By Corky Guenther
Some of you are aware that I have another automobile addiction besides LBCs. MOPARs in general, their muscle cars in particular. When we attend mixed car shows, I’m always on the lookout. As all of us are aware, a lot of our automotive tastes are greatly influenced by the cars we grew up with. Just ask Dean about his father’s annual Austin-Healey purchases. In my case, growing up in Iowa, the land of John Deere, Farmall, Oliver, Allis Chalmers, Case and Minneapolis-Moline just to name a few. There weren’t any LBCs present during my formative years. I did read “The Little Red Car” about a teenaged boy, an MGTC and a French mechanic when I was 13 or 14 years old which made me aware that there were “Sports Cars”. However there weren’t any physical examples on the roads to covet. The first one I saw, around 1959, was a 55 MGTF belonging to the father of a classmate. A couple of years later, a BMC dealership opened. They had a display on the grounds of the “National Dairy Cattle Congress” (a sort of State Fair event) and I remember looking at an Austin-Healey. The salesman came over, popped the bonnet and pointed out the frame and remarked that it was “built like a hay baler”. Iowa, remember.
So, the car culture revolved around domestic manufacturers predominately the Big Three and the customization of their offerings. My dad was a Chrysler Corp. (mostly Plymouth) man so that’s where my loyalties formed. He dealt with a local family owned dealership in my home town. Dad did test-drive a 1950 Ford prior to purchasing a new Plymouth but only because our former neighbor had purchased the Ford dealership in an even smaller nearby town. He wouldn’t go near a “Stove Bolt Special” Chevrolet. My first car was a used 57 Plymouth convertible which I bought from the family dealership in 1961, or so and kept until the Fall of 1964 when I sold it to a fellow sailor as I was going to get married and my fiancé had a 265 V8 manual transmission 55 Chevy 2-door post which seemed more practical than my convertible at the time. After returning from the honeymoon, I became aware of a persistent ticking in the engine. I asked a classmate of mine – a Chevy expert – and his diagnosis was a cracked piston. With only a few days before I had to report to Dam Neck in Virginia Beach, VA for Guided Missile School it was off to the family dealership. This was December of 1964 and the 65 Barracudas caught my eye. He didn’t have a manual transmission one in stock but found one nearby. It was Red and Red and equipped with, as it turned out, the Hi Performance 273 V8 and a 4 speed. This was the same drive train that was used in the Formula S. At the time I was unaware of the Formula S and wouldn’t have had time to find one anyway. The Navy wouldn’t wait. So that was my introduction to performance cars. I really enjoyed that car. One of the best recollections: Start in 1st gear, run it up to about 3500 on the first 2 barrels – it really sounded like it was working hard, then floor it to get into the other 2 barrels. The trip from 3500 to 5200 with the sounds of that 4 barrel, clattering solid lifters and the unique 3” exhaust was glorious.
While at Dam Neck I saw my first MGTC. It was sitting at a filling station and had a $500.00 price posted. For an E3 sailor in 1965, it might as well have been $5000.00. Not a chance. After Dam Neck, I was posted to a Polaris Submarine homeported in Charleston, SC. In 1967 while on patrol, I configured the replacement for the Barracuda. It was to be a Plymouth (of course). I just couldn’t bring myself to order the GTX with the 440 never mind the HEMI. Cost wasn’t the issue really, just the care and feeding, so I configured a Sports Satellite Convertible with a 383 and a 4-speed, got as close as I could to a GTX. Mind you, all I had was 1967 materials so I was a bit surprised by the new body style. I ordered it anyway, from the family dealer, of course. I made one big error. Charleston is very hot and humid in the summer and I didn’t order AC. I was buying a convertible after all. Dumb. I enjoyed that Plymouth which was more powerful and quicker than the Barracuda but just not the same. A couple of guys up the street had A12s with triple 2-barrel carburetors, one a Super Bee and the other a Road Runner. I lusted after those too but I wouldn’t have been able to feed them. MOPAR muscle firmly implanted.
After Charleston, I returned to Dam Neck as an instructor for the balance of my enlistment where I bought a 59 TR3 for a second car which promptly blew a head gasket. After replacing the head gasket, I drove it for a few years, had it painted, blew and replaced another head gasket, got discharged, moved to Maryland and after oil consumption reached 1 qt. per 70 mile commute replaced the pistons & liners. The MGs kept calling and the Plymouth got sold to, coincidently, another sailor and in its place, an MGB. In 1974, I bought the TC and life moved on. There have been 4 more MGBs including the current one along with a couple of other LBCs. The domestic vehicles have almost all been MOPARS and the addition to their muscle versions while suppressed, never subsided. The MGs win the day though.
Several years ago, Hemmings started a new publication: Muscle Machines. It’s dedicated to American performance automobiles. I was hooked. Here was an opportunity to feed the addition for the cost of a subscription. They’ve covered the gamut and I’ve always wondered if they would feature the 65 Barracuda since even though it lost the style and sales race to the Mustang by wide margins, the Barracuda was announced two weeks before the Mustang and was performance competitive. But, I wasn’t sure anybody really considered them as muscle cars. Then in the April, 2020 issue, 200 issues later, it was in the Buyers Guide for the month. Brought back a few memories and still, if a reasonable opportunity presented itself, I might have to get that 65 Formula S just to see if you can go back again. After all, one of the previous MGBs was a 65 and the current one is a 67. Not too much difference at least time wise.