Barracuda Magazine was founded in 1998 in Los Angeles

Los Ángeles

Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

 by writer Jeff Fox

Jeff Fox

Jeff Fox is a writer and publisher based in Los Angeles, California. He specializes in writing about music, Kustom Kulture, travel, lowbrow art, Hawaiiana and Polynesian pop...

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It was a "Men's magazine" or "Lads' magazine" that took design and theme cues from the pulpy "stag" of the 1950s and 1960s, featuring tasteful "rugged tales of he-man adventure." Barracuda featured retro

Retro

Retro is a culturally outdated or aged style, trend, mode, or fashion, from the overall postmodern past, that has since that time become functionally or superficially the norm once again. The use of "retro" style iconography and imagery interjected into post-modern art, advertising, mass media, etc...

-styled pin-ups in sexy but purposefully tame and modest photo spreads, with a tongue-in-cheek

Tongue-in-cheek

Tongue-in-cheek is a phrase used as a figure of speech to imply that a statement or other production is humorously intended and it should not be taken at face value. The facial expression typically indicates that one is joking or making a mental effort. In the past, it may also have indicated...

 style.

The magazine was originally intended to be a men's magazine that reflected blue-collar values--a counter to super-glossy, cosmopolitan, upscale men's magazines. Editorial content focused on do-it-yourself articles, tiki

Tiki

Tiki refers to large wood and stone carvings of humanoid forms in Central Eastern Polynesian cultures of the Pacific Ocean. The term is also used in Māori mythology where Tiki is the first man, created by either Tūmatauenga or Tāne. He found the first woman, Marikoriko, in a pond – she seduced him...

s, hawaiiana

Hawaiiana

Hawaiiana is a popular term of academia used in reference to history and various aspects of the culture of Hawai'i, currently a region and state of the United States. The term is used especially in reflection of the periods of antiquity and the Kingdom of Hawai'i era. Hawaiiana has become...

, old-school hot rods and kustoms

Kustom (cars)

Kustoms are modified cars from the 1930s to the early 1960s, done in the customizing styles of that time period. The usage of a "K" for "Kustom" rather than a "C", is believed to have originated with George Barris.-Styling:...

, and auto repair. It is considered part of the Kustom Kulture

Kustom Kulture

"Kustom Kulture" is an American neologism used to describe the artworks, vehicles, hairstyles, and fashions of those who drove and built custom cars and motorcycles in the United States of America from the 1950s through today....

 or lowbrow art movements. Barracuda did not rely on star power models for photo spreads. It primarily featured unknown models, but it also featured cult celebrities and burlesque performers like Julie Strain

Julie Strain

Julie Strain is an American actress and model who was Penthouse Pet of the Month in June 1991 and later chosen as the magazine's Pet of the Year in 1993.-Early life:...

, Dita Von Teese

Dita Von Teese

Dita Von Teese is an American burlesque dancer, model, costume designer, author and actress.-Early life:...

, Sabina Kelley, Paget Brewster

Paget Brewster

Paget Valerie Brewster is an American actress. She is currently known for playing Special Agent Emily Prentiss on the CBS crime drama Criminal Minds. In June 2010, it was said that her role on Criminal Minds would be reduced in the sixth season. In March 2011, Brewster's character left the series...

, Heidi Van Horne

Heidi Van Horne

Heidi Van Horne is an American actress, pin-up model and writer. Besides modeling, she has acted in independent films and on several TV series, including ER, The O.C., and Gilmore Girls and as the prize girl on the revival of The Gong Show with Dave Attell for Comedy Central and Happy Madison...

 and Tera Patrick

Tera Patrick

Linda Ann Hopkins, better known as Tera Patrick is a former American pornographic actress.-Early life:Tera Patrick was born Linda Ann Hopkins in Great Falls, Montana. While at Boise State, Patrick earned an AAS degree in nursing and a BS in Biology.-Career:Patrick moved to New York City and her...

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Barracuda featured cover illustrations by some of the best-known Kustom Kulture artists, including SHAG (Josh Agle)

SHAG (Josh Agle)

Josh Agle is an American artist, better known by the nickname SHAG.-Life:Agle's nickname is derived from the last two letters of his first name, and the first two letters of his last name...

, Coop

Coop (artist)

Coop is a hot rod artist working from Los Angeles. He was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1968, and describes his occupation as "Insensitive Artiste". His work consists primarily of barely clothed Bettie Page-style 1950s soft pornography and/or B-movie monsters, with the female characters often taking...

, Derek Yaniger, Jim Krewson and Japanese pinstripe artist Makoto

Makoto

-Given name:*Niwano Makoto , a Manga artist*Saito Makoto , Viscount*Tomioka Makoto , Terrorist*Makoto , drummer of Sharan Q*Makoto , a drum and bass artist*Makoto Hagiwara , a landscape designer...

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In 2003, Barracuda celebrated its fifth anniversary with a live concert at the Key Club on the Sunset Strip in Hollywood, CA. The show was headlined by Don Ho

Don Ho

Donald Tai Loy "Don" Ho was a Hawaiian and traditional pop musician, singer and entertainer.-Life and career:Ho, of Chinese, Hawaiian, Portuguese, Dutch, and German descent, was born in the small Honolulu neighborhood of Kakaako, but he grew up in Kāneohe on the windward side of the island of Oahu...

, with his daughter Hoku, and featured surf band The Dynotones and the Tiki Goddess Burlesque Exotica.

Barracuda was named "Best Men's Magazine in Los Angeles" by the former New Times LA

New Times LA

New Times LA is a now-defunct alternative weekly newspaper that was published in Los Angeles, California by the New Times Media corporation from 1996 until 2002. The editor-in-chief for its entire run was Rick Barrs...

 newspaper.

The last print edition of the magazine was issue 27 in 2006. The magazine still has an online presence through its website selling other magazines of the same genre and style, and since 1996 has published two pin-up calendars.