Barracuda (Year by Year) Identification

In this section we will go over the year by year differences. There are two main, and a few other, ways of telling the 1970 - 1974 Barracudas apart. First is by the grill, and second by the rear tail lights. Then we go on to identify them by the fender, and the bumper.

Grill

  • The 1970's had a single pair of headlights. The grill was seperated into two by a "fin". See the picture below.
  • The 1971's had a double pair of headlights. The grill was seperated into smaller sections by multiple "fins". See the picture below.
  • The 1972's had a single pair of headlights. The grill was also seperated into two by compact multiple "fins". It is a cross of the '70 and '71 grills. See the picture below.

Rear Tail Lights

  • The 1970 rear taillights were more retangular than cirular. They were in two pieces and those were seperated by two horizontal lines. See picture below.
  • The 1971's were similar to the 1970s except that the lights were seperated. The horizonal lines weren't as bold, and there were more of them.
  • Then in 1972 they went to the circular design. They stayed with the circular design up to 1974. See picture below.

Fender

The fenders on the 1971 'Cudas had inserts on them. The 1971 Barracuda had the standard fenders (same as '70 Barracudas). None of the other years had this. So this is a quick way of telling if it is a 1971 'Cuda. See picture below.

Bumper

So as you see the 1972 - 1974 Barracudas were a lot alike. There is one way (besides the VIN and etc.) to tell the 1972s apart from 1973 and 1974. In 1973 they came out with the rubber stoppers on the bumpers. This is also true for Challengers, too. See the picture below.

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