When
you are building your vintage racer most of the racing organizations
allow you to select either the FIA Homologation listing for your
car, or the appropriate SCCA Production Car Specification (PCS)
(Usually the 1967 or 1969 PCS is used) to identify allowable
modifications beyond bone stock. What they generally do not allow
you to do is pick and choose between the two specifications.
You have to select one or the other. There are some significant
differences between the two, so choose carefully, and check with
your club to see what modifications they will allow.
In the case of the 1966 Barracuda the choice was easy. The
Barracuda does not have an entry in the SCCA PCS for any year, as
the SCCA generally only recognizes "sports cars", such as the
Corvette and the Shelby GT-350. Sedans, which raced in the TransAm
series starting in 1966 ran under FIA specifications since such cars
as the Barracuda and Dodge Dart ,and others, had no SCCA listing to
identify what was a legal mod and what was not.
Under
the FIA rules, there are various levels of modifications allowed,
starting at Group 1, which were basically bone stock cars, up to
Group 5, where extensive modifications were allowed. In 1965
Plymouth had the Barracuda homologated as a Group 2 car, primarily
for Scott Harvey and his FIA rally efforts, and in 1966 they added a
Group 3 specification to the FIA listing which made the Barracuda in
essence a "2 seat" GT Class sports car, at least according to the
specification!
My understanding, according to a discussion with Scott Harvey was
that Chrysler wanted to take a lightweight Barracuda outfitted to
Group 3 specifications to run in the European type endurance races
such as Le Mans. Instead, they went Trans Am racing here in
the states, probably for a lot less money.
The current Team Starfish Barracuda is equipped to match the FIA
Listing #535 Group 3 specifications, which included the use of a
larger 318 CI (5.2L) engine in place of the Group 2 spec 273,
headers, plexiglass rear window, 40 gallon fuel tank, and a host of
other modifications, including larger tires and wheels.
SOVREN, the Society of Vintage Race Enthusiasts based in the
Northwest, has a great website with all of the appropriate
SCCA PCS documents and FIA rules for the various classes.
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