The Show N’ Shine area of the 2021 Holley MoParty was busy on Friday morning, with cars coming in left and right. There was plenty to see coming through the gates, but it was the rumble of Rick Bell’s 1968 Plymouth Barracuda that grabbed the attention of anybody within earshot. As soon as it rolled through the gates onto Beech Bend Raceway’s landscape, it was as if no other car was there. This bright red fastback rolled in rumbling, like it just took over as the King of Beech Bend. The car show was filling up quickly, so Rick ended up parked out by the gate. That didn’t stop crowds from swooping over the car.
It isn't a real-deal BO29 Super Stock car, but with 572ci of Ray Barton Hemi under the hood, who cares?
Rick is not unfamiliar with the attention that this car brings. He has owned the Barracuda since 1987 and it’s been pretty much in this condition since 1989. He bought the car back then for a whopping $2,500 as a 383 big block, 4-speed car. He truly wanted one of the Hurst-built Hemi-powered Barracuda BO29s, better known as the Super Stock Barracuda, but the prices on legitimate examples have always been sky-high, as these were factory race cars meant to go straight into competition. Instead, Rick did the smart thing and found a nice body and made his own version of a 1968 Plymouth Barracuda Super Stock.
After driving it for a couple years and talking somebody out of a 1964 426ci Race Hemi, he decided it was time. He took the car to his friend who owns Folk Race Cars to take it to the next level. Rick wanted big tubs to fit the biggest street tire he could find. He wanted to keep it safe and most important, he wanted to keep the rear seat, so that his ten-year-old daughter could ride along. Remember that last part, it becomes important later.
The interior is restoration-level clean...apart from a few useful modifications, of course.
Folk Race Cars ended up back halving the car and rethinking the rear suspension completely. They installed a ladder-bar design and moved the rear axle back three inches. They also installed a 6-point roll bar, a front sway bar, tubular control arms, and a track bar. As stout as a Chrysler 8 ¾ rear axle is, it had no chance with the Hemi that Rick was planning for the car, so they installed a modified Dana 60 with 4.10 rear gears. When the Barracuda was completed in 1989, it was an absolute unit.
By 1992, Rick had already worn that Race Hemi out and had installed a 572ci iron-block Hemi. He then hurt that motor, and ended up with a Ray Barton aluminum block 572ci Hemi instead. He went absolutely all out building the aluminum 572, including parts like Ray Barton’s Cross Ram Magnesium Intake, which he was told had provide a 100-horsepower increase over the stock intake. This 12.5:1 bullet is an absolute monster, making nearly 800 horsepower naturally aspirated.
A cross-ram intake manifold hosting dual-quads on a Hemi. Just the way it should be. The plug wire layout is art.
He’s running…and has been running…an MSD Pro Billet distributor for the life of the car. Rick’s attention to detail carries over to the cut-to-fit wires that he’s draped perfectly over the fabricated valve covers. On top of the monster Cross Ram intake is a pair of Holley 770cfm 4-barrel Race Carburetors that he’s had dialed in for 20 years. This combination is tried and true and he couldn’t be happier.
The 572ci Ray Barton Hemi is pretty. Pretty angry, too.
Rick’s focus for this A-body has always been to keep this a street car. That doesn’t mean that he was scared to give it a little sauce every once in a while. The car has multiple passes on the drag strip, with a personal best of 9.94 @ 135 MPH. That’s no slouch. With 800-horsepower, 3,500 pounds, and all of the tire you can fit out back, it’s just another day at the dragstrip for this Plymouth.
The rear tire is the largest street tire that was available in 1989, which is a 33x21.50R15. To fit those beasts, he had to get a set of custom Centerline 15x15” wheels. The gargantuan wheels and tires take up what appears to be half of the width of the car.
That's 33x21.50R15 rubber out back. Can you say, "steamrollers"?
Rick cruised in with two of his friends who brought a couple of beautiful yellow cars. When asked if he knew them, he said that he’s been going to shows with these two since he was 15 years old. His buddy Jake had a ’73 Plymouth Duster GSS, a real Mr. Norm’s supercharged unit. The supercharger is long gone, but the hole for the intake was still there! Ross brought the yellow ’35 Dodge pickup, a rare sight anywhere.
