The Plymouth Barracuda is a two-door pony car that was manufactured by Plymouth from 1964 to 1974.
The first-generation Barracuda was based on the Chrysler A-body and was offered from 1964 to 1966. A two-door hardtop (no B-pillar) fastback design, it shared a great majority of parts and bodywork with the Plymouth Valiant, except for the huge and distinctive wraparound rear glass.
The second-generation Barracuda, though still Valiant-based, was heavily redesigned. Built from 1967 to 1969, it was available as a two-door in fastback, notchback, and convertible versions.
The third generation, offered from 1970 to 1974, was based on the Chrysler E-body, exclusive to it and the slightly larger Dodge Challenger. A completely new design, the two-door Barracuda was available in hardtop and convertible body styles.
The redesign for the 1970 Barracuda removed all its previous commonality with the Valiant. The original fastback design was deleted from the line and the Barracuda now consisted of coupe and convertible models. The all-new model, styled by John E. Herlitz, was built on a shorter, wider version of Chrysler's existing B platform, called the E-body. Though sharing its platform with the newly launched Dodge Challenger, no exterior sheet-metal interchanged between the sibling cars. The Challenger, at 110 inches (2.79 m), had a wheelbase that was 2 inches (5.1 cm) longer, and a body 5 inches (12.7 cm) longer than the Barracuda's.
The E-body Barracuda was now "able to shake the stigma of 'economy car'." Three versions were offered for 1970 and 1971: the base Barracuda (BH), the luxury oriented Gran Coupe (BP), and the sport model 'Cuda (BS).
Beginning mid-year 1970, and ending with the 1971 model, there also was the Barracuda Coupe (A93), a low-end model with the 198 cu in (3.2 L) Slant Six as a base engine, lower-grade interior, and (like other Coupe series Chrysler offered that year) had fixed quarter glass instead of roll-down rear passenger windows. The high-performance models were marketed as 'Cuda deriving from the 1969 option. The E-body's engine bay was larger than that of the previous A-body, facilitating the release of Chrysler's 426 cu in (7.0 L) Hemi for the regular retail market.