By James McCarter
LA VIEW Publisher
Lloyd James didn’t have to go far to see his 1968 Plymouth Barracuda coupe for the first time. About three years ago James was working on a 1965 Plymouth in his driveway and a guy walked up and asked him if he wanted to buy a Barracuda.
“The guy must have seen my car in the driveway and knew I was into cars,” recalled James. “He came up to my door and asked if I wanted to buy his 1968 Barracuda.”
The fellow’s timing was perfect. James had restored and raced many cars over the years, and it just so happened he was ready for a new project. The car was just the platform he needed to build a powerful street car.
From the start, James knew what he had in mind: he wanted to build an M code clone; that is, he wanted to replicate a Barracuda that came from the factory with a big-block engine.
Big-block cars have become very expensive over the last few years, and finding an original in good shape can be difficult, not only because of price, but also condition.
“The original big-block cars, if you can find them, are usually all twisted,” said James, referring to the result of all that torque on the uni-body.
The Plymouth Barracuda was introduced April 1, 1964, just two weeks before the phenomenally successful Ford Mustang. Contrary to popular belief, the Barracuda was not a direct reply to Ford’s Mustang. Almost 65,000 Barracudas were sold in their first year, less than one-tenth the sales of the Mustang that year.
The Barracuda was based on the A-body compact Plymouth Valiant. The major difference was a huge compound-curved rear window which gave the car a revolutionary fastback look. In 1965 a performance model, the Formula S, was introduced, which featured a tachometer, 14-inch wheels, heavy-duty suspension, and the Commando engine.
In 1967, Plymouth completely redesigned the Barracuda. The Barracuda no longer shared any body panels with the Valiant. There were two new body styles available, convertible and coupe, in addition to the fastback body style.
With the updated redesign, the engine bay was redesigned to accept a greater variety of engines. Along with the 225 slant-six, the Barracuda was now available with the big-block 383 V-8.
In 1968 the Barracuda body stayed pretty much the same, but the engine lineup changed again when a 318 was added. The 383 received a boost in horsepower, mostly because of better heads. The new engine for this year was the 340 small block. Plymouth Barracuda production reached 45,412 units in 1968, and 19,997 were coupes. (Incidentally, it wasn’t until 1969 that Plymouth finally introduced the “Cuda,” a high-performance version of the Barracuda.)
James replaced the 318 with a 400-cubic-inch big-block engine. The 400 engine was introduced in 1972 in standard and high-performance versions. Like the 383, the 400 is a “B” type big-block engine. It has a larger bore (4.34”) than the 383B engine.
With the exception of a mild cam upgrade, James left the internal workings of the motor pretty much stock. He added an MSD ignition, billet distributor, Edelbrock intake manifold and an 820 cfm Holley carburetor.
The engine is cooled by an aluminum radiator and a custom-made fan shroud.
The front end got tubular upper control arms and a set of disc brakes. James went with manual steering because the setup allowed him to install a set of TTI headers without chopping into the inner fenders. This makes for a much cleaner engine compartment.
James discarded the original 7-3/4 rear end for a stouter 8-3/4 design with a gear ratio of 3.55:1. He beefed it further with beefier aftermarket axles.
The paint is a Mercedes blue with several shades of blue used for the unique flames.
The car is not 100 percent complete yet. There is still some minor interior work to be done, and James plans to re-install the factory air conditioning.
So what does James plan to do with his Barracuda when he completes it?
“I really like this car,” says James. “But I think it will eventually be someone else’s. I really enjoy the restoring process, probably more than driving the car.”

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