MPC 70-74 Barracuda History/ Review

[ChrisPflug]

The MPC 'cudas are pretty much what you'd expect from a promo based annual kit of the era- a very nicely done body, simple but detailed tub interior, so-so engine, and simple chassis with fenderwells and exhaust detail molded in and designed to use screws to attach the rear. A metal axle covered by a separate rear end/ leaf spring is used in the back with separate plastic pins mounting the front wheels (at least we're spared an axle through the engine block). The interior is made up of a tub with molded in door panel, console, and back seat for stock original issues with separate bucket seats, shifter handle, dash, and steering wheel/column. The engine provided has been a 426 Hemi with separate automatic trans- even after the 1:1 hemicuda was no longer available from Chrysler.

The body has always been the strong point of these kits- even if certain details and dimensions were a bit off the model just seemed "right". Part of this comes from the 1:1 using lots of design tricks to make the outside look smaller and sportier. These cars were designed to share much of the engine bay, cowl, floor pan, suspension, and mechanical components with the upcoming 1971 B bodies but compete and have the pony car style of the Mustang and Camaro which had started out as reskinned Falcon and Nova compacts. Many of the styling "tricks" didn't translate directly to scale visually so some liberties taken to make the promo look how Chrysler thought it should.

The Annuals

The 1970 kit was molded in lime green and features a shaker hood with separate scoop, chrome bumpers with a one piece plated front grille shell and bumper piece and dual exhaust tips molded into the rear valance. The interior is upscale featuring the optional leather and vinyl upholstery, Rallye dash, console, and three spoke steering wheel with partial horn ring. Wheels included are a set of stock Rallyes and some nice Keystone Klassics with four shortfalls and a pair of vinyl slicks.

Building options included a "High Rise" suspension with a leaf sprung straight axle for the front and exaggerated extensions for the rear spring mounts, traction bars, and coil assist shocks (all rather crudely done). A "Barris custom" version offered custom grille inserts, a strange triple hood scoop, and spoiler. Interior options were limited to a simple roll bar. Decals included some generic drag striping, sponsorship stickers and Plymouth Rapid Transit System logos.

A Candies and Hughes funny car kit was also offered featuring funny car chassis and firewall but a stock promo style body with the hood and shaker molded in.

For 1971 the body was updated with the new cars styling and the grille shell now molded to the body. White plastic was now used. The interior was unchanged other than the disappearance of the horn ring, the dash emblem changed on the real car but was left alone on the model. A new high rise intake option was offered featuring long criss crossing tubes that came up through the hood to high dual scoops. Decals were provided for a Don Grotheer drag version. The Schumacher Stardust funny car kit was offered featuring a photo of a real funny car on the box but stock promo style body inside.

The 72 was again restyled with the kit reflecting the changes. The shaker hood was now gone replaced in the kit with a flat base Barracuda piece (and new flat air cleaner to fit under it for "stock" version. The interior was revised with the new upholstery pattern and two spoke steering wheel. The Hemi was unchanged although the largest factory engine in the 1:1 was now a 340. Chrysler also changed the design of Rallye wheel center cap for 1972 but this change didn't come to the MPC annuals till the '74s. Decals were included for a Sox and Martin version as well as black factory style side stripes like th ones provided with the promos. 1972 was the last year for a factory Barracuda promo.

Styling for 1973 was mostly unchanged, most noticeable on the kit was the addition of the huge "crash" bumper guards. "Barracuda" scripts were added to the quarter panels and the "cuda" disappeared from the taillight panel. Stock whitewall tires were replaced with Blackwell Polyglas. The biggest change in the kit had nothing to do with the 1:1 car but rather custom parts. The "High Rise" and drag options were replaced with the "Gasser" version. Injection stacks and a barrel fuel tank were provided for the Hemi, an optional dash, race seats and a "tinwork" cover to hide the back seat was added for th interior. A whole new front end setup requiring the front of the chassis and fenderwells be cut off and replaced with new stub frame and straight axle setup. The rear was less radical than the earlier versions and now had wheelie bars. Custom wheels were now dragster mags and a panel was provided to cover the headlights and grille

For 1974 the "Barracuda" scripts disappeared from the quarters and the "cuda" was back on the tail. The big front bumper guards found on the 1:1 went away and th factory Rallye wheels were updated. A pointy extended custom front end was added as well as a spoiler, sidepipes, and a blower for th Hemi.

