Plymouth ‘Cuda 1973 – First Start

By 1973, the Hemi and the 440 were both gone from the ‘Cuda’s order sheet, casualties of emissions rules and insurance surcharges that had already reshaped Chrysler’s engine lineup. What remained was the 340 in its final season, rated 240 net horsepower, in a car that had one model year left before the E-body disappeared entirely. A first start on one of these is a smaller event than a Hemi car’s, and a more interesting one.

“Do cars get any cooler than this?” was the entire original caption under this photo, and for a 1973 ‘Cuda it is a better question than it looks. This is the model year most people skip when they scroll through E-body listings, because by 1973 the engines that made the nameplate famous were already gone and the numbers on paper look modest. But 1973 sits at a specific and genuinely interesting crossroads in Chrysler’s history: the last year of a legendary small block, the second-to-last year of the platform, and the point at which a performance car had to justify itself on something other than a horsepower rating. Turning one over after a long sleep is a smaller moment than a Hemi car’s, and it carries more history.

What the E-Body Was Before It Got Here

To understand why 1973 matters, it helps to remember how briefly this car existed at all. The E-body arrived for 1970, giving Plymouth’s Barracuda and Dodge’s Challenger a purpose-built platform after years of the Barracuda making do with Valiant underpinnings, and it launched directly into the peak of the muscle car era with an engine list that ran all the way to the 426 Hemi. Those 1970 and 1971 cars are the ones that made the reputation, and Hemi ‘Cuda production across both years ran to a few hundred cars in total. Then the market moved, and the platform had four model years left.

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Where the Big Blocks Went

The big blocks left first. The 426 Street Hemi ended after 1971, its production run finishing at a total so small that surviving cars now trade in seven figures, and the 440 followed out of the ‘Cuda’s order book as tightening federal emissions standards and collapsing compression ratios made large-displacement performance engines increasingly expensive to certify and increasingly unpleasant to drive. Insurance surcharges did the rest. By the time the 1973 brochures were printed, the E-body’s engine ladder had been shortened at the top, and what remained was the 318 as the base V8 and the 340 as the performance option.

The 340’s Last Stand

That made 1973 the 340’s last stand, and it deserves the framing. The 340 had always been the connoisseur’s Mopar engine, a small block with big valves, a good cylinder head, and a willingness to rev that the larger engines could not match, and in a car that had lost some weight at the nose it changed the ‘Cuda’s balance for the better. Rated at 240 net horsepower in 1973, it was the strongest engine Plymouth would still sell in the car. It was also, for anyone actually driving rather than reading spec sheets, arguably the most pleasant engine the ‘Cuda ever offered.

Net Versus Gross, and Why 1973 Looks Worse Than It Was

The ratings themselves need context, because 1973 numbers get read as evidence of collapse when a good part of the drop is arithmetic. The industry switched from SAE gross ratings, measured on an engine stand without accessories, exhaust, or air cleaner, to SAE net ratings measured as installed. The change took effect for 1972 and made every engine in America look dramatically weaker overnight without a single part changing. Real output did fall through this period as compression came down and emissions hardware went on, but not by anything close to the amount the published figures suggest.

The Bumper That Changed the Face

The 1973 cars are also visually distinct, and the reason is regulatory. New federal standards required front bumpers capable of withstanding a five-mile-per-hour impact, and Chrysler’s response was a heavier front bumper on substantial mounts that changed the E-body’s face noticeably. Rear bumper standards followed for 1974. Purists tend to prefer the cleaner 1970 and 1971 front ends, which is fair, but the 1973 treatment is also the quickest way to identify the year from thirty feet, and it is a physical record of the moment safety legislation started shaping American car design directly.

The Sales Figure Nobody Expects

Here is the figure that surprises people: 1973 was not a sales disaster for the ‘Cuda. Barracuda and ‘Cuda volume actually improved over the dismal 1972 numbers, helped by a generally strong year for the industry and by pricing that had become far more accessible now that the expensive engines were gone. The car that gets dismissed as the sad ending was, in commercial terms, healthier than the year before it. That did not save it, because the decision to end the platform had less to do with 1973 than with what Chrysler saw coming.

1974, and the End of the E-Body

What came was 1974 and the end. For its final season the E-body carried the 360 in place of the departed 340, and then Chrysler discontinued the platform outright, taking the Barracuda, ‘Cuda, and Dodge Challenger with it. The fuel crisis of late 1973 removed whatever business case remained for a heavy two-door with a V8, and Chrysler was in no financial condition to argue. The E-body had lasted five model years, which for one of the most celebrated shapes in American car history is a startlingly short run.

What a First Start Actually Involves

A first start on a car that has been sitting is its own small discipline, and it is worth doing properly rather than dramatically. Old fuel needs to come out entirely rather than being diluted, because varnished gasoline will ruin a carburetor and a fuel pump in short order. Oil gets changed before the engine turns, not after. Pre-oiling the system, checking that the timing chain has not stretched into vagueness, inspecting brake lines and hoses that have spent years dry, and confirming the cooling system holds pressure all come before the key does. Videos of engines being fired on ancient fuel make good content and expensive mistakes.

The Affordable Way Into an E-Body

For buyers, the 1973 and 1974 cars are the sane entry point into the E-body world. The 1970 and 1971 Hemi and 440 Six Pack cars are investment-grade objects with matching pricing, and even mid-range early cars have moved well beyond casual money. A 340 ‘Cuda from 1973 offers the same silhouette, the same doors, the same presence in a parking lot, and a drivetrain that is easier to live with, at a price that has not yet been fully discovered. Documentation still matters enormously, because clone cars built from Barracudas are common and the differences are learnable.

Where These Cars Are Headed

Where they go from here is the interesting part. Collector markets tend to work outward from the peak cars, and as the early E-bodies priced themselves out of reach the later ones started attracting attention from people who wanted the shape rather than the trophy. The 1973 cars have the additional advantage of a genuine story: the last year of the 340, the first year of the new bumper regulations, and a snapshot of an industry being reshaped in real time. That is a better reason to own one than a number on a fender.

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