There is only one thing cooler than a classic muscle car: A vintage race-ready custom. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, American tuners handbuilt prestigious speed machines. The famous Carroll Shelby turned cars into legends. Meanwhile, Don Yenko made the most desirable Chevys of all time. What might a custom Plymouth-builder have created? Wonder no more: behold the Savage GT.

Wisconsin-based Auto Craft built Grand Tourer muscle cars based on the second-generation Barracuda. With a high-revving Hemi engine and suspension upgrades ahead of its time, this brutal build earns its name.

Savage Style

If Carroll Shelby had modified a Barracuda it might have looked a lot like this 1969 Savage GT
Via: Brad Barrie

The Savage GT looks strikingly different than a stock Plymouth Barracuda. Yet, unlike the increasingly civilized Shelby Cobra of its era, every one of the Savage's modifications could be considered functional. One of the most criticized aspects of the second-generation Barracuda is its front grille, split by a "V" of body-colored metal. The maniacs at Auto Craft chopped away all of this front metalwork. Then, in true savage style, they mounted round headlights, rectangular indicators, and a custom "Savage" badge on the radiator brackets. Without so much as a flimsy piece of mesh to restrict airflow, the car's front end is left blatantly open. The only nod to aesthetics is the pair of thin horizontal strip of chrome trim.

The second most noticeable change to the Savage GT is the pair of stainless steel "laker" style pipes running under both doors. These pipes both punch through the fenders and end in custom exhaust headers. They are barely baffled, limiting backdraft and affording the engine maximum horsepower. They also allow the V8 to rumble at maximum decibels.

If Carroll Shelby had modified a Barracuda it might have looked a lot like this 1969 Savage GT
Via: Brad Barrie

The Savage GT also boasts Auto Craft's proprietary fiberglass hood scoop (fully functional) and spoiler lip (also functional) on the trunk. This same spoiler was actually used on the Sox and Martin drag-race-winning Barracudas. Auto Craft stripped the rear trunk of all trim, except for another small "Savage" badge.

The Savage wears lightweight magnesium rims, styled similarly to the rims on a 1970s Aston Martin V8, wrapped in 205-millimeter-wide tires to provide maximum traction. In the late 1960s, it was trendy to puncture the sides of a custom car with multiple air scoops. But the Savage GT is entirely unmolested. Even the functional air scoops that cool the rear brakes are mounted in a more efficient--if less stylish--under-car position.

If Carroll Shelby had modified a Barracuda it might have looked a lot like this 1969 Savage GT
Via: Brad Barrie

This GT's interior is more track-oriented than touring-designed. The aftermarket car features a padded roll cage engineered to leave the door openings unobstructed. Savages were delivered with racing harnesses for the driver and front passenger already dangling from the roll cage. Auto Craft blatantly attached the tachometer to the column of the wooden steering wheel. The center of the steering wheel wore one more "Savage" badge. A helpful blogger has scanned the original MotorTrend review of the Savage GT.

RELATED: 1967-69 Plymouth Barracuda Formula S: Profile Of A Muscle Car

Grand Tourer Performance

If Carroll Shelby had modified a Barracuda it might have looked a lot like this 1969 Savage GT
Via: Brad Barrie

Auto Craft advertised the Savage GT with three available V8 engine sizes: the 340, the 383, and the monstrous 440 Magnum. All three were versions of the Chrysler Hemi engine, famous for its half-sphere combustion chambers. The 383 was Mopar's legendary high-compression small-block. Stock, the 340 boasted a hot camshaft and 10.5:1 compression ratio. It was a high-winding engine for its day, producing 275 horsepower at 5,000

RPM.  In a lightweight Dodge or Plymouth A-Body, it often beats out engines 50-cubic-inches its senior.

But the stock 340 was far too civilized for Auto Craft. They piped the engine's exhaust through custom headers. The team built an aluminum, high-rise manifold topped off with an aftermarket 4-barrel carb.  They offered similar treatments of the 383 and 440 engines. But both the powerplants were based on Chrysler's big-block engine family and outweighed the 340 by 200 pounds! The steering problems inherent with cramming a big-block into the little A-Body chassis would lead Mopar to introduce the E-Body chassis in 1970 (pioneered by the third-generation Barracuda). In 1969, the majority of Savage GT buyers opted for the 340 engine. There's a great Mopar Magazine article on the 340.

If Carroll Shelby had modified a Barracuda it might have looked a lot like this 1969 Savage GT
Via: Brad Barrie

Any veteran hot rod builder knows it is simple enough to make a Detroit V8 go fast. But engineering a muscle car that can corner and stop is an act of genius. Auto Craft was up for the challenge and revamped the Plymouth Barracuda from bumper to bumper. The Savage's front end boasts the Formula S heavy-duty torsion bars and ball joints. Auto Craft improved on Plymouth factory offerings with adjustable shock absorbers, a 0.94-inch diameter front stabilizer bar, and a Shur-Guide constant-tension stabilizer to improve steering at top speed.  The rear axle benefited from heavy-duty adjustable shock-absorbers, anti-windup dampers, and adjustable traction bars to improve starting-line launch. Behind its Mag rims, the Savage also enjoys custom disc brakes at all four wheels. You can check out the Hooniverse Savage GT write-up for more information.

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An Endangered Species

If Carroll Shelby had modified a Barracuda it might have looked a lot like this 1969 Savage GT
Via: Brad Barrie

In 1969, Auto Craft announced plans to offer Savage GT's, with a warranty, through Plymouth dealerships. But Mopar had other plans and the partnership fell through. By 1970, Plymouth had completely redesigned the Barracuda as the first-generation of the Mopar E-Bodies. Auto Craft did not engineer an all-new Savage model of the all-new Barracuda.

No one is sure how many Savage GTs were built, but all sources agree there were originally twelve or fewer. Many of the Savage GTs were scrapped. Today, just a handful of these cars remain. You can see a barn find on Youtube. Proud Savage GT owner Brad Barrie maintains a popular Facebook page where he shares what he knows about the brand and its history.

NEXT: This Is The Sickest Wide Body Muscle Car We've Ever Seen