Barracuda Gran Coupe History?

[turbo224]

So I am currently in the process of putting my 70 Barracuda Gran Coupe back together and had a few general questions about the GC cars. Most the Barracudas that I see restored are done as Cuda's, but i'd like to keep mine as a Barracuda. As I said, it's a GC car, but the car has been restored in the past so im not sure what is correct and what needs to be changed. I believe it was originally a 318 car, but the original motor is long gone. I already have a 440 with a 6pk ready to go, so that will be going into the car. Could a Barracuda GC be ordered with a 440, or would that have turned it into a "Cuda"? The car was painted white in the late 80's and is still in pretty good shape, so I will probably leave it white for now. It's a little too much white for my taste, so I am looking at ways to tone it down a bit. Could a Barracuda be ordered with a blacked out tail light panel? How about a bulge hood? Would the grill have been silver, or black? How about the hockey strip and the AAR style rear wing, could those have been added from the factory? Sorry for all the questions, I just dont know much about the history of these cars, so I am trying to learn.

[R/T hedkace]

Hi and welcome to cuda-challenger 

 There was never such thing as a Barracuda SE
The SE, (special edition) was a Dodge only option, not on Plymouth.
The equivalent for Plymouth was the Gran Coupe option.
If you supply the first few digits of your vin on your dash it will let you know.....
BS......Cuda
BH......Barracuda
BP......Gran Coupe

['Cuda Hunter]

Is there a fender tag? 

How about a build sheet?

Those would also shed some light on this subject.

[R/T hedkace]

Just noticed you registered back in February 2007.......
Sorry I was five years late on the welcome 

[turbo224]

My mistake, I meant to say it was a Gran Coupe. I will get the fender tag info shortly, I would love to know how this car originally came. Despite being restored in the 80's, it's actually in great shape. I dont care for the white on white combo, but I think i'll learn to deal with it once I actually get to drive this thing.

[Chryco Psycho]

unlike the Challenger with thw SE pkg, the Gran Coupe had limited engine availability , the Challenger SE could be ordered with any engine , the Gran coupe could not be combined with the Cuda option unfotunatly so the largest engine available in a GC was the 383 magnum  .
 GC had silver grille & tail panel , cuda had black  , the spoiler pkg was an option but with a pedastal wing , the hockey stick stripe should be available as an option , the Bulge hood should also have been available as an option as well & may have been part of the 383 pkg .

[R/T hedkace]

I dont care for the white on white combo, but I think i'll learn to deal with it once I actually get to drive this thing.

A white on white GC 
Be real interesting to see if that is the original scheme! 

"Patiently" awaiting fender tag info........  .....  .....  ..... .....

[turbo224]

unlike the Challenger , the Gran Coupe had limited engine availability , the Chall could be ordered with any engine , the Gran coupe could not be combined with the Cuda option unfotunatly so the largest engine available in a GC was the 383 .
 GC had silver grille & tail panel , cuda had black  , the spoiler pkg was an option but with a pedastal wing , the hockey stick stripe should be available as an option , the Bulge hood should also have been available as an option as well & may have been part of the 383 pkg .

Thanks for the info! I have been looking around the forum and read that somewhere else. Nice to have that confirmed. I will probably put a black hockey stripe on it, but I don't like the pedestal wing. (go wing?) The guy I purchased the car from did a decent restoration, but he painted the tail panel white, the grill black, and painted the engine compartment and trunk black including the bottom of the deck lid and the stock flat hood. I have a bulge hood, so I will get that painted white to match the rest of the car including the rest of the engine compartment. I guess I will need to decide what to do with the grill and the tail panel. The grill I want argent, but the tail panel I want black.

[turbo224]

A white on white GC 
Be real interesting to see if that is the original scheme! 

"Patiently" awaiting fender tag info........  .....  .....  ..... .....

Ha ha, yeah. I really wonder how the car was ordered originally. I hope the build sheet is still there, but I think the seats have been recovered, so I'm guessing it's gone. The build sheets are typically under the rear seat, correct?

As for other options, I am really curious what it came with. It has a tough steering wheel, center consuls, upper and lower. No ralley gauges. It had a dana 60 in it with HD springs when I bought it, but I have since replaced it with a 8 3/4 rear end that has been narrowed 1". My favorite odd ball addition to the car is a black shag headliner (which I will be keeping)

[Jamiez]

Broadcast sheets are usually found in the following places
Behind the seat covers
Under the front seats in the springs
Behind the rear seat
Under the carpet
Under the package tray
Attached to the glove box liner

If you have a LA car the odds are very low you have a sheet due to the paper free policy that plant had

[AARuFAST]

Sort it out on this page from 70 Hamtramck reg,.

click on
http://www.hamtramck-historical.com/dealerships/1970PlymouthDealershipDataBook-01.shtml

Pic is my Gr Cpe..  Bubble hood added, spoiler and hockey stick by previous owner.

[EB3-GranCoupe]

We like our GC's!  here is a pic of mine.  I have since added the fender emblems, and rocker moldings.





There is a thread here on setting up a photobucket account, and posting pictures.  we sure would like to see what you have!

[turbo224]

Well, the fender tag for my car is in a box somewhere, so i'll have to dig that up. The vin is bp23goe122651

['Cuda Hunter]

G=318
0=1970
E=Los Angeles,CA

Probably hard to find a build sheet.
Could happen but unlikely.
Find that tag and put it back on.   

[turbo224]

This is what I found.

Body Type:   B  =  Barracuda
Price Class:   P  =  Premium
Body Type:   23  =  2 Door Hardtop
Engine:   G  =  318 230HP 1-2BBL 8 CYL
Year:   0  =  1970
Sequence Number: 122651  =  22651st Vehicle Built

And here is the only picture of the car that I have on my computer. I had just got done removing the belt line molding from the car. The Cragers came on the car when I got it and have since been replaced with 15" rallyes.