The earth shifted a tiny bit when American racing legend Dan Gurney switched from Ford to Plymouth and signed on to drive a ‘Cuda in the SCCA Trans-Am Series.

On Sunday, October 19,1969, The New York Times dropped a bomb on America’s  racing fans when it reported that one of their greatest heroes was switching from Ford to Plymouth. In the NYT’s words, Gurney was “fed up with Ford’s internal politics” and its lack of support for his Can-Am Cup program, but in any event the timing was pretty good, as Ford would pull out of motorsports completely just one year later. Naturally, Chrysler Corporation was all too happy to snap up one of the nation’s greatest sports figures and sign him to a Plymouth deal.

All through the ’60s, the identites of Ford and Gurney in racing were completely intertwined: Gurney’s Ford-powered Indy 500 campaigns; his dominating NASCAR road race wins with the Wood Brothers; his historic victory at Le Mans in ’67 with fellow legend A.J. Foyt. But for 1970 Gurney and his All American Racers shop would be building and racing a pair of Plymouth Barracudas, one for Gurney and another for teammate Swede Savage, in the SCCA Trans-Am sedan series.

Unfortunately, the Plymouth partnerhship didn’t last. Money problems at Chrysler  forced the program to be cut back to one car at mid-year and then cancelled entirely at the end of the ’70 season. But at the October ’69 press conference below, hosted at the posh Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles, Gurney is just getting acquainted with Chrysler-Plymouth management and with the all-new 1970 Barracuda. And as we can see, his easy-going nature and all-American charm are on full display. Here’s Dan Gurney.