There are two kinds of finds in the car hobby—the barn find–and the field find.
Neither one of them are good for an old car but the win goes to the barn find because at least a barn find has a roof over its head.
Jerry Sutherland
This 1967 Plymouth Barracuda was rescued from a 30-year sentence to field storage, so its future was bleak until the right guy bought it.
Gary Snow was the right guy. He explained how the last owner had it for years and it was teed up for a restoration, but he was killed in a car accident. His family decided to finally get rid of it because they weren’t interested in hanging on to the project Barracuda.
The Barracuda was in rough shape because the lower regions of the fenders had taken a big hit over the years, so rust was definitely a factor. The car had decent rockers though, so the carnage wasn’t as bad as it could be after 30 years in a field.
Gary had a vision for the car. He wanted to preserve the original paint as much as possible even though it showed a lot of wear after its 30-year outside prison term. He got around that by adding new metal to the rusty parts of the car and blending in new reddish paint with the original paint.
There was another concept at play because Gary wanted to give the distressed finish a new theme to go along with the weathered look. He added graphics with an underwater look, so the car is covered with seabed fish skeletons and what look like a soggy Polaroid photograph of a Barracuda—and other things.
The Barracuda is one of those you-have-to-take-a second-look cars because you never get the complete visual on the first take.
Gary and his wife Jean did the interior and that convinced them to “never do another car”, because a ’67 Barracuda interior (especially the headliner) is a lot more complicated than a normal car.
Gary hit some project car whitewater after the yanked the original slant-six and installed a rebuilt 340 V-8. Unfortunately, the rebuild was terrible because he learned the engine had a conical cylinder bore so he took it to a specialist. Fortunately, the block was salvageable so now Gary said he has a “balanced and blueprinted stroker that pumps out 450 horsepower”.
There were a few other issues with the Barracuda such as an alternator that pumped out too much current and neutral safety switch that was cooked—plus the ammeter was another big issue. Gary replaced the entire gauge package with aftermarket stuff because he wanted readings that were reliable and accurate.
The key to success in this ’67 Barracuda’s story was Gary’s dedication to his plan for the car. He wanted a car with a traditional hot rod look, so the surface rust and wear were saved, and the graphics were added to the big picture. The ’70 Challenger tail pipes were donated by a friend who didn’t want them for his project—they look natural.
It worked. People are drawn to his ‘cuda because they were trying to figure it out–and that takes more than a passing glance.
The other win is that Gary drives his Barracuda on a regular basis because it’s that much fun. He doesn’t worry about the finish because even though it’s cool—it’s still a driver quality standard.
That’s a happy ending for the 30-years-in-the field fish.
Jerry Sutherland
By: Jerry Sutherland
Jerry Sutherland is a veteran automotive writer with a primary focus on the collector car hobby. His work has been published in many outlets and publications, including the National Post, Calgary Herald, Edmonton Journal, Ottawa Citizen, Montreal Gazette, Saskatoon StarPhoenix, Regina Leader-Post, Vancouver Sun and The Truth About Cars. He is also a regular contributor to Auto Roundup Publications.
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