Edited September 10, 2014 by ChrisPflug

[ChrisPflug]

Race cars and reissues

The first non stock issue was the Motown Missile from the Pro Stock series. Based on the 73/74 annual with "plain" front bumper and some newly tooled drag parts. The Hemi was converted to dual plugs and twin dominators on an IR tunnel ram. Wheels were changed to slotted mags and only slicks for the rear, a pro stock hood scoop added,and the interior gutted (actually the Dodge Challenger tub with the back seat, console, and carpet detail removed and "rivets" added), a race dash insert, drag buckets and upgraded roll bar. Side windows were also included as well as wheelie bars, cooler, and the appropriate decals. Interestingly the stock chassis with molded in exhaust was still used even though drag car was the only building option

Even though it really just used the body from the regular kit, the mid 70s "Barracuda Super Stocker" May have had the most lasting effects. The wheelwells were opened up all around, hood and body side hacked for a scoop and side exiting exhaust, the headlights and door handle details blanked over, and the front turn signal/ parking lights removed from the front valance opening. Chassis and interior were the same as the rest of the modified cars in the series.

In 1980 the body was restored for the "Hemi Cuda" street machine. Molded I blue plastic the kit contents were similar to those found in the '74 annual but with heavily treaded big and little tires on Center Lines and a short rear spoiler. The flat hood with multiple score lines on the underside was included. The body repairs weren't the greatest, the most noticeable changes being the absence of the front parking lights, the indentations for the headlights being gone leaving a flat surface for the chrome headlights. The door handles also seem to have grown in size. Locating pins for the glass, interior, and chassis were gone so probably better in avoiding sink marks on the trunk lid. Bumpers were "plain", without the guards. The 80s were unfortunately a bad time for quality at MPC and this kit usually had the poor chrome, cheap tires, and harder to work with soft and deeply colored plastic this era is infamous for.

The next releases were in 1985 and 86 labelled "Autoscape" and "Pro Street Barracuda". The Autoscape series featured a vacuformed display base and background poster. Most of the subjects in the series were reissues of Jeeps and trucks but a Mustang and cuda were included. The Barracuda kit was molded in bright yellow plastic and had the dark tinted glass found in many MPC street machines of the day. The Pro Street kit was molded in reddish orange with clear glass and featured an odd single pedestal T shaped rear spoiler.

The biggest new feature was a "Pro Street" chassis with the exhaust removed and rubbed rear. Only big slicks were provided for rear tires. The scooped hood and race interior bucket from the Motown Missile were back in these versions and the bumpers once again had huge guards (probably pretty good protection for a show car- 5 mph at the fairground seems like a reasonable real world speed for a Pro Streeter at the height of the craze )

Each of the street machine versions has its own custom graphic decals as well

After the Ertl buyout the kit was reengineered into a simple stock AMT snap kit in yellow plastic. The flat hood was molded in place, Rallye wheels and some ugly tires added as well as decals for white or black factory 73-74 style tape stripes. The body detail issues of the later MPC versions pretty much carried over. The AMT was released a couple times as a snap kit and also as a "retro promo" assembled version in Rallye Red.

All the versions have strong and weak points depending on what version you want to build. Hopefully the release of the new Revell 70 kits will take some of the pricyness from builder/rebuilder quality used older issues.

Parts interchangabilty isn't the greatest for adding chassis and interior detail, the new Revell underpinnings seem a bit large to fit easily but the AMT Challenger chassis and engine bay can be fitted without too much grief.

Probably a few mistakes, I own quite a few but not every version mentioned. I Also tend to purchase rebuildables rather than pricy New vintage kits for my modest personal stash



Pictures to follow

Edited September 10, 2014 by ChrisPflug

[Snake45]

Thanks so much for this--very helpful!

I have the '80s "pro street" version of the kit (molded in black IIRC). I hope to build it as the Motown Missile. Any tips you can give me toward that endeavor would be appreciated. Thanks again!

[unclescott58]

Any pictures?

Scott

[ChrisPflug]

[Snake45]

Fabulous pictures, thanks so much for this!

[Guest]

I have the red pro street version. I don't care for the hood, spoiler, chassis or bumpers it has. I don't recall it having the driveshaft and rearend molded to the chassis like the one you have in the photos though. I'm definitely going to have to do some kit bashing when it comes time to build it. I think I may try to get the blue street machine version since it has a better hood and bumpers.

[mnwildpunk]

Thank you great in depth review

[Bob Ellis]

Your post and pictures spell it out pretty well.

If MPC didn't turn it into a stock car, it would be a better kit today. The door handles are probably more obvious, but other damage including a general wavyness of the body side crease has degraded this Cuda. The headlights are not sunken anymore and the front turn signals are missing too.

While there are alot of Snap Kits out there and the boxes appear the same, some have 1974 on the rear and some do not. This may be a function of when ERTL issued assembled promos in red. I also seems that these promos got extra work done on the to improve the side wavyness. If so, an upcoming release of the Snap Kit may be better.

