Case of The Mondays: Dan Gurney's 1970 Trans Am 'Cuda

[NewsBot]

We might have gotten a little carried away with this week's "Case of the Mondays" news post. See, it's really hard not to get overly-excited when looking into the history of possibly one of the most widely hailed Trans Am race cars - especially during the heyday of muscle cars - Dan Gurney's '70 Plymouth AAR 'Cuda.


Image: Automobile

Truly a Renaissance man of American racing, Gurney raced FIA, NASCAR and Indy before stepping behind the wheel for Trans Am in 1967. Switching from Mercury to Plymouth in late 1969, Gurney made waves when he announced he would be racing Plymouth's newly minted E-Body, the 'Cuda.



Beginning with the new platform, Plymouth reassigned the "Barracuda" badge from its super-successful A-Body chassis to the sleeker and wider E-Body to compete with the Camaro Z/28, Firebird Trans Am, and Boss 302 Mustangs (as well as its T/A Challenger siblings). Announced February of 1970, the AAR 'Cuda was a mid-year production race car for the street built during five short weeks, between March 10, 1970 and April 17, 1970, during which only 2,724 examples were produced.



The result of Chrysler's involvement in the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) Trans Am auto racing series, Plymouth AAR 'Cudas (and T/A Challengers, for that matter) weren't widely sold to the general public. Rather, Chrysler informed each eligible dealer of the number of cars they would be allotted. Fitted with Chrysler's venerable 340 Six-Barrel set up, the 'Cuda AAR featured a 4-speed A-833 manual gear box, and a lightweight flat-black fiberglass hood and spoiler.



Gurney raced the AAR 'Cuda to victory (with his protege Swede Savage who drove an identical factory-sponsored Plymouth Barracuda) in the 1970 Trans-Am Series. Upon his retirement from Formula One, Gurney devoted himself to being a successful race car maker and team owner. Gurney's been the sole owner, Chairman and CEO of All American Racers since 1970.






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