The AARchives - A snapshot from one wonderful year by John F Katz

1970 Plymouth 'Cuda AAR

A snapshot from one wonderful year
by John F. Katz
AUTOWEEK March 3, 1997

Eleven races in six months, with all four U.S. automakers battling for the manufacturers' championship: There would never be another Trans-Am season like 1970. And there would never be another Barracuda like the 'Cuda AAR.

Despite its slick, carnivorous nameplate, the Barracuda had long been a small fish in a big pond. Chevy sold four times as many Camaros, Ford built seven or eight times as many Mustangs. Plymouth knew the problem. Since its hatch in mid-1964, the Barracuda had shared its windshield, cowl and floorpan with Plymouth's humble Valiant. That saved money on a low production model, but it compromised the Barracuda's proportions, and left no room for Chrysler's biggest engines. Plymouth engineers had cobbled some high-strung, high-performance variations that were genuinely fast in skilled hands - faster, sometimes, than their bigger-engined competitors. But it was clear that Plymouth's fish would remain a small fry until it grew into a body shell of it's own.

That new body arrived for 1970 - riding the same 108-inch wheelbase, but measuring six inches shorter, two inches lower and five inches wider than the Valiant-based 1969 Barracuda. More robust running gear came from Plymouth's midsize Belvedere, and the engine bay could easily swallow anything Chrysler made. Plymouth offered the new fish in three flavor's: run-of-the-pond Barracuda, luxurious Barracuda Gran Coupe and the apostrophized 'Cuda, shorter in name but longer on performance. 'Cudas could be ordered with 340, 383 or 440-cid V8s, or even a 426 Hemi. Now Plymouth had a pony to match the Mustang and Camaro, and it took the new 'Cuda racing to prove it.

Carroll Shelby's Mustangs had won the 5.0-liter class of the SCCA Trans-American Championship for Manufacturers in 1966 and 1967, and Camaros took the trophy in 1968 and 1969. With hopes of breaking the Big Two's lock, Plymouth hired Dan Gurney's All American Racers in Santa Ana, Calif., to build a Trans-Am 'Cuda.

In 1970, Trans-Am cars were still built up from stock bodies; the SCCA even required roll-up windows. Appearance had to remain absolutely stock, which meant no scoops or spoilers that weren't seen on the showroom floor. The rules demanded a stock block and heads, with displacement of 305 cubic inches or less and a single four-barrel carb. Stock meant a production run of 2500 units, or .4 percent of the marque's 1969 production, whichever was greater.

Chrysler Trans-Am manager Pete Hutchinson and engine builder Keith Black destroked the small-block 340 to 303.8 cubic inches and developed new cast-iron heads with pushrod holes shifted slightly to permit bigger ports. Early on, Chrysler reported 460 hp, but development produced more as the season progressed.

The street version featured the same block and offset-pushrod heads, but without the bigger port's. Still, with the full 340 cubic inches, three two-barrel Holleys on an Edelbrock aluminum manifold and low-restriction, side-exit exhaust, the street mill made 290 hp at 5000 rpm and 345 lb ft of torque at 3400. The street car packed heavy-duty springs, power front disc brakes, a four-speed transmission and an 8.75-inch Sure-Grip axle. Exterior identification included a remote control racing mirror, a racing spoiler and a bold strobe stripe comprising 75 individual segments of decreasing width. Plymouth priced the 'Cuda at $3,966, and named it AAR in honor of Gurney's operation.

Collector Phil Krasner found our featured AAR in well-kept orig-inal condition, but restored it to showroom perfection anyway. The soft buckets hug the floor in a wide, dark cockpit brightened only by accents of plastic and paper wood. The 340 idles quietly, but open the throttle and the V8 thumps and howls like its road-racing cousin. Acceleration is simply fabulous. Even with all those carburetors, the 'Cuda never stumbles or falters when driven less aggressively.

The soft-feel steering wheel connects to optional fast-ratio power steering, perhaps a little too fast for so little effort. But the chassis - blessed now with modern Goodyear Eagle radials - flow's confidently around corners. The ride, while stiff, is never uncomfortable; the AAR drives with unusual refinement for a muscle/pony car.

Alas, the 'Cuda never fulfilled it's promise on the track. Three times driver Swede Savage started from the pole. Often he led. But the Chrysler four-speed, proven on NASCAR's ovals, tended to jam in the rigors of road racing. Savage finished fifth at Donnybrooke, stuck in second gear; the transmission also cost him a couple of DNFs. A broken differential retired the Plymouth at least once, as did an oil system that couldn't cope with one g corners. Savage's best finish, a second, came at Elkhart Lake in July. Plymouth ended the series fifth in points - behind the Boss Mustang, Donohue Javelin, Camaro Z-28 and a Dodge Challenger T/A also built by Gurney but campaigned by Sam Posey. Only AMC would return with a factory team in 1971. With no Trans-Am program, Plymouth needed no homologation car, and the AAR disappeared.

Plymouth built 55,499 Barracudas (2727 AARs) in 1970, but production fell to 18,690 in 1971 as the entire performance car market stagnated. The company finally pulled the plug on the Barracuda's 10th birthday - April Fool's Day, 1974.