photos and text by
Gary Rosier
Rick Holder and his wife Mary Ann Holder own this beautiful 1969 Plymouth Barracuda 340 “S”. Rick and Mary Ann are from West Virginia and now reside most of the year in Port Orange, Florida.
The first Barracuda’s were heavily based on the contemporary Valiant’s, however Plymouth wanted them perceived as distinct models in ’66, so the Barracuda fish logo was all new for 1966. The now second-generation Barracuda, a 108 in wheelbase A-body, still shared many components with the Valiant, but was stylishly redesigned with model-specific sheet metal, and a convertible and hardtop coupe joining the original fastback offering’s of the early years.
The new Barracuda (’66 and up) was chiefly the work of John E. Herlitz and John Samsen, with Coke-bottle side contours and heavily revised front and rear ends. Design cues included a concave rear deck panel, wider wheel openings, curved side glass, and S-curved roof pillars on the hardtop.
As the pony-car class became established and competition increased, Plymouth began to revise the Barracuda’s engine options. The ‘Cuda, based on the Formula S option, was available with either the 340, 383 and, new for 1969, the 440 Super Commando V8.
Rick Holder is the second owner of this fine example of a 1969 Barracuda 340 “S” two door hardtop model. Its an original, numbers matching car that has all its original goodies, including trim, block, trans, rear end and rare Kelsey Hayes factory 4 piston calipers up front (part of the “S” package, which also consisted of larger diameter sway bars, upgraded shocks and heavy duty trans).
Rick worked for the railroad for over 43 years and is originally from Maryland. Rick purchased this car from the original owner out of PA in 1992 with 98,709 miles on it. He drove the car occasionally for about a year is all and then parked it. It spent time residing in his son’s garage, his fathers garage and then a storage unit until its resurrection (body work only) in 2008.
As is typical in many of these older muscle cars, especially those up north, if the salt didn’t get them, then something else did. Such was the case with this ‘Cuda. Water found its way over time in through the windshield wiper seals and down into and under the carpet rusting the floor-pans. Rick said that with the high mileage and issues going on that it was time for a re-build!
As luck would have it, two of his railroad buddies (twin brothers Bobby and Donnie Minnick) who had retired earlier, and the Minnick’s cousin Clinton, worked on painting and fixing cars out of a modest garage behind Donnie’s home in Maryland. Rick asked them if they would be interested in doing the bodywork and painting of his beloved ‘Cuda (see pics) and they agreed. The body work was accomplished first, to include a new vinyl top and floor pans. The ‘Cuda was painted the original Ivy Green (Chrysler F8 Code). Stripes were carefully replaced using Year One as their source.
His interior was updated with correct replacement pieces from Legendary Interior including the headliner; door panels; carpet; seat coverings and new foam seat inserts. Factory gauges were preserved and work fine he says, (speedometer now showing only 100,745 original miles).
The car still wasn’t ready to drive, however Rick decided in 2014, all that was about to change Big Time! The Maryland Performance Center in Frederick, MD was hired to work on rebuilding the motor and drivetrain. With nearly 100k miles on it, a total teardown was required.
He wanted more “GO” he said so a Scat forged crank, part of a massive stroker kit, was installed along with flat-top pistons (forged), 10.8 compression, a Harland roller cam and rockers, Eldebrock aluminum intake and heads – which rounds out this massive 416cu in stroker (original 340 block) motor! It was dyno’d at 519hp @6300 rpm (368 rwhp) with 547 ft lbs of torque!
It’s backed by the 727 Torque-flight with TCI 3200 torgue converter with Turbo Action shift kit and re-built rear with 3:23 gears. Its got a Champion aluminum radiator for cooling and TTI ceramic coated headers/exhausts that exit the gasses via 3 inch pipes with Magna Flow mufflers for a very sweet sound! It rolls on a set of American 15 in wheels mounted with Mickey Thompson Sportsman tires (P215/70R15’s – front, P255/60R15’s – rear).
Fastbacks and convertibles outnumbered the two door hardtops but this 340 “S” model has been resurrected – preserved, pampered (yes- he DOES mash the throttle once in awhile he says with a grin!) and lives again to the delight of many. Would-a-could-a…its one fine ‘CUDA….340 “S”. Thanks for keeping it alive for all of us to enjoy Rick!
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