Inroducing Two-For Tuesday!

Pair-a Cudas

Much to my surprise I find myself discovering doppelgangers on the streets of NYC. Now that I've managed to compile several pairs of these finds I figured I'd double them up for a classic two-fer Tuesday! I'll kick off this event in style:

 Here we have a seriously cool ride; the 1965 Plymouth Barracuda. This is the first generation of the 'cuda, which at this point was technically a fastback body style for the Valiant series. 1964 & 1965 were identical except for a badge that would say "Valiant" on the lower back panel next to the passenger's side taillight.

 I love these cars as they were dead reliable with their famous slant-6 engines in addition to looking so awesome. The huge back window was not only the defining feature of this model but also the biggest pane of glass ever installed in any production car.

Much of the Barracuda was the same as the Valiant, including the entire front end. Those Cragar SS wheels, while obviously not original, are my preferred motorhead choice if the factory ones are gone.

 Here we get a real sense of just how ridiculous that back window is. The side window opening is a nice bit of design as well, as are body line that meets the rear bumper and the crease trailing back from the top of the headlight housings.

Plymouths from the '60s are loaded with personality. The headlight/turn signal grill housings on each side are cool little design vignettes of their own. The fact that they're divided by a plain middle section of grill that looks more like the vent of a hotel air conditioner instead of something fancier is an odd decision. How many cars make the most boring part of their vehicle the most prominent? 

 It was really early when I snapped these pics so the sun angle is a little distracting.

 One last side shot of the big purple machine before moving on to the dark beauty below.

I thought finding a single 1st generation Barracuda was remarkable. Imagine my surprise when this gleaming cruiser was parked near my shop!

 This color may look black, but up close it seemed to be more of a very deep purple. There is a 1965 Chrysler color called Black Plum Poly that might be an exact match. However if this is a 1964 with the Valiant badge removed the color is Dark Blue Poly. Who cares besides me? Who knows?

The sun was just setting when I ran across this example, but it goes a long way towards showing the quality of the paint. This car was truly stunning.

 It's in the details such as the near-perfect bumper where you see the show car condition in earnest.

 Original hubcaps with the Valiant blue/red triangle logo are like great cufflinks on a tailored suit.

 Even the nameplate looks to have been redone at some point! It was parked on busy 9th St near 3rd Avenue though so the coating of dust is a given.

 I have but one complaint, and that's the chrome fender skirts. Why would you add something so gaudy to an otherwise factory-correct showpiece? Car shows are filled with beautiful cars where it's obvious the owner has gotten to the point where there's nothing else to be done, and that's when you end up with curb feelers, huge fuzzy dice, stuffed animals wearing the car make's logo, chrome skirts, etc. Small gripe on my part and just an opinion, but I'd leave this one stock.

Our parting shot is of the massive back window with the cool Valiant logo. Through the window you can see a chrome bar atached to the back of the rear seat; the seat folds forward to create a flat storage space in the back and that chrome bar acts as a little fence so your cargo doesn't slide forward into the front seats during a sudden stop. That notch in the middle of the top of the back seat fits snugly into the back of the floor console when lowered for a sleek overall look.

And there you have it for Twofer Tuesday!