Dear Santa….

Okay, so the big man probably isn’t coming down the chimney with this in his bag, but we’re free to wish, anyway.

The 1968 Plymouth Barracuda you see here, with one of the most recognizable paint schemes in racing history driven by one of the most legendary figures the sport of drag racing has ever seen, is headed to auction next month at Barrett-Jackson’s world-renowned Scottsdale Collector Car Auction, and given its history and rarity, is likely to bring about plenty of buzz when it rolls across the auction block.

Widely considered the greatest factory-built race car of all-time, Chrysler built approximately fifty of these race-only Barracuda’s in 1968, assembled by Hurst Performance and equipped with 426 cubic inch HEMI powerplants, with lightweight glass and interior and fiberglass components, with many of the road-going luxuries omitted in the name of all-out performance.

Image scredit: Barrett-Jackson

This ‘Cuda is one of those fifty, having been ordered new from the Midtown Plymouth dealership in Daytona, Ohio in 1967 by Bill Vanwey and delivered on July 22, 1968. Vanwey partnered with Butch Ackman and campaigned the car through the ’69 season before selling it to Billy “the Kid” Stepp. In the midst of a conversion from an automatic to a stick under Stepp’s ownership, the rare Mopar was acquired by the late Ronnie Sox.

These very cars remain popular in drag racing today, highlighting the NHRA Super Stock ranks in the SS/AH (Super Stock A/Hemi) classification. While many of the cars that populate the class these days are recreations or clones of the original run of cars from Chrysler and Hurst, this one is the real deal — a bonafide jewel that simply leaves us salivating.

The current owner has a complete history and documentation on this unbelievable (and valuable) piece of racing lore, with a letter of authenticity accompanying signatures on the hood from Sox, Buddy Martin, Herb McCandless, Tom Hoover, and Tom Coddington. It was most recently on display at Mr. Norm’s Garage in Rockford, Illinois and has previously been showcased at the NHRA Motorsports Museum in California. However, it will go across the block in Scottsdale at no reserve, guaranteeing it a new home in the future.