1970 Plymouth Hemi Cuda Convertible

[Lee Stewart]

1970 Plymouth Hemi Cuda Convertible

https://www.mecum.com/lots/SC0519-37...a-convertible/

[Lee Stewart]

I'm surprised no one has commented on this car

[prototype]

It's been in Canada for a long time

[Mr70]

OK,I never liked the front grille on these cars during this year.
1971 was much better with the 4 headlights & better placement of the parking lights.

[cudino]

Nice car, I can share what I know. As I understand this car has its original fender tag and 2 original Broadcast Sheets. I'm not sure if any third-party inspection has been performed, but owner and restorer Peter Klutt told me the car retains its original body. He also said the car has its original transmission but not the original motor (which is believed to still exist in Western Canada somewhere). The "14" Production total referenced in Mecum's auction description is not correct for this car. Yes, there were 14 Hemi 'Cuda convertibles produced for US-shipments in 1970, plus another 3 for Canada and 1 known Export, bringing the grand total to 18. Since this car was one of the 3 Canadian cars it would be more correct to refer to this as one of 3, or more comprehensively one of 18, but technically it was not one of the 14 sold in the US. Of these 18 cars, the 6 4-speeds are being held hostage by longterm owners, the most recent sale being the other FY1 Yellow Canadian car, a 4spd that I believe retains its original motor, which sold for $2.675M at Mecum in 2016. Whether the prices for these rare cars have increased or decreased since 2016 is debatable, but being one of the 12 Autos this particular car should be a bit more accessible.

- Wade

[Xplantdad]

Great info as always, Wade!

[cudino]

Here’s another fun fact. Referring to my previous comment about longterm ownership, just to put this into perspective I went ahead calculated the approximate current length of ownership for each one of these cars (excluding the ones that are missing). Here’s what I found:

Average Current Length of Ownership (as of Apr-2019):
22 Years: 1970 Hemicuda Convertible (16 of 18 cars accounted for) *
19 Years: 1970 Hemi Challenger Convertible (11 of 12 cars accounted for)
13 Years: 1971 Hemicuda Convertible (11 of 12 cars accounted for)

* The Average Current Length of Ownership for the 1970 Hemicuda Convertible increases from 22 to 29 years when considering only the 4-speeds (6 of 6 cars accounted for).

To say it differently, for each car you've heard about changing hands recently, such as the FY1 4spd '70 sold in 2016 I mentioned above, there's several other cars that have been in the same hands since the '70s.

Perhaps this might explain why, when one of these rare machines does sell, it's kind of a big deal as generally reflected in the sales price.

- Wade

[Xplantdad]

Wow...

[Ryan1969Chevelle]

That is very cool data!!!

I love that people track these special cars so well!!

Ryan W31

[the427king]

Imagine referring to a 1 of 12 as a "more obtainable" !! Shows how rare the cudas are.