Racecars can be rough around the edges — they’re built to take a beating and go fast, but Jerry Fogel didn’t want to go down that road. Fogel worked with Kohr’s Kustoms to build a 1968 Plymouth Barracuda that has plenty of bite to go with its show-stopping looks.

The first high-performance Mopar that Fogel owned was a 1965 Dodge Dart that was powered by a 440 cubic-inch Wedge engine. Fogel had that engine built by the iconic Ramchargers race team at their facility. The Dart was raced for two seasons in the B/MP class before Fogel sold it to move on to other projects and interests.

When Fogel was ready for a new project, he started to look for Barracudas and Darts and found this 1968 ‘Cuda on the internet. The car had a 340 cubic-inch engine, an automatic transmission, and was fairly rust-free, so he purchased the car. Fogel’s goal was to build a show car that he could race,.

Allan Pittman was tasked with crafting the perfect custom roll cage for Fogel’s Barracuda. The rear suspension is a custom 4-link setup that works with a set of Strange Engineering coil-over shocks. The Mopar suspension experts at RMS supplied the front coil-over system that included a rack and pinion steering setup. Fogel had a full set of Strange Engineering disc brakes added to the car so it could stop on a dime if needed. Shifting duties are handled by an ATI Superglide transmission and ATI torque converter.

Fogel has lofty goals of running low 8-second naturally-aspirated passes in his Barracuda, so he reached out to Buck Racing Engines to build a nasty engine. The 604 cubic-inch HEMI has a Callies Magnum crankshaft, CP Carrillo connecting rods, and CP Carrillo pistons inside. Indy Cylinder Head heads with titanium valves COMP Cams springs, T&D rocker arms, Jesel lifters, and a custom camshaft from Bullet Racing Cams round out the engine’s top end. Air is sucked into the engine through a pair of 1150 CFM Holley Dominator carburetors and is funneled into a Hogan’s Racing Manifolds sheet metal intake manifold. A single stage of nitrous has been added to the engine to push the Barracuda into the 7-second zone if Fogel hits the giggle juice button.

The chassis, engine, and other parts were sent to Kohr’s Kustoms located in Myerstown, Pennsylvania for final assembly. The team at Kohr’s stretched the wheel wells for the big slicks, mounted all of the fiberglass parts, and modified the interior to fit around the roll cage. Kohr’s also did all of the paintwork on the Barracuda, plumbed the car, handled all of the wiring, and finished the final installation of all the remaining parts. Paul’s Chrome Plating took care of all the chrome work to give the Barracuda that extra shine it needed.

Fogel plans on putting plenty of laps on his Barracuda when racing starts up again in 2021. This Mopar is going to really draw a crowd whether it’s sitting in Fogel’s pit, rolling through the staging lanes, or laying down some incredible numbers on the track.