Only eleven 1971 Plymouth ‘Cuda convertibles left the factory with the 426 Hemi under the hood, out of just 374 convertibles built for the entire model year. This bright yellow and white example from The Brothers Collection pairs Chrysler’s most feared engine with a body style built for leisurely summer cruising, a mismatch that makes it one of the rarest muscle cars ever sold. Watch the full breakdown to see why.
Only eleven people ever got to order a brand new 1971 Plymouth ‘Cuda convertible with the 426 Hemi under the hood, and this bright yellow and white example is one of them. That number alone would make the car remarkable, but it gets more specific from there: of the 374 total ‘Cuda convertibles Plymouth built for the entire 1971 model year, regardless of engine, only a tiny fraction carried the Hemi option that turned an already desirable car into one of the rarest muscle cars ever sold. What happens when a factory pairs its angriest engine with a convertible built for summer cruising is exactly the mismatch this episode sets out to explain, and why a single production year, and a single body style within that year, can separate a merely desirable muscle car from one that barely anyone alive has actually seen in person.
The Rarest Number in the ‘Cuda Lineup
Plymouth’s 1971 ‘Cuda lineup offered several engine options, from a base six-cylinder up through the 440 and the range-topping 426 Hemi, but very few buyers checked the box for the most expensive, least practical engine available in a convertible body style. Just eleven did, making this specific configuration one of the scarcest combinations Plymouth ever put on a build sheet. The ‘Cuda itself was Plymouth’s performance-focused version of the Barracuda, distinguished from the base model by a more aggressive hood, wider tires, and a broader range of high-output engine options.
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374 Convertibles, Eleven With a Hemi
Total 1971 ‘Cuda convertible production landed at just 374 cars across every available engine option combined, meaning the Hemi-equipped examples represent well under three percent of an already low-volume model. For collectors, that kind of production data isn’t trivia, it’s the foundation of a car’s entire market value, since verified originality against numbers this small carries enormous weight in any serious appraisal.
The 426 Hemi’s Reputation, Explained
The 426 Hemi earned its reputation on drag strips and NASCAR ovals before Chrysler ever offered it in a street car, and by 1971 it remained the most powerful, most expensive engine option across the entire Chrysler lineup. Putting it into a convertible, rather than the hardtop most serious performance buyers actually preferred, went directly against the era’s own performance-car logic, which is part of why so few buyers made that choice. Chrysler had originally developed the Hemi’s signature hemispherical combustion chamber design for racing applications in the 1950s and revived it for the 1964 season specifically to dominate NASCAR, and by the time it reached street ‘Cuda buyers in the early 1970s it still carried that competition pedigree largely intact, giving ordinary street buyers direct access to a combustion chamber design NASCAR competitors had once fought hard to have banned outright.
A Yellow and White Paradox
The car’s bright yellow and white color combination reinforces the mismatch at the center of this build: a paint scheme that reads as a fun, top-down summer cruiser wrapped around an engine built for quarter-mile domination. That contrast, between a drop-top built for leisurely driving and a motor with genuinely intimidating output, is exactly the kind of pairing that makes Hemi convertibles a favorite subject among muscle car historians. Two-tone or bright single-color schemes like this one were a common factory option across the ‘Cuda lineup in 1971, but paired with a documented Hemi build sheet, the color choice becomes a specific, traceable detail rather than just a cosmetic preference.
Inside the Brothers Collection
This particular ‘Cuda comes from what’s identified as The Brothers Collection, a grouping that suggests a deliberate, curated approach to acquiring significant muscle cars rather than a single impulse purchase. Cars pulled from named private collections like this one often carry better-documented histories, since serious collectors tend to keep meticulous records specifically because they understand what a car like this is worth to prove out. A named collection also tends to signal that a car has been kept out of the general resale market for an extended period, insulated from the kind of ownership churn that makes documentation harder to trace the further back it goes, and often means the car was maintained to a single, consistent standard rather than passed through a series of owners with different priorities.
Why V8 Speed Shop Chose This Car for Episode 209
V8 Speed & Resto Shop built its “Muscle Car of the Week” series around exactly this kind of car: something rare enough to justify a dedicated episode, with a story specific enough to hold a viewer’s attention beyond a walk-around. A Hemi convertible with production numbers this low is close to an ideal subject for that format, and by the early 1970s, rising insurance premiums on high-horsepower muscle cars were already discouraging buyers from ordering the most extreme engine options, a trend that helped end the muscle car era as it had existed in the late 1960s.
Hemi Convertibles and the Muscle Car Insurance Era
The eleven Hemi ‘Cuda convertible buyers in 1971 were among the last customers willing to pay that premium before the option effectively disappeared. Even within a hobby full of rare and desirable cars, a Hemi ‘Cuda convertible occupies a category of its own, combining drag-strip credibility with open-top rarity in a way almost nothing else from the era matches, which is exactly why it’s the kind of car that represents the top of the pyramid for so many enthusiasts.
A Fantasy Machine, Even Among Muscle Car Fans
Building a Hemi into a convertible chassis wasn’t a simple parts-bin swap for Chrysler engineers, either. Removing a car’s fixed roof takes away structural rigidity that a hardtop gets for free, and pairing that softer chassis with the Hemi’s weight and torque meant additional underbody bracing was needed just to keep the car from flexing under hard acceleration. That extra engineering, applied to a run of only eleven cars, is part of why Hemi convertibles carry a reputation among Mopar specialists as some of the most deliberately over-built cars Chrysler put into limited production.
Watch the full video and drop your thoughts in the comments below.
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Extremely Rare Legendary 1971 Plymouth Hemi ‘Cuda Convertible
Awesome
Absolutely Gorgeous Period
Almost look’s like the Don Johnson car from the series
THAT is my dream car.
Nice ride
The Cuda as well as the Chargers and Challengers are all Iconic muscle cars right at the top of the list! No slight to Ford or Chevy just saying MOpar or No car!!
I will take it
This the only American muscle car convertible I like. Not a convertible fan but on a Cuda of yeah.
I would love to have it. Mopar or no car
Before I die..id love to have this car…yours truly; gear head
Bad ass ride, wish I could have this car !! I have a 1967 Barracuda convertible with a 408 stroker engine 727 trans 3500 shall convertor, 8 3/4 – 3.55 gears!
Nice
My favourite car
69 camaro for me!
Beautiful!
Yes
I think it was the baddest car ever made!
Love it
Beautiful car,
Awesome. I love it
Beautiful, hot ride!!
Smoking car Mopar Muscle drop top and that particular car was in a TV series if u remember
My son wants one sooo bad
Awesome!
1 of 16
Fave
Love them old mopor
Absolutely… the Cuda sets the goal for most muscle cars…
Most beautiful muscle car made. Wish my Formula S was a 71 Hemi Cuda Convertible. Hell, I’d love the hard top!