'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.

This rare Hemi Cuda convertible is one of just 11 made in 1971, one of just two four-speed examples delivered in the US, and the only one with its original powertrain. That makes this a unique matching-numbers example, helping to drive up its desirability and, subsequently, its price. Watch the footage from the auction floor below and check out the gallery of high-resolution images above for a closer look at what Mecum calls "the Holy Grail of muscle cars."

By Noah Joseph