This Plymouth is going to be a huge restoration, but it has such a neat look to it that it’s easy to overlook all those rust holes. Still, if you are in the market for a ‘Cuda project, this could be a good one to get. It has a 340 V8, manual transmission, and that iconic billboard stripe. The story goes that the designer was fed up with designing stripes and drew up this one as a joke. To his surprise management accepted the design and put it into production. I’m not sure if the story is true, but I still like the stripe. The car is located in Ulster, Pennsylvania and is listed here on eBay with the auction ending tomorrow morning.
Don’t let the allure of that pistol grip distract you from the gaping hole in the floor. This thing has some serious rust. Still, I hope someone has mercy on it because it was once a very cool car!
You know things are bad when there are holes like this . The sheet metal is rusting from the inside out and there are thin sections. Once you start grinding into this, you are bound to find more of the nasty stuff. You might be better off just replacing the front fenders, but there are some areas that are not so easy to repair.
Let’s just hope the frame is solid. The seller claims that the car starts, stops, and can be driven around the yard. But, I doubt this is one of those cars you could just repair the floors and then start driving. It’s going to need a full restoration, but you can be assured that you will have one heck of a looker once it’s finished.
I’d love to see a followup on this car in a few years to find out what becomes of it. So, if any of you end up dragging it home, please let us know! The current level of bidding probably keeps it out of most people’s budget, but I know there are some serious Mopar fans around here. Let’s just hope it goes to someone with the resources to complete the job and that we dont see it back on the market in another year without any improvements.
That’s a LOT of rust in a LOT of places for over $27,000 and reserve is still not met.
Even with it being a 71′, 340, 4 speed, with billboards, a restored one would be around 55-65 grand. Unless you do all the body work yourself you’d have that much in it. It is a very cool find that’s pulls at my heart strings.
It defeats me how much money people will pay for these rusted out Mopars when I tried to sell my fully restored 70 Mach1 last year NOT to total factory specs but super nice and I couldn’t get the 40K I needed even though I was losing 13K which I didn’t care because we had 2 shelf’s of trophies and 5 years of fun showing it. When I was a kid and these cars were new the only ones who bought them in my town were rednecks who totally beat the crap out of them then parked them as yard art and left them to rust. I’m sure it will reach 30K but not out of my bank account.
Agree with both Blindmarc and BrianR above. Too much rust for the price.
27k for a rusty cuda with a 340??? This would be worth it if it had a hemi.
For the costs of restoration of well used rust bucket, my choice is to purchase a nice example and save a bucket full of money and aggravation. One might find an original rust free example and end up spending less money.
I just don’t get it. Maybe this whole GYC thing has prompted the lunacy, but the extent that people will shell out large amounts of money for rusted out MOPARS is beyond my comprehenison.
The Eagle GT tires are from the early 1990s. Quite possible by then it was on its first restoration. The muscle car bubble was in full swing. Chrysler was pumping out plenty of “nos” parts by then. To paint a Cuda and install non original to the car. New Billboards not out of the question. These cars have always been popular. My concern is why and or how it ended up this way? I have not read the ad and if posted forgive me. The car has lots of unusual rust. My main issue would be why the bottom of the dash is rotted out. I have seen many Katrina cars that exhibit the same thing. Easy enough to power wash one and store away until the resources come available. However you can never fully remove the salt water. Not saying this is the case. Before I would throw down any money I would want to look it over very close.
Coming back to this for a second look: Car being sold out of northern PA, inspection sticker from PA 1983, phone number from southern NY state close to north PA–all seem right for local car with local seller. Really can’t understand the current bid price. Looks like it had been stored in wet location (snow piled up on car in winters and slow melt in shade) or under tarp or in damp location for 30 years. Don’t like the firewall rust, and rust around hinges, although that pistol grip looks super cool. Again I surely would pass on this one at current 27K bid price.
People slways under estimate the cost of restoring one of these, even if your own labor is $0 per hour. At the current price for this one, by the time you redo the interior and get a good coat of paint on this you are close to $50K all in. You might as well look for an AAR cuda (340, 6 pak and more) if you have that much coin.
Seller did good, buyer well we might have to wait ten years to see. I found a 1973 340 pistol grip Cuda last summer in a garage, offered $7,500 for a full on project car with some rust. I felt it was a fair offer. He wanted more like fifteen and I told him no thanks. Maybe I need to go back and do some negotiating after seeing this go for $27plus.
A ’71 is a much more desirable car than a ’73…
73’s aren’t worth nowhere what a 71 is worth. 71 is the holy grail Cuda, that’s why it’s fetching those large numbers.
If you have a downer car and swapped the important stuff then this would be an easy flip. But to restore that car it wouldn’t be worth it.
A Rallye Red 340 car with a 4 speed pistol grip and billboards checks 4 big boxes… too bad the fender tag is destroyed. Makes 3 of the 4 things unknowable/unverifiable(although I believe this is an unrestored car), unless the build sheet appears, or you pay Galen Govier to figure it out. Based on the VIN, the only thing that can be known is that it was built as a 340-4BBL ‘Cuda.
Body Type: B = Barracuda
Price Class: S = Special
Body Type: 23 = 2 Door Hardtop
Engine: H = 340 275HP 1-4BBL 8 CYL
Year: 1 = 1971
Sequence Number: 145470 = 45470th Vehicle Built
I’m at the Mohegan Sun Casino Pocono PA – about an hour and a half away from this beauty. I’m almost up enough in the poker room. going to take a break and get back at it – might be able to make a cash offer this afternoon!
Motoring mo, please keep us updated. Both on the winning and the car. Good luck.
Good luck on winnings and bidding!
I just saw on the May 2015 cover of autobuy, a orange 71′ 340. 4speed with billboards and rear spoiler, ground up resto for 50k. Graveyard cars has restored worse.
Had a rough afternoon gents.
Casino almost took it all back.
Weather getting bad here in eastern PA, going to pull the plug and head home.
Oh well, next time!