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Place Your Bets: 1969 Plymouth Cuda 440 Drag Races 1966 Ford Fairlane GTA

Based on the A-body platform introduced by the Valiant for the 1960 model year, the Barracuda gained some performance for the 1969 model year in the guise of an uprated 383. Be that as it may, the 440 was the powerplant of choice for quarter-mile brawls like the one we’ll see today.
1966 Ford Fairlane vs 1969 Plymouth Barracuda | Pure Stock Drag Race 15 photos
Photo: Cars and Zebras on YouTube
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Although it may not match the 425 horsepower of the 426 HEMI from the E-body 1970 model year, the 440 is tremendously robust and torquey. The big-block V8 produces 480 pound-feet (651 Nm) of torque at 3,200 revolutions per minute. For a small-ish car that weighs 3,550 pounds (1,610 kilograms), including the driver, that’s a staggeringly enticing proposition.

The Cuda in the featured video is rocking a TorqueFlite three-speed automatic, the 727 that still is wildly popular for drag racing and off-road applications. That was the only transmission available with the 440 that year, and Plymouth produced only 340 examples of the Cuda 440 that year.

On the other lane of the drag strip, we have a 1966 grandma’s car with a dirty little secret. It’s a fifth-generation Fairlane with the GTA package, which means that we’re dealing with a 390 FE that flaunts 335 horsepower and 427 pound-feet (579 Nm) of torque at 3,200 revolutions per minute.

The A in GTA stands for automatic, namely the C6 heavy-duty cog swapper that features a Simpson gearset. Howard Woodworth Simpson used to work directly under Henry Ford back in the day, and his gearset was also licensed by Chrysler, General Motors, and Daimler-Benz (a.k.a. Merc).

The Fairlane is equipped with drag-oriented 4.11 rear gears, while the Barracuda makes do with 3.91s. And finally, the Fairlane in this configuration weighs 3,620 pounds (1,642 kilograms), including the driver.

On the first run, the Ford edges ahead by a little more than a tenth of a second to win the race in 13.14s at 104.90 mph (168.8 kph). The second time out, it wins again in 13.31 at 103.23 mph (166.1 kph) compared to 13.19s.

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About the author: Mircea Panait
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After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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