The Barracuda.

The Car That Started It

My father, Gail Roger Springer, drove a 1967 Plymouth Barracuda. It’s the car I remember him by — and on September 4, 1981, on Route 36 just west of St. Paris, Ohio, a car-truck accident took his life. I was nine years old.

Teresa Lou Evilsizor was also killed that day. Russell Lauderback survived it. This build remembers all three of them.

The Tribute Build

In 2026 I bought a 1967 Barracuda of my own — a genuine Formula S fastback, the same breed Dad drove — and I’m restoring her top to bottom, with my own hands, to recreate his car.

• Originally a 273 Commando with a 4-speed; she runs a 340 V8 now, and the 340 stays — that was my call and I’m keeping it.
• Paint will be her original HH4 Dark Copper Poly with a Medium Copper Poly tone-on-tone stripe — a one-year-only color scheme.
• The passenger side will carry a memorial to Teresa Lou Evilsizor and Russell Lauderback.
• The rust work — trunk pan, driver’s floor — I’m cutting out and welding in myself. Whole pans, factory seams, honest metal.

Her, As She Sits

August 2026 — the day she became mine. This is the starting line: every panel honest, nothing hidden. The work begins from here.

If You Knew Him — Or The Car

I’m collecting anything that survives from those years: photographs of Gail or his Barracuda, stories, names, dates — anything. If you have something, or you knew Gail Roger Springer of St. Paris, Ohio, I’d be grateful to hear from you. Reach me through springer-digital.com.

Refuse to Rust applies to memory, too. Some things you don’t let go.