The 2013 SEMA Show will soon be upon us so in picking this week’s featured Photo of the Week, Ive decided to go with a unique looking Barracuda that is one of the fastest Mopars ever. This car 1969 Plymouth Barracuda is known as the Blowfish and tucked behind that super-aerodynamic custom nose is a twin turbocharged 6.4L SRT Hemi V8 that puts well over a thousand horsepower and a thousand pound feet of torque to the rear wheels.
The 1969 Blowfish Barracuda makes a great looking show car but this beast is built to fly by RadRides by Troy. The Barracuda was initially built to be a land speed record car with the Mopar 4-cylinder midget sprint car engine but when that mill failed to meet the team’s expectations, they changed to the twin turbo Hemi. That changed allowed the Blowfish team to hit speeds of 317 miles per hour on the Bonneville Sale Flats – making it one of the fastest Mopar muscle cars in the world. Ive included a video of this Barracuda on the dyno at the end of this piece for those who want to hear that monster Hemi in action.
Click here to head into our 2011 SEMA Show gallery for a closer look at the Blowfish from different angles, including engine bay shots and many other vehicles from the huge Vegas convention.
"Before I was old enough to walk, my dad was taking me to various types of racing events, from local drag racing to the Daytona 500," says Patrick Rall, a lifetime automotive expert, diehard Dodge fan, and respected auto journalist for over 10 years. "He owned a repair shop and had a variety of performance cars when I was young, but by the time I was 16, he was ready to build me my first drag car – a 1983 Dodge Mirada that ran low 12s. I spent 10 years traveling around the country, racing with my dad by my side. While we live in different areas of the country, my dad still drag races at 80 years old in the car that he built when I was 16 while I race other vehicles, including my 2017 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and my 1972 Dodge Demon 340.
"Although I went to college for accounting, my time in my dad’s shop growing up allowed me the knowledge to spend time working as a mechanic before getting my accounting degree, at which point I worked in the office of a dealership group. While I was working in the accounting world, I continued racing and taking pictures of cars at the track. Over time, I began showing off those pictures online and that led to my writing.
"Ten years ago, I left the accounting world to become a full-time automotive writer and I am living proof that if you love what you do, you will never “work” a day in your life," adds Rall, who has clocked in time as an auto mechanic, longtime drag racer and now automotive journalist who contributes to nearly a dozen popular auto websites dedicated to fellow enthusiasts.
"I love covering the automotive industry and everything involved with the job. I was fortunate to turn my love of the automotive world into a hobby that led to an exciting career, with my past of working as a mechanic and as an accountant in the automotive world provides me with a unique perspective of the industry.
"My experience drag racing for more than 20 years coupled with a newfound interest in road racing over the past decade allows me to push performance cars to their limit, while my role as a horse stable manager gives me vast experience towing and hauling with all of the newest trucks on the market today.
