by "Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo" (rustyvandura)
Published 08/16/2017 at 14:41
by "Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo" (rustyvandura)
Published 08/16/2017 at 14:41
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STARS: 2
“My Ride”
in today’s Wall Street Journal
"Steve in Manhattan" (blogenfreude01)
08/16/2017 at 14:54, STARS: 1
Always preferred these to the Mustangs and Camaros of the day.
"HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles" (hondasfordsvolvo)
08/16/2017 at 15:02, STARS: 1
My mom told me once that, this was here dream car as a teenager, that or a Green XJ.
"Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo" (rustyvandura)
08/16/2017 at 15:18, STARS: 0
The Cuda was a sedan, unlike the pony cars. I’d love to drive one with a 383/4sp.
"RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht" (ramblininexile)
08/16/2017 at 16:28, STARS: 1
The original Barracuda and second generation (like here) absolutely fit the bill of a pony car. A two-door sports model on a compact platform - much as the Mustang from the Falcon, the Barracuda from the Valiant. Then, from a shortened A-body starting in ‘70, hence ‘proper’ muscle car, which may be what you’re thinking of, as the “midsize with V8 and two doors related to sedan” overly-restrictive definition has it.
There’s such a thing as a “two door sedan”, but the Barracuda never was. This one, certainly not, though a longer-trunked coupe than its rivals.
"Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo" (rustyvandura)
08/16/2017 at 17:09, STARS: 0
I can’t really follow you on this, but I get the point of sedan versus coupe, though as perhaps you say, the two are essentially the same in many cases but for two overly long doors replacing four shorter ones. The Barracuda could fit this description — would look fine with four doors, and be more to my liking — from my admittedly pedestrian point of view, which does not see a Mustang looking very much like a falcon, nor any sedan or coupe looking anything like a Camaro.
I like four-door cars because I generally enjoy riding in the backseat and having a convenient way to get there. The rear doors and the backseat are designed to make it possible and practical for humans to be conveyed who are not in the front seat whereas in a coupe, the backseat is more of an afterthought. And, in some cases, I think for insurance purposes.
"Kiltedpadre" (kiltedpadre)
08/16/2017 at 17:17, STARS: 0
My mom’s first car was a Barracuda in purple, but not a flowered roof. It was a three speed stick with a slant 6.
"Steve in Manhattan" (blogenfreude01)
08/16/2017 at 17:45, STARS: 0
I recall that neighbor lady had a fastback, and you could put lots of kids in the back.
"RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht" (ramblininexile)
08/16/2017 at 18:40, STARS: 0
The distinction between a two door sedan and a coupe is a blurry one, although a popular trait to make the distinction on is the roofline. A two-door sedan, a style which fell out of favor in the ‘60s and hasn’t really been back, is generally the same roofline and the same back seating arrangement, etc. etc. as the normal sedan, whereas a coupe became *usually* possessed of a shorter roof, sometimes with a shorter trunk to match.
Ford was very distinct in maintaining the same body pans between different versions - a two-door Galaxie is a sedan if not the fastback option in ‘63, Starliner of ‘61, or similar, and was the same length as the four, and the Falcon was made in both two and four door versions of exactly the same length - an argument could only be made that the two-door Falcon was a coupe to the extent that the space in all Falcons was very short. The Aussies actually brought about a distinction with their version in the XM generation: an XM *coupe* is shorter than the previously normal two-door and styled differently.
Before coupes with shortened roofs became the only “normal” two-door platform for most, even a two-door sedan was notable for having a stiffer body, less weight, and more ease of access to the front seat, so was stereotyped as being sportier, and the basis of racing versions.
The Barracuda in its first generation was actually (outside of the glass rear roof) distinct from the Mustang not for being a coupe (NOT, mind you, a sedan), but for having much fewer changes to layout than the car that it was based on. The Mustang was based very heavily on the Falcon in every way - from floor pan to door construction to firewall to suspension elements to subframes, and it shows to someone familiar with how it’s built. It had very different visible sheet metal and a slightly revised seating position, but was otherwise very little more than a Falcon Sprint two-door in disguise. The Barracuda, in contrast, was a Valiant cut off at the B-pillar with revised rear visible metal only, in effect.
So, on these grounds, the two are *very* similar, and the success of the first Valiant led the second generation to be more different (and thus more developmentally similar to the Mustang). By this time the Falcon had both diverged, and been eclipsed by the Mustang’s shadow. As to the Camaro, the pony car framework had been demonstrated by both Plymouth and Ford, so the first-gen Camaro actually borrows its front subframe and numerous other elements more or less intact from the Nova. Remember - sheet metal is the most ephemeral part of the story.
Again: all three were coupes with radically modified sheet metal on platforms with origins as compacts - all with the coupe part of their makeup baked in from the beginning.
The second gen Barracuda is a minimally shortened Valiant platform, so possesses only the shortened roofline and not a short trunk as well, as on the Mustang notchback. However, this still makes it absolutely distinct from anything called “sedan”.
Even the strictest razor for classification as pony car would catch the Mustang, Camaro, *and* pre-’70 Barracuda. Compact family car platform sources, range of engine choices, sports-car marketing, low cost, 2+2 coupe with distinct sheet metal, etc. etc. The execution, then, is what draws you - not a difference in substance. I really have to insist that in this case, even if not others , there is meaning in calling it a roomy coupe, not a sedan.
The other thing I was referring to is that the traditional muscle car definition states “
midsize
two-door with V8, as up-badge model from family trim”.
This throws out performance ponies on three grounds: the distinct pony bodywork, the platform size, and the existence of non-performance ponies. The first two are effectively meaningless, the third amounts to a model name quibble. In my opinion, any pony with a V8 and some performance options ,particularly a package, counts as a muscle car, full stop.
You should know by now I’m a fan of four-doors - since I have three.
"Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo" (rustyvandura)
08/16/2017 at 19:04, STARS: 0
I’ve never driven one nor ridden in one, but I bet the 383 models were spirited drivers.
"Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo" (rustyvandura)
08/16/2017 at 19:05, STARS: 1
Try that with a Mustang or a Camaro...
#failishouldthink
"Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo" (rustyvandura)
08/16/2017 at 19:13, STARS: 0
You seem to have this one well thought out. Perhaps, then, what appeals to me about the Barracuda is more to do with its styling than with its configuration. Boxier, more family car looking. There’s a certain no nonsense boxiness about Chrysler cars that has always appealed to me, but is no doubt a turnoff to most or many, as that is the way of things with me. If there is a beverage that I take a liking to, it disappears from the market, for example.
Sensibility, practicality, utility: all things I seek in an automobile. And it’s also nice if they can drift. I was looking at a CTS in my friend’s shop yesterday and surprised to see that it was RWD, with the high-feature V6 up front. Or some variant of it. I wonder if you could turn off the traction control and get that car to drift.
Thanks for splainin’.
"RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht" (ramblininexile)
08/16/2017 at 19:45, STARS: 0
Essentially, the Barracuda is a slightly less aggressively unique (and on-purpose useless) pony car than the other two. On the other hand, you have the Javelin, which was enough of a departure from the Rambler American that it half mutated into something more like a Thunderbird, and was much larger than the iconic three. The Thunderbird, incidentally, is itself a very suitable choice as a family car when taking the four-door late ‘60s models into account.
Made in Wixom since ‘58, the Thunderbird could almost be considered a Lincoln pony car, of sorts. Which is a real headscratcher. Even setting aside the Mustang in fancy clothes known as the Cougar...