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A 1968 Pontiac Firebird convertible and a 1971 Plymouth Hemi Cuda both wear the muscle car label, but they represent almost opposite bets, one built for volume, the other for almost none at all. Only 114 Hemi Cudas were built in 1971, seven of them convertibles, and that scarcity now commands multi-million-dollar auction prices. Here is how these two cars compare, and why rarity ended up mattering more than raw performance.
A 1999 garage explosion nearly killed the owner of this Hemi ‘Cuda and reduced one of only 48 ever built to what should have been a permanent loss. Graveyard Carz picked up the project anyway, and this 4K restoration segment shows the final assembly of a car most shops would have scrapped on sight. Mark Worman’s reputation carries the story, but it’s the owner who survived the fire that gives it weight. How do you bring a car back from that?
Plymouth built only 114 Hemi Cudas for 1971, with just 12 convertibles among them, numbers so small that two brothers who wrote down an impossibly specific wish list, unrestored, four-speed, original owner, build sheet included, figured the search would take years. They found their car in three weeks. Genuine, documented originals from this ultra-low-production run have sold for well over a million dollars at auction.
A supercharged Hellcat Challenger, a numbers-matching Hemi Cuda, a bagged Scat Pack, and a Shelby-badged Mustang all line up on the same night in this Wheels compilation — and the results don’t go the way a spec sheet would predict. Viewers are still debating a 1967 Camaro that ran dead-on to its 11.52 index despite a rough burnout, and a Mustang that never got heat into its tires. Watch to see which pairings go old school’s way, and which don’t.
Only a handful of 1970 Hemi ‘Cuda convertibles ever left the factory with a 4-speed manual, and fewer still wore the eye-searing High Impact color known as Lemon Twist. This is the story of one of the rarest combinations Plymouth ever built — a 426 Hemi, a stick shift, and a paint code designed to be impossible to ignore. Here’s why this particular spec sheet has become one of the most sought-after in the muscle car world.
A 1968 Pontiac Firebird convertible and a 1971 Plymouth Hemi ‘Cuda convertible both wear the muscle car convertible badge, but that’s about where the similarities end. One rolled off the line by the thousands with a menu of strong V8 options; the other was built in numbers so small that most Mopar dealers never saw one. Compare their production runs and you’ll understand instantly why one sells as a great weekend driver and the other sells as a multi-million-dollar unicorn.
The 1970s Plymouth Hemi ‘Cuda is the muscle car that makes even Ferraris green with envy. With its daring colors, hood pins, and pistol grip shifters, this car screams suave and macho in one growl. Though only 652 were made, each Hemi ‘Cuda is a treasure, especially the 14 convertibles. It boasts a 0-60 mph in 5.8 seconds with a tire-shredding glory. The Hemi ‘Cuda’s legendary status is solidified with appearances in Need for Speed and Fast and Furious 6. Who knew muscle could be so glamorous?
A restored red 1972 Plymouth Barracuda catches the eye instantly, but the story behind its engine bay is more complicated than the Cuda’s Hemi reputation suggests. By 1972, Chrysler had already dropped its biggest engines from the lineup, leaving the 340 V8 as the top option and production numbers in steep decline. Here’s what actually changed under the hood in the model’s twilight year — and why it still matters to collectors.
This screaming-yellow 1970 Plymouth Hemi ‘Cuda carries a 426 Hemi officially rated at 425 horsepower — a number most enthusiasts believe Chrysler deliberately underreported to dodge crushing insurance premiums. Plymouth built just 666 Hemi ‘Cudas for 1970, with only 284 getting the four-speed manual paired to this car’s Shaker hood and Dana 60 rear end. Recent auction results for the rarest versions have topped $2 million.
A 1968 Hemi Road Runner and a 1970 Hemi Cuda share the exact same 426 Hemi, the same 425-horsepower rating, and the same Torqueflite automatic — yet this quarter-mile shootout from Road Test TV isn’t close to even. One car leaves the line with what viewers call a genuinely bad reaction time and still crosses the stripe first. Commenters are left arguing about gear ratios, tire choice, and whether 4.56s are involved. What actually separates two nearly identical elephant motors on race day?