The wild, unique 1970 Plymouth 'Cuda AAR was Chrysler Corp.'s entry in the Sports Car Club of America's popular Trans-American road racing series of the late 1960s and early 1970s. It's a definite "find" among classic muscle cars and should be snapped up if you see one for sale -- if only because it's valued at $58,500 to $111,150 in good to excellent condition.

American automakers were compelled to compete in the "Trans Am" if they sold so-called pony cars, which got their nickname because of the name of the first mass-produced pony car -- the Ford Mustang. There were factory-backed pony cars from American Motors, Ford and Chrysler's Dodge and Plymouth divisions. Chevrolet and Pontiac had "back-door" Trans-Am programs because General Motors officially didn't compete then in auto racing.

But racing was a big part of Chrysler's overall marketing strategy because it attracted large numbers of high-performance car fans to its showrooms.

Trans-Am racing began in 1966 and was open to four-seat cars in two categories -- those with engines under and over 2-liter displacements. Foreign cars raced in the lower-size engine class, with American pony cars in the higher engine class. Races were among the most exciting in America, partly because spectators could identify closely with the virtually stock cars that competed.

Automakers needed to build several thousand production versions of Trans Am race cars to be allowed to compete in the series. Plymouth thus built 2,724 AAR 'Cudas out of the 19,515 more conventional 'Cudas built for 1970.

The AAR was a specialized version of the 1970 'Cuda coupe. It got the "AAR" designation because legendary racer/car builder Dan Gurney's All-American Racers team entered a team of factory backed 'Cudas in the 1970 Trans-Am series.

The 'Cuda was made a separate high-performance series of the very stylish, radically redesigned third- generation Plymouth Barracuda, which arrived for 1970 and found 35,984 buyers. The new, lower Barracuda's extra width let it accept every big Chrysler V-8, including Chrysler's fire-breathing 426-cubic-inch "Hemi" with its 425 horsepower.

However, Trans-Am rules specified that the larger-class engines couldn't have a displacement of more than 305 cubic inches. That's why such consistent Trans-Am winners such as the Ford Boss 302 and Chevy Z-28 Camaro had V-8s cut down to 302 cubic inches -- and then were modified to produce high horsepower. The Boss 302 and Z-28 V-8s generated an advertised 290 horsepower but actually produced more than 350 to keep owner insurance premiums lower.

The AAR 'Cuda race engine was Chrysler's 340-cubic-inch V-8 lowered to 303.8 cubic inches to meet Trans Am engine rules -- and then was heavily modified. The 'Cuda AAR V-8 was much stronger than the regular Barracuda V-8. Its Edelbrock aluminum alloy high riser intake manifold carried three two-barrel carburetors, and there were special cylinder heads and larger valves. Like the Boss 302 and Z-28, it was officially rated at 290 horsepower, but actually produced at least 325 horsepower.

Car and Driver magazine tested a 'Cuda AAR and found it did 0-60 mph in 5.8 seconds -- fast by today's standards -- and stormed through the quarter-mile run from a standing start at 99.5 mph.

You could get the production AAR 'Cuda with a special close-ratio four-speed manual transmission with a Hurst shifter or Chrysler's exceptional, quick-shifting TorqueFlite three-speed automatic. Of all AAR 'Cudas built, 1,120 had the manual and 1,604 came with the automatic.

The car's suspension lived up to its Trans Am road racing heritage. It had large diameter front/rear stabilizer bars and heavy duty shock absorbers. Rear springs also were stiffer, and fast-ratio manual or power steering was offered. Huge brakes provided exceptional stopping power.

The AAR 'Cuda was the only muscle car with different-sized fat front and rear tires, which were put on large Rallye road wheels. The larger rear tires, hefty rear springs and increased rear spring camber needed to clear the mean-looking side exhaust pipes that exited in front of the rear tires gave the AAR 'Cuda a front rake.

Not that it was otherwise difficult to spot an AAR 'Cuda. The car really stood out with its striking exterior graphics. They included a bold 75-segment "Strobe Stripe" along each body side. Designed to give the impression of motion, each segment was 4 percent smaller than the previous one. The stripes ended with the Dan Gurney All-American Racers crest in red white and blue.

The AAR 'Cuda also had a custom matte black fiberglass hood with a functional air scoop and race-style twin locker pins to secure the hood. The front fender tops and grille were blacked out. So was the small custom "ducktail" spoiler at the rear so it matched the blacked-out taillight panel.

The interior was spartan, just like a race car's. However, largely because the AAR 'Cuda was entered in the Trans Am series long after rivals had arrived, it lacked development time to win a race. No AAR 'Cuda was built after 1970 because factory racing support was quickly disappearing in 1971 due to impending stiff federal horsepower-killing regulations and higher muscle car insurance.

In fact, production of the AAR 'Cuda was held to only a six-week period in 1970. It began March 10 and ended April 17. That's both good and bad. For one thing, it limited the number of cars built. But it also made the AAR 'Cuda rarer and thus more valuable in today's booming classic muscle car market.