Plymouth is an integral part of Chrysler's rich history. And Kevin Hart may be an onscreen funny man, but his heart truly beats for nothing but muscle, which is why he celebrated his 40th birthday in July 2019 by gifting himself a 1970 Plymouth Barracuda, resto-modded by Speedkore.
Of course, all of this was before the pandemic hit us, and at a time we still bought cars to actually drive them to places instead of revving in the driveway and pretending to be at exotic locales. The Barracuda, one expensive classic, is worth its weight in the kind of eyeballs it gets.
Plus, since it came modified and restored by Speedkore, this was no ordinary car, which is why just months later, it was involved in no ordinary car crash. Yep, this dream car that Hart so proudly drove into his home flipped over into a gully in September 2019, barely a few days after it was bought for what must have been a bomb.
This is the story of that Plymouth Barracuda, the way it once was and the way it is now. Be prepared though, the ending has a twist!
A Glitzy Powered Barracuda
Honestly, just a Plymouth Barracuda in its original, regardless of a restored form, is enough to be a dream car for any classic car aficionado. Kevin Hart’s ’70 Barracuda looks beautiful enough to make grown men cry real tears of envious pain. That said, what makes it even worse for those viewing it with an avaricious eye was what lay under the hood.
Instead of the original 275-horsepower 5.4-liter V8 of the Barracuda, this bore a massive 6.2-liter supercharged HEMI V8 from the Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat that revved 707 horses and was raring to go with 650 ft-lb of torque.
So yes, it could now be called a ‘Cuda with full right, but more like a ‘Cuda on Speed. Wisconsin-based tuned Speedkore built up this monstrosity of a dream with ample help from HP Tuners and to add insult to the injury, the car was duly dubbed the “Menace” and it was the star of a SEMA show. Plus it also appeared in the eighth installment of the F&F movies, The Fate of the Furious.
Also, the folks at Speedkore are the same guys who made that wolf of a Boss Mustang for the Iron Man himself, as in Robert Downey Jr.
We are pretty sure Hart was warned not to put the pedal to the metal lest the car flies off the road and head off to the moon. Sadly, it did just that, fly off the road, though instead of turning into Hart’s Potter-like version of the Flying Ford Anglia, it flew into a ditch and turned turtle as well.
Thankfully for Hart, there are plenty of other cars in his garage to soothe his booboos, like Mercedes-SLS AMG, a Ferrari 488 GTB, and an Aston Martin Vanquish, and in muscle cars, he also owns a 1967 Ford Mustang GT500E and a 1966 Pontiac GTO.
What Went Into The Car
The blue hardtop Barracuda was impeccable when it rolled out of Speedkore, with plenty of changes to the interiors and the internals. The window and drip rail molding were replaced while custom exhaust bezels were added in. It sits lower than the stock models and although the body panels look authentic, a lot of the metal was replaced with carbon fiber for added lightness and strength.
The interior still carried retro flavor but it was redone with new gauges, a rotary shift knob, and changes to the placement of the ignition. Pop the hood and all the wiring was hidden for a clean and aesthetic appeal, making it a beautifully restored and modified marvel, worthy of any celebrity with oodles of money.
Top speed was probably higher than 200mph and this Barracuda could do 0-60 in three seconds!
What Happened To The Barracuda Post The Crash?
In September 2019, Hart and two friends were driving back home, with Jared Black driving the car. He lost control of the vehicle and went off the road, flipping into a gully some 10 feet off. Hart and Black suffered major back injuries, though the third passenger, Rachel Broxterman was not hurt.
At the time of the crash, Hart’s wife Eniko Parris was expecting so we are pretty sure times were tough, especially as Hart initially downplayed the extent of his injuries for which he later underwent surgeries.
The Plymouth Barracuda, sadly, met a grisly end that day. There was no saving this beautiful and expensive car at all. So what happened to the corpse? Apparently, it is now with California authorities.
Sadly for this ‘1970 Barracuda, it could only live to a young age of 49 before being mercilessly slaughtered and left to die in a gully at Mullholland, Malibu, California. Rust In Peace ‘Cuda, or should we say, rust in pieces?
Sources: TopSpeed, CarBuzz, TheDrive