Orphan of the Day, 01-12, 1965 Plymouth Barracuda Formula S

[8E45E]

Craig

[John Brayton]

I really like the 65 Barracuda and have a fixer in my barn. I hope to repair the right rear quarter panel this summer. This one is fabulous.

[Tahiti Coral]

Nice car and nice paint scheme, but Plymouth is hardly an orphan car.

[showbizkid]

Ah, but Paul, it is! Mother Mopar shut down the Plymouth brand a few years back, remember? Plymouth is just as much an orphan as Olds, Pontiac, Saturn, De Soto or <gasp!> Studebaker!

Nice car. I wouldn't kick it out of my garage - although I somewhat prefer the '67 Formula S. The 2nd-gen Q-ship is just a cleaner fuselage, IMO.

[silverhawk]

Thanks for the post Craig! We got that cars older sister in our garage, my dad's '64 1/2 Barracuda.....

[clonelark]

Yep like it or not Plymouth's are now Orphans, Most Orphan shows are keeping it 89 and older. Always liked Baracuda fastbacks,1st & 2nd Gen, but the 68 Hemis were the cream of the crop.

[Tahiti Coral]

Ah, but Paul, it is! Mother Mopar shut down the Plymouth brand a few years back, remember? Plymouth is just as much an orphan as Olds, Pontiac, Saturn, De Soto or <gasp!> Studebaker!

Nice car. I wouldn't kick it out of my garage - although I somewhat prefer the '67 Formula S. The 2nd-gen Q-ship is just a cleaner fuselage, IMO.

So are you saying that a Grand Marquis is now an orphan car??? ;-)

[Cash]

So are you saying that a Grand Marquis is now an orphan car??? ;-)

Well..if you mean by orphan that the marque is extinct..yep.

[aenthal]

You will get a lot of disagreement over the definition of orphan car.
Some say the whole company has to be extinct (Studebaker, AMC, Yugo), some say just the marque (Edsel, DeSoto, Plymouth, Saturn, La Salle).
I have even seen people bend the definitions so that a Corvair was an orphan, despite that it was just a line of the very much still existing Chevrolet by the also still surviving General Motors.

Personally I draw the line at parts availability.
A marque becomes an orphan when there is no more first line parts available from the manufacturing company, whether that is because the company no longer exists (the obvious, mainstream definition of orphan car) or because the company has stopped stocking the parts and sold them off to private suppliers.
So, in my opinion, Saturn is not yet an orphan, nor is Oldsmobile, because you can still go to some GM division and honor the remainder of a warranty, or get a piece of trim for some Saturn or Olds (though maybe not a 1952 Oldsmobile).
When GM no longer offers that option, on any model of the marque, and no longer supports those vehicles in any way, then it will then be an orphan car.

Of course that is just my opinion.

[black56hawk]

Best selling Barracuda was the 65. Formula S versions were one of the best handling cars of their day. Not considered collectible by the modern Mopar crowd because 65 Barracudas don't fit their definition of "muscle" cars, but better built than most later Mopars, including especially the 70-74 E bodies.

I've owned this one since 1968:

[Tahiti Coral]

You will get a lot of disagreement over the definition of orphan car.
Some say the whole company has to be extinct (Studebaker, AMC, Yugo), some say just the marque (Edsel, DeSoto, Plymouth, Saturn, La Salle).
I have even seen people bend the definitions so that a Corvair was an orphan, despite that it was just a line of the very much still existing Chevrolet by the also still surviving General Motors.

Personally I draw the line at parts availability.
A marque becomes an orphan when there is no more first line parts available from the manufacturing company, whether that is because the company no longer exists (the obvious, mainstream definition of orphan car) or because the company has stopped stocking the parts and sold them off to private suppliers.
So, in my opinion, Saturn is not yet an orphan, nor is Oldsmobile, because you can still go to some GM division and honor the remainder of a warranty, or get a piece of trim for some Saturn or Olds (though maybe not a 1952 Oldsmobile).
When GM no longer offers that option, on any model of the marque, and no longer supports those vehicles in any way, then it will then be an orphan car.

Of course that is just my opinion.

I just cut and paste this out of Wikipedia:

The term orphan car accurately applies to any marque of motor vehicle built by a manufacturer that has discontinued business entirely. (The term is sometimes inaccurately applied to a discontinued marque from a still-existing vehicle manufacturer (i.e. Oldsmobile) or a sub-marque (i.e. Thunderbird.) In the case of a revived marque where a newer company resuscitates a discontinued brand (i.e. Maybach), only the original vehicles are accurately considered orphans.

[Andy R.]

Personally I draw the line at parts availability.
A marque becomes an orphan when there is no more first line parts available from the manufacturing company, whether that is because the company no longer exists (the obvious, mainstream definition of orphan car) or because the company has stopped stocking the parts and sold them off to private suppliers.
So, in my opinion, Saturn is not yet an orphan, nor is Oldsmobile, because you can still go to some GM division and honor the remainder of a warranty, or get a piece of trim for some Saturn or Olds (though maybe not a 1952 Oldsmobile).
When GM no longer offers that option, on any model of the marque, and no longer supports those vehicles in any way, then it will then be an orphan car.

Of course that is just my opinion.

+1. My sentiments exactly, no matter how much I really, really like the Gen1 Barracudas.
It's the only 60s pony car good for car-camping, with its fold-down seat. Just don't sleep in too late on a sunny day - you'll get cooked!

[8E45E]

Personally I draw the line at parts availability.
A marque becomes an orphan when there is no more first line parts available from the manufacturing company, whether that is because the company no longer exists (the obvious, mainstream definition of orphan car) or because the company has stopped stocking the parts and sold them off to private suppliers.
So, in my opinion, Saturn is not yet an orphan, nor is Oldsmobile, because you can still go to some GM division and honor the remainder of a warranty, or get a piece of trim for some Saturn or Olds (though maybe not a 1952 Oldsmobile).
When GM no longer offers that option, on any model of the marque, and no longer supports those vehicles in any way, then it will then be an orphan car.

I guess it goes how the public percieves an automobile that is about to be discontinued, or has recently ceased production. Oldsmobile got an 'orphan' stigma when they annouced 2004 would be the last year, and dealers were forced to discount them on the lot despite reassurances of continued parts availability.

Craig.

[Tahiti Coral]

I guess it goes how the public percieves an automobile that is about to be discontinued, or has recently ceased production. Oldsmobile got an 'orphan' stigma when they annouced 2004 would be the last year, and dealers were forced to discount them on the lot despite reassurances of continued parts availability.

Craig.

I never even considered the Edsel to be an orphan car. Ford is still alive and well. I think the Barracudas here are nice cars but I would not regard them as orphans.

[Cash]

I went to that Wiki site, it's one of those that "needs improvement" due to the fact the article does not cite sources or references. Then, below the posted material, it LISTS Saturn, Olds, Edel, etc, as discontinued marques from existing manufacturers..little confusing at first glance. Now, here's a link to an orphan car show that the featured marque was Plymouth and Desoto..http://www.motortrend.com/auto_shows...how/index.html
Here's a description of what's eligible at www.orphancartour.org Note that these are "Classic" orphans, so they also have to be 25 years old or older. This is cut from their website. " Who is Eligible? The Tour is open to "orphan" antique cars defined as automobiles at least 25 years old, which were produced either by now-defunct manufacturers, or by the discontinued divisions of still existing companies."