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The Plymouth Barracuda was introduced to the world on April 1, 1964. As Chrysler stated it: "A new kind of Plymouth has been introduced - the Barracuda whose fast-back rear window is one of the largest ever used in a production automobile... 14.4 sq ft of tinted glass." Beneath that massive glass area, the Barracuda featured a unique rear utility compartment with a rear seat whose back folded forward like the kind used in the rear of station wagons. An advertising saying of the time said it made "sport of utility." Two weeks away (April 15, 1964) lay the introduction of its soon to be arch nemesis, the Ford Mustang. However, the Barracuda wasn't scheduled for production on the assembly line until May. Thus, although the Barracuda was introduced first, the Mustang beat the cuda onto the roads. The Barracuda was released on the popular Valiant line as a compact "muscle" car. Chrysler cut the roof and rear trunk area off and added the convex tinted glass and a stubby trunk. Also unique to the 1964 model year was the dashboard, which featured rotary and push-pull controls for the heater/fresh air system. The fish emblem is not seen on this year as the emblem did not debut until 1966, instead the Valiant V is present on the steering wheel, the parking lights covers, and at the base of the rear window. There were a few mid-year changes. The Valiant script under the rear trunk lid was dropped, and the tail on the Barracuda script on the fenders became shorter. Chrysler made 23,433 shiny new 1964 1/2 Barracudas. The advertised delivered price was $2,365. Power Steering added $82, the 273 cu. in. V-8 engine another $131 and air conditioning was available at $364.
The car came standard with a the 225 slant six but you could option for the 273 V8. It seems that early on, the 170 slant six was designated as the "base engine" in some Barracuda advertisements. However, soon to follow sales brochures advertised the 225ci as the "base Engine" with no mention of the smaller 170ci. But it does seem that Chrysler delivered cars with the 170ci when ordered that way. Also to go with the new car was a brand new engine. Before 1964, a V8 was never offered in an A-body. With the intro of the Barracuda and the Dart becoming an A-body, the LA small block family was started. Somewhat based on the old polyspherical A-318, debuted the LA-273ci V-8 engine. Designed with the Valiant platform in mind, the 273 produced 180 horse power, had mechanical lifters, 8.5 to Compression Ratio, and a two barrel carburetor. The 273 was engineered to fit within the narrow engine bay of the Valiant. In fact, if one was to do an engine swap in an early A-body, the k-members are the same! The k-member is the same one that was used for the slant sixes, however Chrysler made special motor mounts and headers so the engine could clear the steering shaft.
The transmissions are simple. Standard was a three speed, non-synchro gearbox, shifted on the column. The optional four speed is the now legendary "Hemi" A-833 (this was the only year that it was available for the slant-six). The optional automatics are the A-904-G backing the six and the A-904-LA behind the V8. This was also the debut for the small block 904. All automatic 1964 1/2 Barracudas were shifted via pushbutton controls on the dashboard.
(above information summarized from completelycudas.com)
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