As a classic car enthusiast, it breaks my heart to see old vehicles rotting away due to exposure to the elements. Especially if they're of the muscle car variety. But even though we have millions of cars going to waste in junkyards and fields, some get saved to be restored or to become donor vehicles. This 1968 Plymouth Barracuda is one of them.
A beautiful coupe hailing from the golden muscle car era, this Barracuda has had a rough life. Not only did it lose its factory V8 engine, but it was also abandoned in the woods some 20 to 25 years ago. Just like the even more stunning 1966 Dodge Charger resting next to it. But the license plate suggests that this Barracuda was actually retired from the road in 1985, which means it has been sitting for a whopping 37 years.
I don't know if it's been exposed to the elements for so long, but it definitely spent at least 20 years out in the open, which is enough to ruin a car and turn it into a rust bucket. But amazingly enough, this Barracuda is still in one piece and it doesn't have as much rust as you'd normally see on a car sitting outside for this long.
And even though it's buried deep in the ground and surrounded by tires and branches, it still showcases straight body panels. Expect for the passenger-side door and the hood, of course, which have been damaged at some point in the past. Aside from that and from the missing engine, this Barracuda is pretty much complete.
Can it be restored back to its former glory? That's a tough question to answer, but YouTube's "Bobs Classic Cars & Parts" thinks it's an excellent parts car. As a result, he decided to save it.
Granted, nothing beats a full-blown restoration, but life as a parts car is still better than rotting away in the forest. At least it will be used to fix other Barracudas and help them get back on the road. Something that can't be said about the 1966 Dodge Charger that was left behind.
1968 was the second out of three model years for the second-generation Barracuda. A notable upgrade from the original version of the nameplate, the second-gen Barracuda not only introduced a sportier design but also got a long list of powerful V8 engines.
Offered with everything from the 340-cubic-inch (5.6-liter) to the mighty 426-cubic-inch (7.0-liter) Hemi, the second-gen Barracuda joined the muscle car wars and opened the door for the more iconic third-gen 'Cuda that arrived in 1970.
Ask Ciprian about cars and he'll reveal an obsession with classics and an annoyance with modern design cues. Read his articles and you'll understand why his ideal SUV is the 1969 Chevrolet K5 Blazer. Full profile
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