Bill Ockerlund - Holland, Michigan
1970 AAR Plymouth Barracuda #42 - Originally driven by Dan Gurney and Swede Savage
Documented History:
This car (AAR chassis #50211) is the first of three Plymouth 'Cudas constructed by Dan Gurney's All American Racers (AAR) for competition in 1970 Trans-Am Championship. It was driven by Dan Gurney and Swede Savage during pre-season testing and used in all of AAR's and Chrysler's preseason promotional photographs.
It was driven by Dan Gurney in the first two races, then the rest of the Season by Swede Savage. Swede had 3 pole positions, a 2nd at Road America, and finished 5th in the driver's championship.
The car was acid dipped (then referred to as "chemically cleaned") and has many titanium parts that were carried over from Dan Gurney's Champ car and F1 efforts. The transmission was aluminum cased but sprayed with cast iron spray, to pass tech and the magnet test.
Gurney had intended to run a full season of Trans Am however budget cuts by Chrysler forced AAR to reduce its two car effort to a single car for Savage after Gurney had run just two races. Savage subsequently drove this 'Cuda for all of the remaing races of the season except Mid Ohio.
Plymouth finished fifth in the 1970 Trans-Am Championship with no wins and just 15 points, compared to Dodge’s 18 points (for fourth position). This car earned 12 of Plymouth’s 15 points.
AAR sold this car to Goodyear Tire at the end of the 1970 season and Goodyear toured the car across the United States along with several other racers as part of a national promotion.
In 1982, Ed Skanes purchased the car and refurbished it for display and the occasional vintage race, retaining ownership until selling it to Harry Lipetz in 2003. It was then sold in 2006 to Andy Boone, who sold it to Bill Ockerlund in 2014.
 Engine: 5 liter V8 built by AAR (Dan Gurney's All American Racers); 303.8 c.i. (destroked 340) |
 Swede Savage drives the AAR Cuda. |
This car was driven by both Dan Gurney and Swede Savage in ten of the eleven 1970 Trans-Am Races:
| Race | Driver | Car No. | Qualified | Finish |
| Laguna Seca | Dan Gurney | 48 | 4th | 17th-DNF |
| Lime Rock | Dan Gurney | 48 | 2nd | 14th-DNF |
| Bryar | Swede Savage | 48 | Pole | 18th-DNF |
| Mid Ohio | Did Not Race | DNR | DNR | DNR |
| Bridgehampton | Swede Savage | 48 | Pole | 22nd-DNF |
| Donnybrooke | Swede Savage | 42 | Pole | 5th |
| Road America | Swede Savage | 42 | 4th | 2nd |
| St. Jovite | Swede Savage | 42 | 6th | 29th-DNF |
| Watkins Glen | Swede Savage | 42 | 5th | 6th |
| Kent | Swede Savage | 42 | 5th | 18th-DNF |
| Riverside | Swede Savage | 42 | 5th | 4th |
Innovations: AAR was the first team to design and implement a lug nut retaining system, which was later used by many other teams. The NASA-inspired fiberglass hood was unique and used on the street version, the AAR 'Cuda. It is also noted that the rollcage was the first designed entirely by computer. The same cage was run in the 'Cudas and Challengers. AAR also prepped and installed the cage in the Sam Posey Challenger, prior to it being shipped off to Ray Caldwell's Autodynamics.
