Flower Power
The ’69 Plymouth Barracuda Mod Top model summed up the flower child movement of the ‘60s, but it also had “flower power” with a 340-cid V-8. Only 1,021 Mod-Top Barracuda…
The ’69 Plymouth Barracuda Mod Top model summed up the flower child movement of the ‘60s, but it also had “flower power” with a 340-cid V-8. Only 1,021 Mod-Top Barracuda or ‘Cudas were made and few had 340s.
According to the Mod Top Registry (www.mooresmopars.com) about 88 of the ’69 Mod Tops are known to survive and most have 318-cid V-8s. One has a 383-cid big-block engine and one has a six. That leaves 18 cars with a 340.
Mopar offered the Mod floral vinyl top and matching floral seat and interior for Barracuda, Satellite, Dart Swinger, Dart GTS, Super Bee and Coronet 440 models. In 1969, there were 937 BH23 Barracudas delivered with yellow Mod Tops. In 1970, Plymouth made 52 BH23s with Mod Tops, half of which were yellow and the other half of which were blue. In addition, a total of 32 BS23 ‘Cudas were sold with Mod Tops (17 blue and 15 yellow).
Plymouth advertised the ’69 Mod Top model as “The Car You Wear.” The advertising copy read as follows:
The 1969 Barracuda with Pop Prints. Look what Plymouth is up to now. Pop Prints, Mod Tops, you name it. Even if you can’t name it, you can have it. A floral vinyl top. Or floral seat and interior trim. Or both
Who needs it? Anyone with a penchant for the different. The exciting. The original. Why did we do it? To win you over, naturally.
Fender tags on Barracudas with the yellow and black floral seats carried the codes F6J (yellow vinyl bucket seats with floral inserts) or F6P (green vinyl bucket seats with floral inserts) for the seats and V1P for the vinyl top. In 1970, a blue-green floral pattern was added with fender tag codes F2Q for the vinyl bucket seats and V1Q for the vinyl top. Only seven of the 1970 models (five Barracuda Sport Coupes and two ‘Cuda Sport Coupes) are known to survive.
The Mod Top Registry has researched all of these cars extensively, including an interview with a man, now 90, who worked for the manufacturer of the yellow-black vinyl material used by Plymouth. This man worked for the plastics division of Stauffer Chemicals in Anderson, N.C., which also made shower curtains and vinyl tablecloths.
According to the registry, there is no NOS yellow-black mod material left. There are several sources of reproduction material: Laysons Restorations (http://www.laysons.com), Fryers Auto Upholstery (www.autoupholsterykits.com), Legendary Auto Interiors (www.legendaryautointeriors.com) and SMS Auto Fabrics (www.smsautofabrics.com).
As for the Barracuda pictured, it was painstakenly restored by Mr. Norm’s Garage (www.mrnormsgarage.com) and brought to the Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals (www.MCACN.com). Finished in Code F6 Green this Barracuda BH23 Sport Coupe has the 340-cid V-8, TorqueFlite transmission, Mod Top, Mod interior trim, air conditioning, power steering, power disc brakes, AM radio, bucket seats, console and floor shifter. Oh yes, it also has flower power!
