Plymouth ‘Cuda 1971 Conquers Pikes Peak!

Pikes Peak doesn’t just test a car’s speed — it tests brakes, cooling systems, driver nerve, and the thinning mountain air itself. This 1971 Plymouth ‘Cuda took on more than twelve miles of switchbacks during the 90th running of one of the oldest motorsport events in America. Read on to find out what it actually takes for a street-bred muscle car to survive a mountain built to break machinery.

We head to Pikes Peak in Colorado Springs for the 90th running of the world’s most famous mountain race; the Pikes Peak International Hillclimb. We follow Jess Neal and Morgan Combes as they attempt to make it to the top of the treacherous 12.5 mile course in a 1971 Plymouth ‘Cuda…

Some race courses test a car’s speed. Pikes Peak tests everything else too — its brakes, its cooling system, its driver’s nerve, and increasingly, the thin mountain air itself. This particular event marked the 90th running of one of the oldest motorsport traditions in America, a race that has been climbing the same unforgiving mountain since automobiles were still a novelty. Into that history stepped a team piloting a 1971 Plymouth ‘Cuda, aiming their Mopar muscle at over twelve miles of switchbacks that gain more than four thousand feet before the finish line. Most cars that attempt this course were never designed with a mountain in mind. So what happens when you point a street-bred muscle car at a road built to break machinery, one hairpin at a time?

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The Race to the Clouds

The Pikes Peak International Hill Climb dates back to 1916, when hotelier Spencer Penrose carved a road up the mountain and decided the best way to publicize it was to send cars racing to the summit. Drivers now cover 12.42 miles and more than 156 turns, climbing from the start line to a finish at 14,115 feet, with grades that average a lung-searing 7.2 percent the whole way up. It’s earned the nickname “Race to the Clouds” for good reason, and it remains the second-oldest motorsport event in the country behind only the Indianapolis 500.

Muscle Cars Belonged on This Mountain Too

Pikes Peak is best known today for purpose-built hillclimb specials and, more recently, electric prototypes chasing outright records — for decades, no muscle car nameplate ever cracked the overall win outright, a milestone that wouldn’t arrive until 2026, when Ford’s electric Super Mustang Mach-E finally topped the podium. Running a 1971 ‘Cuda up this mountain wasn’t a stunt; it was a genuine test of whether Detroit muscle, built for straight-line speed, could handle a course that never lets up on cornering, elevation, or nerve.

A Course That Doesn’t Forgive Mistakes

With no guardrails on much of the original course and grades steep enough to cook brakes on the way down, Pikes Peak has always demanded more from a car than horsepower alone — cooling, suspension geometry, and driver stamina matter just as much once the altitude starts thinning out the air and the engine’s output along with it. That’s the real reason this race has stayed relevant for over a century: it doesn’t matter what’s under the hood if the car and driver can’t survive the mountain itself.

What Made the 1971 ‘Cuda a Curious Choice for a Hillclimb

The 1971 ‘Cuda was built as a straight-line performance car first, with a suspension tuned for drag-strip launches rather than the constant weight transfer and elevation changes a hillclimb course demands, which means any team running one at Pikes Peak has to rework spring rates, anti-roll bars, and brake cooling substantially before the car can even be competitive against purpose-built hillclimb machinery.

The Altitude Problem Every Naturally Aspirated Engine Faces

A gasoline engine loses a meaningful percentage of its power for every thousand feet of elevation gained, which means a ‘Cuda that made strong numbers at sea level could be down well over a third of its output by the time it crosses the finish line at over 14,000 feet — a problem teams address through careful carburetor jetting changes and, in some builds, forced induction specifically calibrated for the thinning air.

Brakes Built for the Drag Strip Meet a Mountain That Never Stops Descending

Unlike a quarter-mile pass that ends with a long, flat shutdown area, Pikes Peak’s return road and the drive back down the mountain punish brakes that were never designed for sustained, repeated use, which is why teams running vintage muscle cars at this event typically upgrade to larger rotors and higher-temperature brake pads long before they worry about squeezing out more horsepower.

Why Vintage Muscle Still Shows Up Every Year

Despite modern hillclimb specials and electric prototypes dominating the outright standings, Pikes Peak maintains dedicated vintage and exhibition classes specifically because organizers and fans alike want to see cars like a 1971 ‘Cuda tackle the same mountain as the record-setters — proof that the event’s appeal was never only about who finishes fastest overall.

The Broader Mopar Presence at the Race to the Clouds

Plymouth and Dodge muscle cars have appeared at Pikes Peak in various forms for decades, from vintage exhibition runs to modern Hellcat-powered demonstration vehicles, keeping Mopar’s connection to the mountain alive well past the era when factory teams ever seriously competed there — a tradition that a run like Jess Neal and Morgan Combes’ keeps very much alive today.

What Happened to the Car After the Run

Vintage muscle cars that compete at Pikes Peak typically return to normal street duty once the event wraps, their hillclimb-specific suspension and brake modifications either left in place for future runs or reverted back toward stock configuration depending on the owner’s plans — a very different fate from the purpose-built hillclimb specials that rarely see public roads again once their racing careers end. Teams that campaign vintage muscle cars at Pikes Peak also have to account for tire selection specific to the mountain’s mixed pavement and, in some sections, unpaved surface — a challenge that rarely comes up on a drag strip, where the entire run happens on a single, consistent, prepared surface from start to finish. Fuel delivery at altitude presents its own separate challenge from jetting alone, since vapor lock becomes far more likely as atmospheric pressure drops, meaning teams often route fuel lines away from heat sources more aggressively on a hillclimb-prepped muscle car than a typical street or strip build would ever require.

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