Plymouth ‘Cuda 1970 Custom

A properly built 1970 Plymouth ‘Cuda needs no introduction, which is exactly why the first question anyone asks is what is under the hood. The 1970 model year brought an all-new E-body platform engineered wide enough to accept engines no earlier Barracuda could physically hold, and that decision defined everything the car became. Read on for what Plymouth offered that year, how to separate a real ‘Cuda from a tribute, and where the rust always hides.

Some cars have to introduce themselves. This is not one of them. Before a properly built 1970 ‘Cuda has moved ten feet, every enthusiast within earshot has already asked the only question that matters, which is what exactly is under the hood. That reflex is not an accident of reputation. It is the direct result of a decision Chrysler’s engineers made when they designed the car, a decision that shaped the Barracuda’s entire third generation and set up the arms race that followed. Understanding that one choice explains why a custom like this one starts a conversation the moment it appears, and why the answer to the hood question can swing a car’s value by a factor of ten.

The E-Body Was Designed Around an Engine

The 1970 Barracuda was an entirely new machine, no longer sharing a platform with Plymouth’s compact Valiant. Styled by John E. Herlitz, it rode on a shorter, wider derivative of Chrysler’s B-body known internally as the E-body, and it shared those underpinnings with the new Dodge Challenger. The critical dimension was width. The E-body gained roughly five inches across the engine bay compared with the previous generation, and that extra room existed for exactly one purpose: to allow the physically enormous 426 Hemi to fit inside a pony car. Everything else about the car followed from that engineering brief.

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‘Cuda and Barracuda Were Not the Same Car

The naming is where casual buyers get confused, and it matters financially. For 1970, Plymouth split the line three ways. The base Barracuda was the economy proposition with six-cylinder and small V8 power. The Gran Coupe added luxury trim, leather options, and quieter appointments. The ‘Cuda was the performance model, and it came with a specific set of hardware: a standard 383, heavy-duty suspension, hood treatments including the optional shaker, and the distinctive hockey-stick side stripes. A Barracuda is not a ‘Cuda with different badges. It is a different car with different equipment codes.

The 1970 Engine Menu Ran From Sensible to Absurd

The engine list for 1970 remains one of the most aggressive ever offered in a single model year. Buyers could choose a 340 small block rated at 275 horsepower, a 383 at 335, a 440 four-barrel Super Commando at 375, a 440 Six Barrel with three two-barrel carburetors at 390, or the 426 Hemi at 425 horsepower. Those are gross figures, which is how Detroit still measured in 1970. Hemi ‘Cuda production for that year is commonly cited at 652 hardtops plus a mere 14 convertibles, numbers that explain why the Hemi cars now trade in a market of their own entirely disconnected from the rest of the range.

The Year Plymouth Started Painting Cars Loud

1970 was also the year Plymouth abandoned restraint on the paint chart. The High Impact colors gave buyers Vitamin C orange, Lemon Twist yellow, In-Violet purple, Tor-Red, Lime Light green, and Moulin Rouge, shades designed to be visible from three blocks away. Combined with the optional shaker hood, which mounted the air cleaner directly to the engine and let it protrude through a cutout in the hood so it visibly moved with the motor, Plymouth had built a car that made its intentions clear before it did anything at all. Custom builders have been leaning into that theatrical streak ever since.

What Customizers Change First on an E-Body

On a custom E-body, the modifications follow a predictable and generally sensible sequence. Wheels and stance come first, because nothing changes the character of the car more: wider rear wheels with modern tires, a modest drop, and correct backspacing to fill the arches. Exhaust follows, since the whole point of a big Mopar V8 is audible. Then the mechanical upgrades the factory never offered, which typically means front disc brakes, an electronic ignition conversion, a modern radiator with an electric fan, and an aluminum intake with a carburetor sized to the actual engine rather than to a certification test.

The Rust Nobody Mentions in the Listing

The part no seller volunteers is where E-bodies rust, and it is expensive. Water enters through the cowl plenum below the windshield and finds its way into the kick panels and floors. The trunk floor and the rear frame rails, especially where they pass over the rear axle, are common failure points. Quarter panels rot from the inside out behind the wheel openings, and the front torsion bar crossmember area deserves a flashlight and a screwdriver. Reproduction sheet metal exists for almost all of it, which is the good news. The bad news is that structural rust repair on a unibody car is measured in shop hours, not parts prices.

Cloned, Tributed, or Verified: How to Tell

Because the value spread between engine options is so extreme, verification is a skill worth learning before spending money. The 1970 VIN encodes the engine in its fifth character, with H for the 383 four-barrel, U for the 440 four-barrel, V for the 440 Six Barrel, and R for the 426 Hemi. The body code prefix also distinguishes the models, with BS23 identifying a ‘Cuda hardtop and BH23 a Gran Coupe. A broadcast sheet found under the seat or above the glove box, a fender tag, and a Galen Govier style verification report are the accepted evidence. Tributes are not dishonest as long as they are described accurately, and a well-built tribute is a genuinely good way to own the experience without the six-figure exposure.

Why 1970 Is Still the High-Water Mark

All of which is why 1970 remains the reference year for this shape. It was the first year of the E-body, the year the full engine range was available, the year the colors were loudest, and the last year before emissions standards and insurance pressure began pulling the top of the list apart. A 1970 ‘Cuda, whether it is a documented Six Barrel car or a thoughtfully built custom like this one, sits at the exact moment American manufacturers were most willing to build something unreasonable. That window closed almost immediately, and nothing has reopened it since.

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