Plymouth Built Only 11 Hemi ‘Cuda Convertibles in 1971 — One Just Sold for $3.3 Million, Nearly $50,000 Over Its Top Estimate

A 1971 Plymouth Hemi ‘Cuda Convertible just crossed the block at Mecum’s Kissimmee auction for $3.3 million, blowing past the house’s own high estimate. Only a handful of these convertibles ever left the factory with the 426 Hemi — here’s why this one commanded a price most muscle cars never see.

Plymouth’s own order books from 1971 barely remember this car existing. Dealers that year were begging customers to order the 426 Hemi in a droptop ‘Cuda, and almost nobody did — the engine cost a fortune, insurance companies hated it, and a convertible with a huge 425-horsepower V8 under the hood was the last thing a cautious buyer wanted parked in their driveway. Fewer than a dozen were built. One of those survivors just sold at Mecum’s Kissimmee auction for $3.3 million, sailing past the auction house’s own pre-sale ceiling of $3.25 million. It wasn’t even the four-speed version collectors usually chase. It had the automatic.

The Sale That Beat Mecum’s Own Prediction

Mecum listed the 1971 Plymouth Hemi ‘Cuda Convertible, chassis BS27R1B126869, with a pre-sale estimate of $2.75 million to $3.25 million heading into its Kissimmee 2026 auction on January 17. When the hammer finally fell, the car brought $3.3 million — roughly $50,000 past the top of that range, and enough to make it one of the most expensive muscle cars to change hands all year. According to coverage from Mopar Center, the sale landed the car as the second-most expensive Hemi ‘Cuda ever auctioned, trailing only a handful of record-setting examples that have crossed the block over the past two decades.

What makes the number sting a little, in the best way, is that this particular car carries the TorqueFlite automatic transmission rather than the four-speed manual that Mopar die-hards traditionally rank as the “real” Hemi ‘Cuda. It’s one of just five Hemi convertibles built with the automatic that year. For decades, the conventional wisdom in the Mopar collector world has been that a stick-shift Hemi car is worth more than an automatic one. This sale is a reminder that when the car itself is rare enough, the gearbox stops being the deciding factor.

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Why So Few Were Ever Built

The exact production count for 1971 Hemi ‘Cuda convertibles has never been settled, even inside Chrysler’s own archives. Mecum’s own listings have described similar cars as one of 12 built that year, with five getting the automatic and seven staying manual; other respected sources put the number at 11. Either way, it’s one of the smallest production runs in muscle car history for a factory-ordered combination. The reasons are straightforward: the Hemi option added a substantial premium to an already expensive car, insurance surcharges on high-horsepower convertibles were brutal by 1971, and Chrysler was already signaling that the engine’s days in the Barracuda were numbered. Buyers who wanted a fast ‘Cuda that year increasingly chose the 340 or the 440, engines that delivered serious performance without the Hemi’s price tag or reputation for drinking premium fuel by the gallon.

1971 also happened to be the only year the ‘Cuda wore quad headlights, a styling change meant to visually separate it from the Dodge Challenger it shared its E-body platform with. Combined with the “shaker” hood scoop that sat directly on top of the air cleaner and vibrated with the engine at idle, the ’71 ‘Cuda has a visual signature that Mopar fans can spot from across a parking lot. For a car built in such small numbers, that distinctiveness only adds to the mystique — there’s no mistaking a ’71 Hemi ‘Cuda for anything else Chrysler ever built.

What $3.3 Million Actually Buys

Underneath the shaker hood sits the 426 cubic-inch Hemi V8, factory-rated at 425 horsepower and 490 lb-ft of torque — numbers that were already considered conservative when new, since Chrysler famously underrated the engine to keep insurance adjusters and NHRA sanctioning bodies happy. Paired with a convertible body that adds weight and reduces structural rigidity compared to the hardtop, the Hemi ‘Cuda droptop was never the fastest way to spend Hemi money. It was, and still is, the rarest and most dramatic way to do it. A car this scarce isn’t being bought by someone chasing quarter-mile bragging rights; it’s being bought as a piece of automotive history that happens to still run.

That’s really what separates a sale like this from the rest of the collector car market. Thousands of 1970s muscle cars change hands every year for five and six figures. A true 1971 Hemi ‘Cuda Convertible, documented and verified, is a different category entirely — closer in rarity and market behavior to a vintage Ferrari than to the Chevelles and Mustangs that make up the bulk of the hobby. When one surfaces at auction, it tends to draw bidders who may not otherwise be active in the muscle car space at all, which helps explain why the final number cleared Mecum’s own expectations.

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