Up for bid is my 1970 Plymouth Barracuda Gran Coupe. I have
owned this car since the late 1980's. I did a semi restoration on
it back then, and drove it for about 15 years. I started a full
resto on it about 12 years ago and shelved the project in favor
of moving and building a house. It is now close to being done but
needs the engine and exhaust system completed, along with other
additional finishing. Life changes tell me to unfortunately sell
this jewel. After being a mechanic 30+ years ago, and restoring
5 cars and 2 boats over the years, it is time to reduce my projects.

The body has never been hit hard. This is a solid car that is clean but
of course 45 years old. It is a Gran coupe (premium model), and
left the factory with extra trim, interior overhead consol & rear Wing.
It was a 318 V8 automatic trans Barracuda and not a 'Cuda' which I
believe were the factory hi performance models. It was made in Los
Angeles California in september of 1969. This is a Chrysler E Body.

All photos were taken in July of 2014. I have many more photos that
I can email to any potential buyers. Feel free to email me with any
questions too. I know this car very well of course after all these
years. Not all parts are shown in the photos. I have lots of spares
too from a parts car I had 20+ years ago.

BODY: The red paint was done about 8 years ago. PPG Delstar
with PPG Delglow Urethane clear. The paint is nice but certainly not
excellent now. A bit of clearcoat frosting in a few small areas,
and about 10 BB sized bumps just above the left rear wheel.
The car was originally Hemi Orange, then reshot with the same
color in the 80's, then red applied 8 years back. There were
door dings etc that were smoothed with evercoat glaze. The car
body has never been hit hard. The lower rear quarters behind the
rear wheel were damaged with rust 25 years back when I bought the
car. They were sandblasted from both sides (pinholes). This area
seems to be the danger zone on these Cuda's. The paint is therefore
not pretty in that lower 8" area. Repair panels are available for
a complete repair. I believe that fiberglass reinforcement was added
to the bottom of that area for stiffening. The 'Barracuda' & 'Grand
Coupe' emblems I have but did not yet attach to the rear of the front
fenders. The red paint is Alfa dark red. The paint has not been polished
in 8 years, and it needs it. So it should shine up well.

HOOD: I have yet to attach the hood to the car and will add a photo
when have it mounted. The hood is matching red color top & bottom, and is the flat
style and NOT the rallye type. It is in great condition, although the paint
is not perfect, a bit of orange peel in part of it. It was never color sanded/polished
after it was painted.

RUST: There was rust in the trunk in the 80's, but a new trunk floor was
installed (see 'trunk' section).
An area about 2" x 7" under the battery tray mount was rusted back then too. It
was sanded blasted from both sides and is rust free still. The battery tray basically
covers that area of rough sandblasted metal anyway.
A small area just above the left rear wheel has some bubbles. The metal appears
very solid all around that area though. This was first noticed only a month ago.
The metal on the inner side of this fender is smooth and completely solid, so I
think these may be in the primer or in some sub primer glazing.
The car is very solid and it appears I took care of the small amount of
rust 25 years ago. Keeping the car in a carport or garage, and not driving
on sand mud or salt also helped keep the rust away all these years.
I also removed the seats and carpet a few weeks ago to photo the floors.
The floors are still great. The trunk is also still nice where the trunk pan was
replaced. The side area of the trunk compartment were sandblasted 25 years ago,
they still look rough from the blasting, but the rust did not return.

71: the car has a 1971 Cuda front valance on it now. It is straighter
than the original 1970 one (still have it too). The tail lights are also
1971, I have a pair of 1970 tail lights too that are also shown in
one of the photos.

TRIM: the bumpers are 45 years old, so they have some rough chrome
and a few slight bends. The stainless steel trim is mostly great
but needs polishing. I do have the two stainless steel trim pieces
that attach to the door tops. They match the trim just behind them
below the rear roll-up windows. That trim is part of the Gran Coupe
package, probably an option on other cars as well. The glass is all
great.

