1967 Plymouth Barracuda
VIN: BH23D72328802
Engine: 273 CID, 8 Cylinder, 2BBL
Exterior Color: Yellow (Original); now Black
Interior Color: White and Black
Assembly Plant: Hamtramack, Michigan
Ship Date: May 9, 1967 (Production Date: May 5, 1967)
Dealership: Collins Motor Company, Amarillo, Texas
Original Purchase Date: May 17, 1967
Backstory
The gift of a new automobile can commemorate any number of special occasions. This particular Barracuda may have celebrated several significant events occurring in close proximity: a recent divorce, an impending new marriage, and an upcoming college graduation.
In the spring of 1967, a woman in Lubbock, Texas, took possession of this new Barracuda two-door notchback hardtop. Recently remarried, she was two weeks away from receiving her Bachelor of Arts degree with High Honors from Texas Technological College. The bright yellow beauty was eye-catching at rest and in motion—for 1967, Plymouth untethered the Barracuda from its Valiant origins, offering a sleeker design and greater power. This particular example possessed an unusual combination of high-level trim and four-speed manual transmission.
The car had been purchased and delivered at Collins Motor Company in Amarillo, Texas, the young woman’s hometown, where her father was a prominent power company executive and civic leader. L.B. Collins, a former U.S. Air Force officer and World War II veteran, had acquired the Plymouth franchise for Amarillo in 1965, adding it to his existing Chrysler offerings of Valiant, Chrysler, and Imperial. He had opened his Amarillo dealership in 1958, after a stint as district sales manager for Chrysler Corporation and an apprenticeship at a Dodge and Plymouth operation established by his father in Kilgore, Texas. In 1974, Mr. Collins sold his interest in Collins Motor Company in Amarillo, and, following a divorce, moved to Dallas, where, among his other entrepreneurial activities, he acquired part ownership of a Ford dealership. He died in Dallas in 1985, at age 62.
The original owner of the Barracuda became a school teacher and kept the car until 1981. At that time, ownership passed to a young man in Amarillo, who appears to have sold the car to someone outside the State of Texas. I found it listed for sale at a classic car dealership in Venice, Florida in 2018, and the Barracuda prowled the coastal roads alongside the Pacific Ocean for two years before being entrusted to a new owner.
