What about all those 4 door Mustangs and Camaros from back then, oh wait...
Sorry, it was just a dumb idea all around.

the last pictures appear to be actual cars. Curious if those cars exist or were crushed? Anyone know?

It is funny how when you see a prototype they didn't choose, you often see why they went with the design that they did.
This looks like taillights from a Ford Galaxie:

Yeah, I saw a Ford rearend treatment there too.

Corey - those would be 1:1 clays, built on a framework and covered in Di-Noc tp appear painted.
They'd do each side differently, and re-do them as the desire arose.
Not sure of the basic bucks were adjustable for wheelbase/length/width, or how they did that.

That's a fascinating site - Herlitz had chops ! And the RR/Bee cartoon was very funny...

And I suppose his family or friends had no say in what he was spending hugh money on.
Then he should have donated all that money to cancer research.

they sure look like real cars

https://www.johnherlitz.org/e-body_barracuda.html

Yeah, those two certainly do - but note that many have no interiors, steering wheels, or undercarriage.
I guess those two might be hand-built prototypes, and possibly operational ?
Note the side markers appear undecided upon. But yeah, frame rails and interiors...hmmm...

They sure do and I would think those are drivers as they have what appear to be balanced wheels with wheel weights on the rims you can see. Yes that doesn't mean much but it would to the styling department for show. Also the second one has a radio antenna does that mean a metal fender??

I was $40,000 high…it just sold for $110,000. Reports of a small earthquake measured at Dave Walden’s gravesite.

I think that if someone like Dave Walden wanted to make a 4 door 70 Barracuda OK.

IMHO a 71-72 4 door Plymouth Satellite looks better and has a more attractive price point.

Its ugly

If you know any of the back story, it was Dave Walden's wife (a nurse from what I was told) that told Steven Juliano that he needed to be checked out for pancreatic cancer as she saw the signs in him which led to his diagnosis.

I'm sure that Dave knew the end was coming, but not all cancer is treatable.

Dave spent his money on whatever pleased him. What's wrong with that?

Personally, he had issues with anger to put it nicely..

I read somewhere that he had over $600.000 in the build. I don't know how that is possible.

He started a thread about the car on Yellowbullet and had a major meltdown when the mainly GM and Ford fans didn't love his creation.

The car is hideous,I can't believe it even brought that much money.

What almost was:

Tooling for custom made parts isn't cheap.

I called it the top hat Barracuda,and Dave was pissed at me! Maybe the new owner can use it to drive the Pope around in! Maybe Worman bought it,he raved on and on about how great he thought the car was on his show! The roof isn't high enough for his head to fit in it! Lol!

Man, some of you guys are harsh. After reading some of the sanctimonious comments in this thread, you'd think that he was spending your money and making you do the work on it...

The man had a vision and he managed to follow it through before he passed. Have some respect for that.

Many of us will likely leave our families with a bunch of cars and car stuff that our families will have to deal with later... it's not uncommon. And our families will likely only get a fraction out of it from what we spent on the junk - I've seen some cases where it all just went to the scrap yard. A life's worth of collecting, all scrap metal to go into the next electric Hyundai... think about it.

Regardless... on the topic of the 4-door Barracuda itself, I'm sure the idea was tossed around at the product planning/styling dept. brainstorming sessions, even if it never made it to clay. Ford and GM were considering it, why wouldn't the Chrysler Corp.?

If I were brainstorming this project, I would have aimed the marketing at somebody who really wanted a sporty car like a Barracuda, and not a tall frumpy looking sedan (otherwise they could just have bought a Satellite and called it a day). The concept drawing that was floating around at the time of a 4 door hardtop with low roofline seemed like a more likely candidate, rather than where Dave ended up going. Just my opinion, but the end result looked like what might have happened if the engineers won their argument over the styling department, and upper management insisted on more headroom for back seat passengers (and perhaps better structural integrity as offered by a sedan vs a hardtop).

Here's the drawing that was floating around (which I thought would more likely have been what Chrysler would have pursued):


For me, it was interesting. I followed the build online and was amazed at the workmanship and attention to detail that was put into it... even if I didn't really like the final result aesthetically. It only adds to the hobby as far as I'm concerned, and I really have no time for anyone who wants to cut a guy down (especially after he's dead) for following his dream and vision, even if it's not what I would do (not that I would ever have the ability to take on a project like this, to such a high level).

Just my , FWIW.

The factory drawings that fortunately never made production. Atleast they got the roofline right.