said:

I'd be interested in the AAR concept. My only concern is the rear spoiler. The rear on the street car just doesn't seem the right shape for a spoiler.

I was originally thinking of the wing type spoiler, but the '70 AAR had a duck-butt type spoiler, didn't it? Hmmmm, you might have a point here. I can't think of another kit spoiler that would "bolt on" to the '69 Cuda body, but I might see if I can make one out of epoxy putty or something of the sort. I guess I could always fall back to a wing--Ford was using them on Mach 1s in '69, so they were around. Hmmmmmmm. 

5 hours ago, afx said:

Very sharp (except for the mini-Pro Stock type hood scoop). This is a modern-day rendering but there might be some useful ideas here for a '69 AAR. The front spoiler, for example. And that rear spoiler's not bad looking either. And maybe some distinctive grille treatment? Hmmmmmm......

Thanks for the ideas! 

[afx]

I used the rear spoiler from the 1/24 scale AAR Cuda on my 1/25 scale T/A build.  Should be able to modify it to fit the '69.

Reshaping the AAR hood to fit the '69 would be a little more challenging.

 

Edited January 16, 2020 by afx

[Russell C]

Favoring option #1 of a '69 AAR prototype. That additionally has me thinking in reverse, of what it would look like to take the '69 fastback roof and graft it onto a '70 AAR, as though the factory decided to keep that roof option just one more year. Might be a simple photo alteration I can add to my MCM thread of model idea illustrations I'll never have actual time to build. Also quite possible that somebody's already beaten me to that idea ...

[Sam I Am]

18 hours ago, Russell C said:

Favoring option #1 of a '69 AAR prototype. That additionally has me thinking in reverse, of what it would look like to take the '69 fastback roof and graft it onto a '70 AAR, as though the factory decided to keep that roof option just one more year. Might be a simple photo alteration I can add to my MCM thread of model idea illustrations I'll never have actual time to build. Also quite possible that somebody's already beaten me to that idea ...

I like this idea also.

So many ideas....so little time. 

[Bucky]

On 1/15/2020 at 11:45 AM, Snake45 said:

A while back I bought a resin hood for the MPC/AMT ’69 Barracuda kit that includes the hood scoop of the ’69 440 6-pack cars. It’s a cool piece and I’m thinking of building a model around it. Would maybe like to try a factory phantom—a pure “what-if.”

Which one of these ideas would work best for such a project?

1.       ’69 AAR Cuda: This would have most or all of the ’70 AAR styling cues on the ’69 body—black hood, wing spoiler, side-exit exhaust, bigger tires on rear, and so forth, probably in a bright color. 340 engine, of course.

2.       ’69 383+6: The 440 engine was a mess in the ’69 Barracuda and a 6-bbl version would have been even worse (and been too much competition for the B-body cars), but what about a 383 six-pack, sort of a little brother to the 440+6 Road Runner? Would still have been plenty hairy and competed with 396 Novas. This would have a black hood and black open wheels, same as the 440+6 B-bodies.

3.       ’69 340+6: Visually the same as the 383+6 just described, but with a 340. This would have been a real kick-ass but very streetable little car.

Thoughts, ideas, opinions welcome. Fire away!

Decisions, decisions!!! Get yerself three total '69 Cuda kits, and do all three!!! Problem solved! LoL

Edited January 18, 2020 by Bucky

[Scott8950]

You could do a hurst street version cuda. Thats one I've thought about doing.

[65slotcar]

fantasy  trans am series  racing  car,  i wouldn't  mind building this myself.

[Snake45]

33 minutes ago, Bucky said:

Decisions, decisions!!! Get yerself three total '69 Cuda kits, and do all three!!! Problem solved! LoL

Actually, I'm thinking of doing two. #1 on a fastback body, and either #2 or #3 on a resin hardtop body I have laying around. I think it might look like a mini-Road Runner. I'm seeing it in light yellow for some reason. 

[Bucky]

51 minutes ago, Snake45 said:

Actually, I'm thinking of doing two. #1 on a fastback body, and either #2 or #3 on a resin hardtop body I have laying around. I think it might look like a mini-Road Runner. I'm seeing it in light yellow for some reason. 

Light yellow was a good color on that body style. I've seen several here in Tennessee!!