- the plymouth barracuda, like other muscle cars, was offered in a huge number of color choices, some of them outrageous.
- the wellborn musclecar museum took that idea one step further and painted the entire side of a 'cuda with the full color palette.
- the museum has an online configurator so you can see how the 'cuda looks in any of those colors, from moulin rouge pink to black velvet.
in 1970, the competition among automakers to elevate their muscle cars over the competition was fierce, so much so that even the number of available colors was a contest. the ford mustang offered 15 colors, and the chevrolet camaro an even more impressive 18 colors. naturally, plymouth saw this as an opportunity for one-upmanship and came to production with an extensive 25-color palette. and, rather than use a run-of-the-mill sample sheet similar to what you'd find in a home depot paint department, they decided to do a rendering displaying all 25 colors in small vertical stripes down the length of a 1970 plymouth barracuda. radical.
fast forward to 2020 when automotive enthusiast and founder of the wellborn musclecar museum tim wellborn set out to bring the "paint chip 'cuda" rendering to life. working with the big easy motors history channel tv show, the museum enlisted the help of a new orleans–based hot-rod restoration shop known as the bomb factory to perform the custom paint job.
the results are stunning, and as you can see below, the driver's side was painted in what we presume to be tim's favorite of the 25 color options—ivy green metallic. seriously, though, you can't go wrong with any of those colors. each has its own nostalgic vibe. if i had my pick, i think i'd take the in violet metallic, i'm a sucker for purple mopars.