Guess the year, make and model!

Plymouth built only 635 ‘Cuda convertibles for the entire 1970 model year, and a rare handful carried an engine option that turns this ragtop from a nice classic into a seven-figure collectible. The color hiding under the folded top tends to split Mopar fans right down the middle. What’s actually bolted between the fenders changes the story completely. Read on to find out why.

Ask a Mopar collector to name the one body style Plymouth almost didn’t bother building for 1970, and most will land on the same answer before you finish the question. It isn’t a trim level or a paint code — it’s the one variant that let the sun in, and it turned out to be the rarest way to buy the car that year by a wide margin. Somewhere out there, a handful of these convertibles left the factory with an engine so scarce that finding one today changes the conversation from “nice classic” to “life-altering find.” The color under this particular top is the kind Mopar people either love or can’t stand. What’s actually hiding under the hood decides everything.

A Convertible Rarer Than Most Realize

This is a 1970 Plymouth ‘Cuda convertible, one of just 635 built across the entire model year regardless of engine choice. Plymouth’s E-body platform launched for 1970 specifically to take Ford’s Mustang and Chevrolet’s Camaro head-on, sharing its basic chassis with the Dodge Challenger while wearing distinct Plymouth styling. Buyers who wanted a ‘Cuda overwhelmingly chose the hardtop; the convertible was always positioned as the halo body style, and that reluctance to order a ragtop is exactly why surviving examples draw a crowd at any show they attend today.

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The Engine That Changes Everything

Engine choice is what separates a desirable classic from a genuine seven-figure collectible. Plymouth built only 14 Hemi ‘Cuda convertibles for 1970, alongside 34 more equipped with the 440 Magnum V8 — a combined total that would barely fill a small parking lot. Hemi-powered convertibles from this model year have sold for well over $2 million at major collector car auctions, while a small-block ‘Cuda convertible in comparable condition tends to bring somewhere between $65,000 and $100,000. Same body, same year, same convertible top — an entirely different financial universe depending on what’s bolted between the fenders.

Why the E-Body Existed in the First Place

Plymouth didn’t build the E-body on a whim. By the late 1960s, the Mustang and Camaro were dominating a pony car segment Chrysler had been slow to enter with a dedicated platform, and the original first-generation Barracuda — built on the compact Valiant chassis — was never wide enough to accept a big-block engine without extensive modification. The 1970 redesign fixed that limitation directly, widening the engine bay enough to fit anything in Chrysler’s lineup, Hemi included, and giving the ‘Cuda the aggressive, low-slung stance that still defines the model in collector circles today.

A Sibling Platform With Its Own Identity

The Dodge Challenger shared the same basic unibody structure as the ‘Cuda but rode on a slightly longer wheelbase and wore its own sheet metal, giving Dodge dealers a genuine alternative rather than a badge-engineered twin. Plymouth and Dodge dealers effectively competed against each other as much as against Ford and Chevrolet, and the styling divide between the two E-bodies remains one of the more debated topics among Mopar loyalists — some insist the ‘Cuda’s tunnel-back roofline is the purer design, while Challenger fans point to its longer hood as the more classically proportioned muscle car silhouette.

Standing Up to the Segment’s Other Icons

The ‘Cuda arrived into a pony car war that already included the Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 and Ford’s Boss-badged Mustangs, both built specifically to chase Trans-Am racing credibility rather than outright drag strip numbers. The ‘Cuda took a different approach, leaning into raw displacement and straight-line performance instead of road-course pedigree, which is part of why a Hemi or 440-powered example feels like such a different animal to drive than its Trans-Am rivals — less about cornering finesse, more about overwhelming torque the moment the light turns green.

What a Restoration Actually Involves

Bringing a ‘Cuda convertible back to factory-correct condition is a specialist’s job, not a weekend project. Convertible-specific reinforcement in the floor pan and rocker panels was necessary to make up for the rigidity lost when Plymouth removed the roof structure, and those areas are exactly where decades of moisture and road salt tend to cause the worst hidden rust. Reproduction parts support for E-body Mopars has improved dramatically over the past two decades, but sourcing date-correct, numbers-matching drivetrain components for a genuinely rare engine option remains a slow, expensive hunt rather than a parts-counter purchase.

Why the Color Debate Never Settles

Part of what makes any 1970 ‘Cuda memorable is Chrysler’s High Impact color palette, a lineup of deliberately loud paint options rolled out that model year specifically to make Mopar’s pony cars impossible to ignore on a dealer lot. Whatever shade this particular convertible wears, it’s a reminder that Plymouth wasn’t trying to blend in during 1970 — the styling, the paint, and the E-body’s widened stance were all part of the same strategy to steal attention away from Ford and Chevrolet showrooms.

A Legend Cut Short

The E-body’s run as a factory muscle car platform didn’t last long. Rising insurance premiums on high-horsepower cars, tightening emissions regulations, and a shifting market toward smaller, more efficient vehicles all converged in the early 1970s, and Chrysler discontinued the big-block-capable ‘Cuda not long after this convertible left the assembly line. That short production window is a major part of why 1970 and 1971 ‘Cuda convertibles in particular carry such outsized value today — collectors aren’t just buying a car, they’re buying one of the last examples of an era Detroit walked away from almost as quickly as it arrived.

Why Verification Matters More Than Ever

Verifying that a car like this is genuine before trusting any price tag takes more than admiring the color and the drivetrain badge. Serious buyers cross-reference the fender tag, the broadcast sheet if one survives, and the VIN’s engine code against Chrysler’s original build records, since decades of engine swaps, re-trims, and honest restorations mean a convertible can look completely correct while hiding a different story underneath. That verification step matters more for a ‘Cuda than almost any other muscle car on the market, given how enormous the value gap is between a documented numbers-matching example and a convincing clone wearing the same body style.

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