The Barracuda was introduced on April Fools Day, 1964, 17 days before the Mustang. It entered showrooms in May. The design, as mentioned previously, was based heavily on the existing Valiant, at least from the belt-line down. The huge "glass back" window measured 14.4 square feet, and had a 33% tinting from the factory.

The Barracuda started out on an A-body chassis, and this was preserved until 1970. In 1964, this was the only compact car chassis that Chrysler had developed, and a sporty A-body was their real goal. Mechanically, the Barracuda was also identical to the other compacts. Slant Six, Four speed standard. From the start, Slant Six Barracudas were rarer, as consumers favored larger V8 engines in these models. For the first three years, Slant six sales average about 25-30% of all Barracudas.

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