TRUNK: This car came with a rear wing. This is the original trunk
lid with the factory cutouts for mounting the wing/spoiler (see photo).
I do not have the wing, the previous owner sold it a few days prior to me
buying the car. The trunk floor had rust when I bought it. The rust
did not go through the floor, but was bad enough that a new trunk pan
was installed in the late 80's. The surrounding trunk area was sand-
blasted from top and bottom also.

ENGINE: The original engine was a 318 V8 that had already been replaced
with another 318 when I bought the car. I have a 1972 440 that is ready
to be reassembled and installed. So the winning bidder will have this task
to do. I had removed the 318 and never finished the 440 replacement.
The transmission is a TCI rebuilt 727. The 440 I bought used with about
5k miles since rebuild from a damaged vehicle. The hone marks are still
visible in the bores. I have new rings & bearings, gaskets, oil pump etc
for completion of the 440 (see photos). The engine block has been painted
red (catylized heat resistant delstar) and has the crank, new bearings,
oil pan and new cam installed. The cylinders and rod journals have been greased
for protection. The engine is wrapped in plastic and bolted into the
car for easier transporting. The block will need to be pulled and
completed. I also have a new torque converter (performance high torque
from Mancini??? - I'll check the brand). The heads should be cleaned and
have the valves spun.

VINYL TOP: Needs replacing obviously. I have the stainless steel trim
for the rear of the vinyl too. It needs to be attached with the proper
clips, as this car did not originally come with a vinyl top.

UNDERCARRIAGE: This area I restored about 10 years ago. It is very
clean and solid, as visible in the photos, with the exception of the
area near the right rear leaf spring. The car obviously went over something
that also dented the passenger side floorpan. This mishap also hit the leaf
spring perch and the frame member just behind that perch (see photos).
The frame dent looks mean but has basically no effect. The leaf perch
was a concern, but the 318 engine and lazy torque converter were never
going to apply enough torque to upset that area. New spring perch
members are available to weld in, and that is recommended with a 440
engine up front.

Power Train: 8 3/4" rear axle system. New Big block 'large size'
torsion bars which I believe are .960". These are the largest ones available
for the E body cars. The drive shaft I have will most likely need to
be reworked. It is straight, but it is not pretty.

BRAKES: Drum brakes on all 4 corners believe it or not. The fronts are
extra large though (11"??) and do well. A disc setup of course may be of interest
to the buyer.

INTERIOR: The inside white panels are not very nice. They need a texture
restoration and repaint or vinyl dye, or be replaced. They are from a parts car and were
better than the originals.
The car has the original overhead consol, another Gran Coupe item?
The fiberboard headliner that supports the overhead consol should be
reshaped or replaced with a similar material. The consol does not fit
snug with the headliner anymore. It has slowly relaxed with
gravity over the decades. The carpet is real nice and semi new. The seats
are original and have split seams and scuffs. I do have new 'Legend'
or 'Legendary' brand seat upholstery for the back seat and one front seat.
These are original stitch high quality upholstery. I thought I had both
fronts, but one was backordered and never arrived. Purchased 10 years ago
but they are still in factory wrapping.
Overall the inside is clean looking from a distance, but will need
attention to make it nice.
The car original had air conditioning. The controls for the A/C were vacuum
operated. The vac module was missing when I bought the car so now there is
a standard control setup that works well, but will need to have the fresh
air intake port worked on.
The drivers window regulator (gear set) needs realignment and perhaps some
new spot welds. The window rolls up fine, but rolling it down is not smooth.
I did a tack weld repair on it before that is still slightly off. The gears
are fine, just the original factory stamped crimps loosened up.
The factory dash has several big cracks in the vinyl surface as is typical.
Also, the electric Tachometer does not work. I have heard most of these
old ones all need to be repaired. The guage setup in the car now is not
the original. All the other guages and knobs worked fine when last driven.
One of the dash vents is partially broken too but is repairable.