Using an Xacto knife on the back side, you can cut open the hood in about 15 minutes. Take care in the front not to go too deep into the grille. You can keep the flat hood, or find a shark one. I used an AMT Challenger chassis, but I guess a Revell might be better?

I am not sure if Revell will ever do this 72-74 Cuda. The engine options of slant 6 , 318 and 340-360, probably won't generate enough sales. So, it's good to have this kit around.

[1972coronet]

I am not sure if Revell will ever do this 72-74 Cuda. The engine options of slant 6 , 318 and 340-360, probably won't generate enough sales. So, it's good to have this kit around.

It would be nice if Missing Link (or whom-ever) would make a conversion for the 1972-1974 models . Even basing a '72 - '74 Pro Stock on the existing Sox & Martin kit from Revell would generate enough sales !

[ianguilly]

Love to see a new cuda kit from round2. Preferably 1967-1969 or 1972-1974. There's enough 1970-1971 cudas out there now.

[azers]

There is a conversion kit now. I ordered one off ebay. It comes with front and rear panels and grills. Taillights. Ill know more when I get it in the mail.

[Bob Ellis]

Conversion to make a 72-74 out of a 1/25 Revell '70 Cuda?

I am curious to see pictures posted of the parts you receive.

[Snake45]

Conversion to make a 72-74 out of a 1/25 Revell '70 Cuda?

I am curious to see pictures posted of the parts you receive.

I'd like to see that too. I was about to start "improving" the headlights of the '74 snapper but will hold off a couple days if help is on the way.

[azers]

Here is a picture of the parts I recieved. The tail panel is usable. The grill is good. The front valance is thick and will need thinning. All in all a usable conversion kit. After all I only paid 14.00 sorry for the quality I only had my cell phone at work.

Edited September 12, 2014 by azers

[Snake45]

What's wrong with the rear panel on the snapper '74? (I'm no expert on these things.)

What's wrong with the rear panel on the snapper '74? (I'm no expert on these things.)

What's wrong with the rear panel on the snapper '74? (I'm no expert on these things.)

What's wrong with the rear panel on the snapper '74? (I'm no expert on these things.)

Edited September 12, 2014 by Snake45

[Bob Ellis]

Snake, I don't think there is anything wrong with the snap '74 rear. I thought the idea was to convert a Revell '70 into a '72-74, and then it would need the resin rear piece.

Am I interpreting this correctly?

[Snake45]

Snake, I don't think there is anything wrong with the snap '74 rear. I thought the idea was to convert a Revell '70 into a '72-74, and then it would need the resin rear piece.

Am I interpreting this correctly?

Ah, okay. I've seen a lot of criticism of that '74 snapper body. I'm not an expert on Cudas but am trying to get one of these together and will try to fix what I can on it. Thanks!

[Bob Ellis]

The snap kit is okay.

[Ron Hamilton]

Thank you for doing this thread. As a kid in junior hiigh school, I built one of the original annual MPC '70 'Cudas which was moulded in lime. I could not stand the color of the styrene (14 year old mind at the time) and painted it with Pactra Orange matallic, which gave it a bronze cast. Of course it is long one. Several years ago, I found a glue-bomb on Ebay, and snapped it up. It was unpainted and moulded in white. I wanted a decent '70 'Cuda model, and that AAR 'Cuda (1st series) from Revell would not cut it. I cut up an AMT '71 Charger R/T (Latest tool), and fit everything under the MPC. This is what I ended up with.

While it is not absolutely perfect, I am very happy with it.

I plan to do the same thing with a '74 promo.

[Snake45]

I think I've figgered out a fix for the '74 promo headlight buckets, and hope to try it soon (soon as I get a couple other projects off the bench, which I hope to do in the next week). Will post pics here if it works.

[Bob Ellis]

Ron, that '70 Cuda looks great. The kit green is a little funky.

[unclescott58]

By the way, this is the type of stuff I love see in this forum. I love seeing all the variations of different kits. Seeing what I had, or have. And what I may have missed at the time. I believe I got the MPC '70 'Cuda, along with the MPC '70 Firebird Formula 400 for Christmas back in 1970. I wish I had those two kits now.

Scott

Edited September 29, 2014 by unclescott58

[Stray]

Man... I have spent a lot of today scouring the net and ebay australia AND the US for info/details on my Cuda. I have the orange molded '86 ProStreet version I bought new and built (shoddy as buggery) in the late 80's and it has been floating around in boxes since then. I am trying to figure outr what to do with her now, as I recall the chassis being povo, I believe I cut it up to use the tubs on a hotrod, and the engine I think went into an old Anglia drag car. Here is all I have left of her now: