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A 1971 Plymouth ‘Cuda rolled onto Pawn Stars with a $90,000 price tag and Rick Harrison’s boldest compliment yet. Sharp-eyed Mopar fans in the comments weren’t buying the superlative without proof of what engine was actually under the hood. Here’s what really separates an ordinary ‘Cuda from the 114 factory Hemi cars collectors now pay millions for.
The 1971 Hemi Cuda is the rarest and most valuable regular-production muscle car America ever built, and the reason is straightforward arithmetic: 108 hardtops and 11 convertibles left the factory, and then the option disappeared forever. It was also the only year the Cuda wore four headlights and fender gills. One convertible has sold for $3.5 million. Read on for what happened in that single model year.