Concept

1964 Valiant Barracuda Landau concept.

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1965 Barracuda Concept

In 1965 the designers in the Plymouth studio were working on facelifts and had a light work schedule. Over September and October of that month John Samsen found time to come up with a new design for a Barracuda. It featured concave hood, deck and rear window. Plymouth studio manager Gerry Thorley liked the design so Samsen did a number of sketches or it. Gerry got the authority to do a full-size clay study. The design was well liked but deemed too different from the cars of the day; Chrysler could not afford another show car at that time, so the idea was scrapped. (Dodge Challenger Plymouth Barracuda Chrysler’s Potent Pony Cars by Peter Grist; Veloce Publishing Ltd)

1966 Barracuda Stripe and Coupe Concept

1967 Concept

John Samsen wrote: "My 1964 sketch for the 1967 Barracuda Project.  It was deceided to have a smaller backlite than that on the previous Barracuda. I designed the "hatchback" model for 1967 and revised the front end and hood. I had always liked "real" eggcrate grilles, but high cost kept them out of most car designs. I noticed the aluminum eggcrate grilles on the overhead flourescent lights;  they were very thin so they wouldn't block much cooling air, and must be cheap. I obtained some of the eggcrate and had it trimmed to fit the Barracuda's grille. It passed the tests for exterior use, and was used in the production cars." See more of John Samsens work

More 1967 Concepts

Leading from the S-X styling, other designers in the Plymouth syudio had their take on what the 1967 line should look like. This is by Fred Schimmel and dated Sept. 1964 . (Dodge Challenger Plymouth Barracuda Chrysler’s Potent Pony Cars by Peter Grist; Veloce Publishing Ltd)

Another John Samsen sketch for the 1967 series, this one dated August 25th 1964, showing the similarity in bodysided with accentuated ramping over the wheel arches. Samsen’s sketch shows gills on both front and rear fenders. . (Dodge Challenger Plymouth Barracuda Chrysler’s Potent Pony Cars by Peter Grist; Veloce Publishing Ltd)

Two Designs, One Goal 1975 Concept

Two advanced designs for the '75 Barracuda were slowly evolving. Designer Shunsuke "Matty" Matsurra created one version, influenced by fellow designer Don Hood's renderings. The other concept was by the team of John Herlitz and John Sampson. Both teams worked separately; however, they studied each other's concepts and shared ideas. "We struggled to define the Fourth Gen Barracuda," recalls designer Milt Antonick. "We wanted the car to look more fluid, and yet retain the Barracuda's muscular and aggressive look." Each team thought it was important to preserve the ramps found in the shape of the '70 to '74 E-body's front fenders and rear quarters, and to be sensitive to retaining a certain amount of product image.

Herlitz and Sampson advanced the fluid look, while Matsurra's clays carried a more muscular motif. "We started somewhat conservatively, with variations on the current Barracuda theme," Antonick says. "We then deliberately pushed the design theme as far toward a fluid, muscular look as possible." The teams discovered that doing so only exaggerated the idea.

After numerous cycles of sketches and clays, the teams narrowed it down from four designs to two. Both the Plymouth and Dodge studios viewed the proposals. "I saw them," Cameron says, "and they were beautiful. Matty Matsurra did beautiful body sides. They were neat, and I liked them."

The final proposal for the '75 Barracuda was actually a blend of both designs. "Because we had two models," Antonick says, "we retained a variation of the Barracuda's fender forms on one clay, and tried to enhance it in the other." The vestiges of the '70 to '74 'Cuda fender forms were still intact, while the fluid look was evident in the rolling quarter-panels and hood.

Read the full story at Popular Hot Rodding