1967 Plymouth Barracuda Flaunts V10 Swap, Will Make Hellcats Go Into Hiding

It's not every day that you come across a 1967 Plymouth Barracuda. But it's even more unlikely to come across one that's hiding more than 8 cylinders under the hood. I had a look at this car's VIN, and by decoding I found out a few things about it. Back in the day, this was a "High" price class car, even though at the time it rolled off the Hamtramck assembly-line it only had a 225 cubic-inches (3.7-liters), six-cylinder engine.

But this car has been well-taken care of, and it has been restored to such an extent that it's even more appealing than it was 50 years ago. Because its original engine was swapped out in favor of a massive, 8.3-liter Viper crate engine, which should be good for 550 horsepower. This is a second-generation, 2002 Viper engine, that has been fully built to get to its current level of performance, as it was originally rated for 450 horsepower.

There are multiple receipts included within the auction, and it seems that this engine is now capable of developing 590 lb-ft (800 Nm) of torque at 4,100 Rpm. The price tag for the V10 unit was $25,199, but of course, a Viper transmission had to be brought into play as well. So looking at all the parts that were installed and at the man-hours spent on building this car, the seller notes that a total of $57,400 was spent, not including the paint, bodywork, or interior.

Although the car has been repainted black, there are still some imperfections here and there, so if you're planning on using this as a show car, you should have an additional budget set aside for that job as well. Aesthetically speaking I wouldn't change a thing on the car, and I like the classic look of the 18" split-spoke wheels, which are wrapped in Toyo Proxes T1R tires.

Nothing has been left to chance with this build, and so the brakes and suspension have been upgraded as well. On the inside, there's an old-school vibe, as the car is still sporting lap seat belts, which I would honestly get rid of, considering what this car is capable of doing with its current drivetrain. I'm surprised that the GPS-based speedometer only goes up to 120 mph (193 kph), as I guess this Viper-Cuda can do much better than that.

The car was refurbished less than 4,000 miles (6,437 km) ago, according to the odometer, and the current owner has only enjoyed it for about 400 miles (643 km). The seller notes that an oil change was performed recently, and the only thing I'm disappointed in is that the seller hasn't provided a video of the car in action. Because with a dual exhaust system with Magnaflow mufflers in place, this should sound pretty impressive. The auction ends in 6 days from now, and the highest bid stands at $13,333, but I'm expecting this to sell for over $50,000.