TITLE: I have the pink slip right here, clear title in only my name
and no other names. The registration
has been under a non-operation status since 2001. I have the non-op
reg printed by the DMV in 2001.

ID TAG: The metal ID tag (fender mounted under the hood) has the
VIN number and I believe all the factory build option numbers.
There are about 25 other numbers. Email me if you want them. I should
add them to this auction page soon though.

Not in the photo's at this time are:   torque converter, intake manifold (4 bbl
1970) gaskets, hood, new front shocks, cylinder heads & rocker arms, pistons
& rods, 440 front cover, & more.

NOTE - I will add more photos and notes if they come up. Email me any
questions you may have. The car is located in northern California, about
40 minutes north of Oroville. I now live on a gravel road, so bring
a decent trailer to move the Cuda to the 'new home'. The buyer will need
to take care of the transporting.   This car belongs on nice roads with a
good owner. Email me if you have any questions or need more photos.
Email me if you live close and want to visit the car in
person.     Thanks--------Hank

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'71 Plymouth Hemi Cuda Convertible sells for $3.5M [w/video]

Mon, 16 Jun 2014

We're plenty used to seeing classic cars selling for millions of dollars. It's just that they're usually European: Ferraris, Bugattis, Mercedes and the like. There are some rare American exceptions, usually wearing the names Duesenberg or Shelby. But what we have here is the most expensive Chrysler product ever sold at auction.
The vehicle in question is a Plymouth Barracuda - specifically a 1971 Hemi Cuda Convertible, chassis #BS27R1B315367 - that Mecum Auctions just sold after eight solid minutes of feverish bidding for a high bid of $3.5 million at its auction in Seattle, Washington. That figure positively eclipses the $2.2 million paid for a strikingly similar Hemi Cuda (chassis #BS27R1B269588) fetched nearly seven years ago in Scottsdale and another that was the first muscle car to break the million-dollar mark in 2002.

US Marshal's classic muscle car auction officially in the books

Thu, 25 Sep 2014

The US Marshal's so-called Blood Muscle Auction was completed earlier this month, with the prestigious nine-car field (two cars were added following Autoblog's initial story, a 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS 454 and a rare, mid-restoration 1971 Plymouth Hemi 'Cuda) finding new and hopefully law-abiding owners.
While we'd normally recap the stars of the show, in this particular auction, every car's sale was newsworthy. The full list of sale prices doesn't seem to be published, but according to The New York Times, the auction brought in a total of $2.5 million, or an average of about $277,000 per car.
The king of the contest seems to be a 1970 Plymouth Superbird (above, right), complete with a 426-cubic-inch Hemi V8, which brought home $575,000. The trio of Yenko Chevys, meanwhile, all easily cleared the six-figure mark, with the Yenko Camaro (above, far right) clearing $315,000, the Chevelle crossing the block for $237,500 and the supremely rare - one of just 37 - Yenko Nova (shown above, left) selling for an even $400,000.

Barrett-Jackson 2014: 1970 Plymouth Hemi Superbird passes half a million dollars

Sat, 18 Jan 2014

The Plymouth Superbird is one of those classic American cars from the muscle car era that has captured the imagination of all sorts of automotive enthusiasts long after its presence on roads and race tracks wore away. It's easy to see why. Where else but in the Swingin' Sixties and Seventies would a car leave the factory with an aerodynamics package that included a pointy beak and a rear spoiler that sat several feet above the rear deck?
The example you see above, which was born in 1970, is one of the finest Superbirds we've ever seen. Combine its complete restoration with its original 426 Hemi engine, and it's no surprise that it managed to bring in a cool half million dollars (plus 10 percent in fees) at Barrett-Jackson. See it yourself in our high-res image gallery above, and scroll down below for the official auction description.
If you want to follow along with the coverage, check out the Hagerty Fantasy Bid online game here.

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Plymouth Barracuda for Sale