Russell (the builder) had a 1970 Barracuda as his first car when he was in high school. He bought it the same year he met his wife and he’s been married now for 51 years. He’s 71. He said, “it takes a crazy person to cut up a perfectly good 1970 440 big block Barracuda, tub it and change out the motor, but, it has been a labor of love.” He’s been doing restoration work for 45 years. He built this entirely as a show car. It was given to him by an uncle who was a car collector. He had 40 some collector cars in three different buildings, but he passed away. “The car was in our family and so that is why it is so special to me,” Russell said.
This professional restoration work took four years to complete. Most of the sheet metal is new, such as the quarter panels, but we had a really good body to work with from the start. Since the motor was not numbers matching, that’s why he opted to turn it into a resto mod. I still have the original low mileage 440 engine that came in the car, but, he wants to sell it too.
He got a hold of an extremely low mileage 2007 Chrysler 300 SRT with a 6.1 Hemi so he took the powertrain out of the Chrysler SRT and the floor out of the SRT. Brembo 4-wheel disc brakes that were powder coated Sassy Grass Green were installed. The transmission is out of a 2009 Ram pickup. It is the 454 RFE. We installed custom headers that were ceramic coated. We rebuilt the top end of the engine with a new Comp Cam street cam and lifter.
The interior from the modified SRT was used. An adjustable steering column was added. It’s got a simple standard AM/FM radio with new speakers. A custom center console.
The same original Sassy Green color is the same color as the 1970 Barracuda. The original satin green and black remained throughout the exterior. All of the chrome was sand blasted with black powder coat, with the exception of the bumpers where are the same matching Sassy Green color. It has the fiberglass AAR factory hood and a rear spoiler. It has been lowered. Vintage Air was added. Dakota Digital instruments. Milodon oil pan, heavy duty Chrysler 300 cooling fans and radiator, a completely new wiring system and computer from Hotwire. Carpet is the Chrysler 300 carpet, new gas tank, custom built drive shaft, 20” Hellcat wheels mounted on Firestone Firehawk tires.
“The underneath is just as immaculate as the top. We spent a lot of time underneath to make it really nice.” The exhaust was custom made and completely powder coated with ceramic.