This Is the Rarest Plymouth Barracuda on the Planet, Carroll Shelby Reportedly Hated It

Mike Walterman, a former Chrysler employee, offered inside information on the super special Cuda. In 1985, the Belvidere production facility hired eight engineers with the sole intention of building a Plymouth performance car.

The automaker was trying to revive the Barracuda nameplate at the time, so they came up with this designation for what was supposed to be a hot car. They could use any parts as long as they were production or Mopar parts. 3M made the stripes and badges and the rear spoiler was from a Dodge Daytona, while the wheels were G-Body parts.

The car is equipped with a sunroof, while the rear window is covered by factory Mopar Accessories louvers, made in two variants for each of the two cars: one was in the body color, and the other was black. Fog lights from the Dodge GLH were at the front.

The car was presented to the Chrysler executives, but the project did not get the green light. When Carroll Shelby heard they were using Shelby Charger parts, he supposedly pulled the strings to kill the project.

Only two Plymouth Barracuda got to roll off the assembly line of the Belvidere Chrysler plant in Illinois by then. Therefore, the sister car to the Dodge Shelby Charger was never to go into mass production.

The other 1985 Barracuda was actually the first to be completed. It was a model painted in red with black stripes, intended to mimic the AAR stripes, over a gray interior. It was sold to a trade school in Ohio and was eventually crushed, which makes this 1985 Plymouth Barracuda the only surviving example.

The current owner bought the car from his father. The first owner daily-drove it until he just stopped doing it, so the 'Cuda sat for years until his son took up where he had left off. Ryan Brutt of the Auto Archeologist YouTube channel has been hunting for this car for 20 years.

None of the information he got over the years led him on the right track until he saw a photo of Cuda on Facebook. His friend, Ron, knew the owner, so he found a way to contact him.

The exterior and interior of the almost 40-year-old car look as if the 1985 Cuda was brand-new in 2024. The model is powered by a 2.2-liter turbocharged engine mated to a five-speed manual.

Everything is original under the hood, just like everything is maroon on board, from seats to door panels, steering wheel, dashboard, and carpeting. The clock displays 37,080 miles (59,674 kilometers).

This car has much life left in it and luckily, it belongs to someone who did not park it in some barn and forgot about it. The barn find status is ages away for the moment.