Car 54, Where Are You? It was a popular television show that first aired in September 1961. The show chronicled the misadventures of New York City officers Gunther Toody and Francis Muldoon, and their day-to-day life fighting crime. Scott Graham of Acton, California, is definitely not a Toody/Muldoon-type of guy. He is, however, a deputy with the L.A. County Sheriff's department. We thought with all the hoopla these days about cop cars, we needed to show you one very bad...well, we can't say pursuit vehicle because Deputy Graham is seldom following anyone in his '67 Barracuda.
Scott's Barracuda started its second lease on life when he found it residing in a junkyard 17 years ago. He rescued it from certain demise for the paltry sum of $400.
It was the plan from the start to build Scott's vision of the perfect police-car-appearing racer. To make sure he was safe during those planned 9-second e.t.'s, a full chromoly rollcage was installed. the body was given to A True Value Paint and Body Shop in Long Beach, California. There the repairs were made to the salvaged salvage-yard find, and in true Black and White fashion, the B'cuda was painted...well, black and white. With the exception of the Fiberglass Trends hood, the rest of the body is all gennie steel. Don't think for a minute this is a tube-chassis car posing as a Barracuda. The original front framerails are tied to the Art Morrison rear section via homemade connectors. The flying fish is reeled in via four-wheel disc brakes from Wilwood.
Motivating Scott's car to low 9-second e.t.'s is a 400 low deck, bored and stroked to a 462-inch displacement. With the help of Ken Duttweiler, Scott filled the block with a factory forged-steel crankshaft, MGP aluminum rods, and Ross pistons. For a little camshaft action, a big cam from Erson actuates the valves in the B-1 heads. With a compression ratio of 14.1, you can bet the 1,095-cfm Demon atop the B-1 intake does not ingest 87-octane fuel. Mark Weiss custom headers send the spent gasses from the engine to the atmosphere. From there, Scott chose to employ a Pro-Trans-built 727 with an A-1 torque converter with a 6,700 stall. everything ends up at the Currie-built 9-inch rear with Richmond 5.29 gears. A sustained high-speed pursuit vehicle it ain't.
Knowing a limited race schedule is followed, what does Scott do with his car when he isn't patrolling the streets of Los Angeles? He takes the Barracuda to schools, kids clubs, and wherever he can to help kids realize there are alternatives to drugs, gangs, and violence.
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