Breakdown/ History: 1970 Plymouth ‘Cuda AAR in EB5 Blue

This 1970 Plymouth ‘Cuda AAR in EB5 Blue wears the signature strobe stripe and free-breathing 340 Six Pack that Plymouth built specifically to homologate the car for SCCA Trans-Am racing. Genuine AAR ‘Cudas carry a distinct VIN sequence that separates them from tribute cars wearing the same graphics, and this one checks out. Restored and offered through V8 Speed & Resto Shop, it’s a reminder that some of the era’s best-looking muscle cars started life as racing paperwork. Watch to see what a homologation special looks like done right.

There is exactly one string of characters that separates a genuine 1970 Plymouth ‘Cuda AAR from a good-looking clone wearing the same stripes, and most people staring at this EB5 Blue example in a parking lot would have no idea where to find it. It is buried in the VIN, seven characters deep, and getting it wrong is the difference between owning one of Plymouth’s most distinctive factory muscle cars and owning a very convincing tribute car. This particular example has already passed that test, but the story of how you would check it yourself is worth knowing before the next one crosses your path.

Reading the VIN Like an Expert

A genuine AAR ‘Cuda carries its own dedicated model identification code embedded directly into the VIN, distinct from a standard ‘Cuda’s sequence. According to one commenter with direct restoration experience, the first seven characters on a real AAR read “BS23J0B,” and any deviation from that specific sequence is an immediate red flag that the car in front of you is not what its stripes claim it is, regardless of how convincing the rest of the presentation looks.

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What AAR Actually Stands For

AAR stands for All American Racers, Dan Gurney’s racing organization, and the package exists because Plymouth needed to build and sell a minimum number of street cars to legally qualify the 340 small-block for SCCA Trans-Am competition. Ford was doing the same thing with the Boss 302 Mustang and Chevrolet with the Camaro Z/28 during the exact same period, which makes the AAR ‘Cuda part of a much bigger story about how 1970 racing rules directly shaped the street cars automakers were allowed to sell that same year.

A Car You Could Actually Order

Underneath the hood sits Plymouth’s 340 small-block fed by three two-barrel carburetors in a Six Pack configuration, and one commenter who worked as a mechanic at Chrysler starting in 1969 called the 340 possibly the best small block the company ever produced, citing its unusual combination of high-RPM breathing and long-term durability under sustained abuse. That kind of praise from someone who actually turned wrenches on these engines in period carries more weight than a modern spec sheet ever could.

The 340 Six Pack Underneath

Visually, the AAR package is nearly impossible to mistake for a standard ‘Cuda once you know what to look for: a signature side strobe stripe running the full length of the car, a blacked-out fiberglass hood with a functional scoop feeding the carburetors, and side-exit exhaust routed ahead of the rear wheels rather than out the back of the car, a detail borrowed almost directly from the actual Trans-Am race cars it was built to homologate.

Strobe Stripes and a Fiberglass Nose

“EB5” is Chrysler’s internal paint code for this specific shade of blue, and Mopar collectors frequently refer to cars by paint code rather than plain color name — a small habit that reflects a subculture genuinely obsessed with matching every detail of a restoration back to exact factory specification rather than settling for something merely close.

Why the Exhaust Sounds Different

This particular car was restored and is currently offered through V8 Speed & Resto Shop, a restoration operation that also produced a separate shop-tour video referenced directly in this one’s description, underscoring that this is a business built specifically around this era and category of American muscle car rather than a generalist garage that happens to have one for sale.

EB5: A Color With Its Own Following

One commenter, identifying himself as a former Chrysler mechanic and development driver, noted he personally drove both the street cars and the actual race-prepared versions during his time at the company, and called this specific EB5 Blue example his favorite AAR ‘Cuda he has seen — a meaningful endorsement given how many of these cars he would have handled firsthand decades ago.

A Shop That Specializes in Getting This Right

The AAR ‘Cuda was built for exactly one model year, 1970, before Plymouth’s Trans-Am program wound down and the homologation requirement disappeared along with it, which caps total production at a fixed, known number and is a major reason genuine examples command such a premium over comparable standard ‘Cudas today.

A Former Chrysler Mechanic’s Verdict

Homologation specials across the entire muscle car era, not just this one, tend to hold their value better over the long run than more common trim levels built in higher numbers, because their production numbers were capped by racing rules rather than simple market demand, and because each one carries a documented competition pedigree that a standard trim level, however well-optioned, simply cannot claim.

Built for Exactly One Year

The Trans-Am homologation rule that forced Plymouth’s hand required manufacturers to build and actually offer for sale a minimum production run of any car whose specific mechanical package they wanted to race competitively that season, which is why the AAR package existed as a distinct, orderable option rather than staying a one-off prototype built purely for the track. Buyers who walked into a Plymouth dealership in 1970 could genuinely order one off the lot, drive it home, and use it as daily transportation, even though every mechanical decision behind it had been made by engineers thinking primarily about Trans-Am regulations rather than street comfort or fuel economy.

Why Homologation Specials Command a Premium

Side-exit exhaust, one of the AAR’s most visually distinctive features, exits ahead of the rear wheels rather than routing all the way to the back bumper the way a standard ‘Cuda’s exhaust does, and it produces a noticeably different, louder exhaust note as a direct side effect of that shorter path. Reproducing that exact exhaust configuration correctly is one of the harder details for a builder trying to fake an AAR to get right, since the underbody routing, hangers, and heat shielding all have to match a factory layout most restoration shops have to source original documentation for.

Because total AAR ‘Cuda production was capped by the homologation requirement rather than ordinary sales demand, surviving examples today represent a fixed, shrinking population rather than a category that can simply be replenished by finding more unrestored cars in barns somewhere. That scarcity, combined with a documented competition purpose most standard trim levels never had, is exactly why serious Mopar collectors treat a verified AAR ‘Cuda as sitting in a different tier entirely from an otherwise comparable standard 340 ‘Cuda, even one in equally excellent condition.

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