RJ Price is a car guy who does not shy away from long distance trips to attend car rallies.
RJ lives in Alberta, Canada and likes to compete in road rallies in the continental United States. In short, long road trips to race events are a big part of the adventure equation for RJ.
RJ is a loyal fan of German imports and has driven his Volkswagens to rallies in the US on several occasions over the years, but a 1967 Plymouth Barracuda captured his interest on an American buy/sell site and RJ bought it.
Jim Sutherland
The ’67 Barracuda is a fastback model, a design that caught RJ’s attention enough to buy the car, even though it was over 2700 miles away from his home. RJ’s spirit of adventure meant he wanted to drive his Barracuda back from the States, despite the fact the car had been off the road since 1987.
One of RJ’s mottos is “Adversity is Adventure”, a personal car guy slogan on a graphic he attached to one of his other cars because RJ is a true car guy adventurer who likes to test his vehicles’ limits, as well as his own. Consequently, a long road trip in a 59-year-old vehicle that has not been on the road since the hair band years was right up RJ’s alley.
The Barracuda required some repairs to make it road-ready, but the list was not too long for RJ, plus he had enough American car guy buddies who were willing to help him resurrect the car from almost 40 years of inertia.
The Barracuda rear end had low gears in it (3:91) so any speed above 55 mph (roughly 90 km/h) was very hard on the engine due to excessive RPMs. The car had a 318 small block under the hood as a replacement engine for its factory 273, coupled to a 3-speed automatic transmission that was not enough to drop the RPMs, so RJ replaced the low gears with more highway-friendly 2:76 gears.
The switch to higher gears meant RJ’s Barracuda was now comfortable at 70 mph (roughly 110 km/h), without an engine screaming for mercy under its hood. He also changed out spark plugs and found the car ran smoother after the swap.
However, RJ encountered smoking hot drum brake issues when the Barracuda was headed down steeper inclines and intends to address the issue with a disc brake conversion in the future. The Barracuda also developed mild engine overheating issues, but not enough to discourage RJ from finishing the road adventure.
On the other hand, the long road trip home was made more comfortable because the ‘67 Barracuda’s original front seats were replaced with Porsche 911 seats.
RJ is a hands-on car guy who has already earmarked his 1967 Plymouth for a series of upgrades during the winter months because he wants to race the car in future road rallies. He wants to keep his costs in check by tackling the project himself and lives by this basic philosophy: “Every dollar I spend on useless stuff is a dollar I can spend on a car”.
Spoken like a true car guy.
Jim Sutherland
BY: Jim Sutherland
Jim Sutherland is a veteran automotive writer whose work has been published by many major print and online publications. The list includes Calgary Herald, The Truth About Cars, Red Deer Advocate, RPM Magazine, Edmonton Journal, Montreal Gazette, Windsor Star, Vancouver Province, and Post Media Wheels Section.
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