1968 Plymouth Barracuda B029 Lookalike Hides a Nasty Surprise Under the Hood

Originally a mild pony car, the Barracuda got big V8 power in 1967. The 1970 model year saw the pony morph into a fully-fledged muscle car with mean looks and an options list that included Chrysler's most potent mills. For the first time ever, the Barracuda was available with the mighty 426-cubic-inch (7.0-liter) HEMI V8.

Offered for only a couple of years (1970-1971), the HEMI 'Cuda became one of the most legendary muscle cars of the golden era. And because Plymouth built only 780 units, the HEMI 'Cuda is also rare, desirable, and quite expensive.

But did you know that Plymouth actually dropped the 426 mill in the Barracuda long before the third-gen model debuted in 1969? It happened in 1968 when Chrysler decided to tackle the Super Stock drag racing series with vehicles smaller than the midsize rigs built on the B-body platform. Dodge used the Dart, while Plymouth picked the Barracuda.

Codenamed B029, the Barracuda Super Stock was put together with help from Hurst Performance, and it had the best power-to-weight ratio of any muscle car at the time. While based on the street-legal Barracuda, the drag-spec pony was lighter than its showroom siblings thanks to fiberglass front fenders and hood, thinner doors, and a gutted interior.

This measure enabled the B029 to leave the assembly line weighing in at around 3,100 pounds (1,406 kg). Sure, it sounds like a lot to haul down the quarter-mile, but the Super Stock Barracuda was more than 300 pounds (136 kg) lighter than a Road Runner, all while rocking the heavy HEMI engine under the hood.

Yes, Plymouth and Hurst somehow managed to squeeze the massive 426-cubic-inch mill in the Barracuda's rather tight engine bay. And on top of modifying the shock towers to make room, the engineering team added beefed-up hardware to increase performance. The HEMI was still rated at 425 horsepower officially, but actual output went beyond the 500-horsepower mark. Moreover, the unit was capable of close to 600 horsepower with the proper tuning.

The B029 was astoundingly fast at the drag strip compared to any production Mopar at the time. The Barracuda covered the distance in the low 10s and crossed the line at more than 130 mph (209 kph). That's around three seconds quicker than most HEMI-powered street Mopars from the era.

The Barracuda Super Stock was never intended to become more than a dragster, so Plymouth put together only 50 cars. Some of them did not survive to see 2023, and those that did fetch six-figure sums as high as $300,000 at public auctions. But you'll also need a ton of luck finding one for sale.

If you can settle for a replica that looks the part and is just as powerful, this black 1968 Barracuda is the Mopar you've been looking for. It doesn't have quite all the feats of the B029, but it rocks a fiberglass hood with a massive scoop, and it rides on skinny front wheels and meaty rear tires.

It doesn't have a HEMI under the hood, but this all-black Barracuda is no slouch, either. Sporting a built 502-cubic-inch (8.2-liter) lump based on a 440 block, this Plymouth hits the ground with 525 horsepower. And it sounds vicious, as you will notice from the second half of the video below.

More importantly, it looks spotless inside and out, like it just left the factory in 1968. Ignore a few specific details, and this Mopar is pretty much the street-legal B029 that Plymouth never built.