Plymouth ‘Cuda 1970 “Torc”

“Torc” started as a joke — drop a diesel truck engine into a numbers-matching-looking ‘Cuda — and turned into an award-winning build strong enough to embarrass a small-block Hemi. Weaver Customs channeled and chopped the body, dropped it onto a custom chassis, and squeezed 1,500 horsepower out of a compound-turbo Cummins six. It won top honors at two of the biggest Mopar shows in the country. Here’s how a diesel swap became one of the most respected builds on the show circuit.

The 1970 Plymouth ‘Cuda “Torc” .. What appears to be a very cool ‘Cuda Street Machine is made all the much cooler by looking under the hood.. One would think maybe a late model HEMI… Maybe an old school HEMI?? .. But never a 6.7 Cummins.. That’s right this this is a Diesel… 1500 RWHP.. And 3000 Pounds of “Torc”!!

A diesel engine has no business making this kind of power, and it definitely has no business living under the hood of a numbers-matching-looking 1970 ‘Cuda. But that’s exactly the joke Weaver Customs built for owner Len Elfervig, and the punchline landed hard enough to win awards at some of the most respected Mopar shows in the country. Underneath a body that’s been channeled, chopped, and dropped onto a completely custom chassis sits a drivetrain combination nobody would expect from the outside. The whole build reads like a dare somebody actually followed through on. What does it take to make a diesel truck engine embarrass a small-block Hemi?

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A Body Built From Scratch Around an Engine Nobody Expected

Weaver Customs, based in Salt Lake City, built “Torc” for owner Len Elfervig and unveiled the finished car at Detroit Autorama 2016, where it immediately stood out among a field of far more traditional Mopar builds. The Barracuda body was channeled and had its rear roofline chopped, with the windshield leaned back and all the glass flush-mounted before the entire shell was dropped onto a custom Roadster Shop chassis — a foundation built to handle far more abuse than anything Plymouth ever engineered into the original car.

Compound Turbos and a Transmission Built to Survive It

Getting 1,500 horsepower and 3,000 lb-ft of torque out of a 6.7-liter Cummins inline-six took a compound turbo setup running an S366 and an S460 together, backed by forged internals, a ported and polished head, dual fuelers, and 5×18 injectors, with nitrous available for good measure. All of that torque routes through a fully manual Chrysler 48RE transmission rather than anything resembling a stock diesel truck’s automatic. The car went on to win “World’s Ultimate Mopar” at the 2016 Muscle Cars at the Strip show and a Goodguys Award at that year’s Del Mar show — recognition that a diesel swap, done right, can out-build the traditionalists at their own game.

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