Gone are the days when muscle car fans stuck to the most iconic iterations of a certain nameplate—as nostalgia grows stronger, driving prices towards the sky, buyers are forced to seek those generations that tended to be overlooked in the past and, more often than not, discover their true beauty. Case in point with the Gen II Plymouth Barracuda, which is no longer in the shadow of the infamous Gen III, which brings us to the starting point of this drift car rendering.
Before sharing the more sculpted B-body with the just-launched Dodge Challenger for the 1970 model year, the Barracuda, in its first two generations, used the economy car platform of the Valiant for its 1964-1966 Gen I and the 1967-1969 Gen II we have here.
Admittedly, these early cars received generous muscle attention, whether from the factory (especially true for the Gen II, whose engine range went right up to the iconic 426 HEMI) or from third parties, which is how the original Hemi Under Glass mid-engined wheelie monsters were born—this is where the Hellacious mid-ship Charger of Fast and Furious 9 draws its inspiration from.
And while the Mopar machine sitting before us maintains the factory front-engined setup, it does things to the body that many enthusiasts would have a hard time coping with, which is why we love it!
What’s in a name?
As explained by its creator, digital artist Dom Host (aka altered_intent), this Barracuda was created as some sort of sibling for the Fishtail Cuda, the 1972 Barracuda that Motor Trend show Hot Rod host Tony Angelo turned into a drift car—you’ll find the aficionado sharing some of the machine’s secrets in the YouTube clip at the bottom of the story, including his future plans for it.
The now-slammed A-body of the Barracuda sits so low that it dramatically changes the way one sees this classic. And the same goal is achieved by the carbon overfenders, as well as by the skeleton-like extensions of the side skirts and front/rear aprons.
While the Fishtail Cuda is animated by a 392 HEMI crate engine, the heart of this contraption, which I’ve decided to nickname Fishtail Fanatic for obvious reasons, remains a mystery. Even so, that bulge in the hood and the hood-protruding exhaust tips talk of turbo fury.
“I almost bought one a few years ago and now I’m regretting it because it could have looked like this,” Host explains in the Instagram post below.
And, given that he’s chopped up a 1927 Ford Coupe (turbo Honda K24 engine for the win!) and he’s in the process of doing the same to a Ford Edsel (this could get a 2JZ heart)—you’ll find these two real-world builds in the second Insta post below—we tend to share his feelings.
