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Sell your own: 1969 Plymouth Barracuda

Looking to sell your car? We make it easy and free. Quickly create listings with up to six photos and reach millions of buyers. Log in and create your free listings. Always the "third" element in Detroit's Big Three, Chrysler and its Dodge, Plymouth and Chrysler divisions, usually played catchup to GM and Ford. However, Plymouth actually arrived to the ponycar segment on time, with its launch of the Valiant-based Barracuda almost on top of Ford's Mustang. That said, the segment became named for ponies, not an aggressive fish. By 1969, the Ford Mustang and Chevy Camaro were becoming bigger and more sophisticated. The Barracuda, by contrast, held on to its essential simplicity. We'd prefer the fastback and a small-block V8, but in the context of 2017 collectible-car values for Mopar, even a Slant Six coupe with unknown mileage might be worth checking out. From the supplied pics, this '69 Cuda looks to be in good condition; if it weren't, the asking price would likely be south of $10,000 – not north. Scarcity's not an issue, so this Barracuda would seem well-suited for the resto-mod treatment (above and beyond the aftermarket hood scoops), while keeping the post-purchase investment as minimal as the original outlay. Chrysler Used Car Buying Buying Guide Ownership Coupe Performance

Pickup prices rising at 2x industry average

We've said it before, but bears repeating: Pickup trucks are the financial engines of America's automakers. Good thing, then, that the segment is in rude health - in fact, Automotive News is suggesting that pickup truck sales are arguably healthier than they were pre-recession, even though the segment's volume is still significantly down from where it was before the bottom fell out of the US economy. That's because per-unit profits on full-size trucks are skyrocketing, outpacing the industry's average price increases by more than double since 2005. According to data from Edmunds, the average transaction price of a full-size pickup is now $39,915 - a heady increase over the $31,059 average price in 2005 - a gain of over 8 percent after inflation is factored in.
Just how important are trucks to automakers' bottom lines? Automotive News quotes a Morgan Stanley analyst as saying the Ford F-Series is responsible for 90 percent of the company's 2012 profits, and General Motors isn't far behind, with the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra twins chipping in about two-thirds of the automaker's earnings.
Automotive News points out that Detroit's automakers now have the money to invest in modernizing their full-size truck offerings, in part because they don't have the same overhead and legacy costs that pushed General Motors and Chrysler into bankruptcy. Certainly, the pickup segment has seen a lot of innovations as of late, including turbocharged V6s, coil-spring rear suspensions and active aero. Those improvements in important areas like fuel economy and ride comfort have given existing pickup buyers new reasons to upgrade. In addition, automakers are piling on the tech and luxury goodies, creating more and more high-content, high-profit models like the Ford F-150 King Ranch, Ram 1500 Laramie Longhorn and Chevrolet Silverado High Country (shown).

Auto industry insider previews tell-all book, What Did Jesus Drive?

"It's about some of the biggest crises in history. It's about who did it right and who did it wrong." - Jason Vines
Jason Vines, the former head of public relations at Chrysler, Ford and Nissan, has seen a lot during his more than 30-year career, and now he's offering a behind-the-scenes look at the auto industry in his tell-all book What Did Jesus Drive? that went on sale this month.