Yahoo Autos Lando Norris Shows Off His '73 Plymouth Barracuda at the U.S. GP
McLaren F1 driver Lando Norris is rolling up to the U.S. Grand Prix in a cloud of Mopar thunder.
His ride to the race is a 1973 Plymouth Barracuda, finished in McLaren's signature Papaya rather than Hemi Orange.
It's been tricked out with aftermarket parts as part of McLaren's partnership with eBay.
When Lando Norris rolls up to the U.S. Grand Prix in Austin this weekend, he'll be arriving in true Texas style. Yes, his transport to Circuit of the Americas is Papaya Orange, but no, it's not a McLaren. Instead, it's a 1973 Plymouth Barracuda with a window-rattling 340-cubic-inch V-8, customized in a partnership between the McLaren F1 team and eBay.
Norris, who mostly recently won in Miami and currently sits second in the championship standings, is something of a newcomer to American muscle. His personal car collection includes a couple of modern McLarens (as you'd expect) but also extends to analog supercars such as a Lamborghini Miura and a Porsche Carrera GT. He says the closest thing he's driven to this Barracuda is his Cobra, but it's always something he'd wanted to try out.
"It's just something that is authentic to the culture. You know I'm used to the sportier, sleeker race cars, and this is almost the opposite of that."
McLaren took on eBay as an official partner in May of this year. The Barracuda, with its 340 cubic inches and automatic transmission, was sourced on eBay. Further, the car was modified with parts exclusively from eBay Motors.
In the case of Norris's Barracuda, the McLaren team chose to go with a coil-over suspension conversion, Wilwood disc brakes all around, racing bucket seats from Corbeau, and upgraded headers and exhausts to let that Mopar V-8 bellow. But an effort was made to keep that vintage feel, with a classic wood-rimmed steering wheel from Momo and 15-inch American Racing wheels.
"You get a bit of a feeling of modern and classic mixed together," said Norris, adding, "When you want to push it there's that confidence and that knowledge that things are up to the spec they need to be."
It's the perfect car to show up in at the Texas F1 race, a blend of old-school V-8 and BBQ sauce, the muscle-car equivalent of a belt buckle the size of a dinner plate. It'll fit right into one of the rowdiest stops on the F1 circuit.
"Austin normally always turns into being one of the most fun and best atmospheres because the people are a little bit more crazy, in a good way," said Norris. "They've a lot of energy and that kind of thing. It's just authentic."
If you're lucky enough to have scored tickets to this weekend's race, you can check out the 'Cuda in person at the McLaren/eBay team garage, and even vote on other modifications to be done to it. As for Norris, perhaps he'll be humming a little Waylon Jennings in his helmet during qualifying.
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