What if you were driving down the street in Los Angeles, California and look over at a used car lot and see a one family owned 1970 Plymouth Cuda painted in B5 blue with its original 440 cubic inch V8 with 97,000 miles. I would pull over right away! Patrick S. sent this car to us and it can be seen with some great pictures here on eBay. The car has 8 days left in the auction and is bid to $40,100.
Hemmings did an article on this survivor back in 2006 which can be seen here. The B5 blue paint is believed to be original and the car left the factory with the powerful 440 cubic inch Magnum V8 engine and 727 automatic transmission. The car is well equipped with factory air conditioning, power steering, 3.50 posi rear gears, power windows and even cruise control.
The black vinyl interior looks great with the only flaw being a tear in the driver’s seat. The engine was freshened up approximately 10,000 miles ago with new rings. The car is said to run and drive great with no rattles or squeaks. The body does have some parking lot dings that it has picked up over the last 50 years.
A nice bonus is the car comes with its California blue plates and I prefer the elastomeric front bumper on Cudas. Bidding has been strong so far but this car should sell for a pretty penny. One of you Mopar experts please predict in the comments what this car will sell for.
Beautiful car! Good story to back up value. Wish I could afford to bid. This is the way to buy one of these. Starting with a numbers matching rust bucket is crazy. This one needs the right home.
This is a really nice car. If it’s as described it will be worth every penny it eventually sells for.
Steve R
Very true Steve. Its been awhile since I saw a Cuda with matching numbers. This one is a keeper.
My 70 Plymouth 318 car had air, I think that had the same radiator. Pretty car, too bad it is not a 318 too, then maybe a few of us mere mortals could have a shot at it. Sure wish Grandpa hadn’t lost everything in 1929, then I could be a snooty rich guy and buy this just because I could.
It seems like you have already mastered the snotty attitude.
Too bad you are fixated on wealth lost two generations before your time rather than trying to make your own way.
Steve R
Ouch!!
I couldn’t agree more.
I believe the man said snOOty not snOtty. Of course, they often go hand in hand. Steve R, why are you talking bout political things, this is a place for car talk.
All of a sudden this is an ethics forum? Someone always trying to add their two cents and put another down. Shut up and talk about the CAR!
Don’t you understand humor anymore? He was simply making a joke about the high costs of classic cars that’s out of reach for most of us. Lighten up and be a car enthusiast.
Steve, take a chill pill. this sight is for car guys. Let’s all please keep it that way.
Thank you
Oh, I made my own way and did just fine, but not fine enough to splurge on something like this. My point is, that if some dishonest bankers in 1929 wouldn’t have cheated my family out of the fortune that was there, my families life might have been much easier. Certainly for my beautiful grandmother (20 years younger than Grandfather), she sure didn’t end up with the life she had planned, that is for sure. Being handed money is always better then having to make it yourself, always. Anyone that says different, is just some trust fund yoddle who wants to distract you from the joys of generational wealth. After all, don’t want to end up like the French nobility a few hundred years back.
Ken Jennings won over 4 million on jeopardy alone, wouldn’t that qualify you as a “rich guy”?
Rich is in the eye of the beholder I guess. We can all be rich in our own way if we want to be.
In CA the tax is 50 cents on the dollar, so 4 turns magically into 2, still a lot though. I am guessing this is not the same ken Jennings, he doesn’t strike me as a car guy. This guy, while a little odd, seems pretty car smart at times.
As Joe said, simply trying to make the point that most cars of our youth have been yanked from our grasp by the present economic divide. Now, people will say, if we wanted them so bad, why not yank them up when they were cheap, say the early 1980s. But that rings hollow, as most of us Baby Boomers were raising a family at the time, not practical, now we are retired, people with so much more money then us have taken our youth away from us. We, the people who rightfully should be allowed to own them, we who could appreciate them more as we have the connection through time with them. Who should truly own this more? A 65 year old newly retired worker, or a 25 year old high tech millionaire? The 25 year old could pay for this out of pocket change, but will he appreciate and cherish it nearly as much as the older guy?
Work hard and then you can afford it. Playing the poor me victim card gets one nowhere in life. There are still nice cars out there that haven’t hit the stratosphere yet.
Neat! I like how the seller lists all to codes on the ‘buck tag(s). Shows that the car come with many desirables such as A/C , Stereo, Cruise, PW and more. I like loaded muscle cars, for the dichotomy. Just like a Caprice or other luxury trim with a 4speed, any wagon with bucket seats and a console, etc.
It shows you that, in a sea of basics, someone wanted to build something just for them and their family.
1st time i seen that cruise control unit!
Wonder what those 3 toggle switches are for – lower left dash.
I wonder if that optional (endura?) front bumper provides more bump protection than the plastic one on a new Challenger.
If you get a flat, would it be foolish or even dangerous to even attempt to inflate a 50 yr old space saver spare?
If so, why bother carrying it around? lol
I would throw in a full size spare in the trunk instead.
They didnt make space saver spares back then….they were all full size spares.
Sorry William, not sure WHEN they started making space savers but it was BEFORE 1970. Most pony cars including this one, Firebirds and Camaro’s 1st gens – had them. Small trunks….i.e. Space Saver.
Who knows more about Space Savers….please share your knowledge. Tell me if I am wrong? I have been wrong before….just ask my wife!
My brothers 69 Big Bad Orange 390 4 speed AMX had a space saver. They made them then. The inflate type, not donut spares.
Our family’s 1969 Firebird had one when my parents bought it new.
My Gremlin and my familes Hornets had them too.
Beautiful. Only thing missing is the pistol grip . .
And the 4 speed it would be linked to.
Rings , what else sounds like it was blowing oil out . Also why would you paint a chrome bumper back then Rust? Paint is a good cover up
1970 was a great year for muscle cars. Some say it is the last year. Not me. I was ten years old and the future was now. The whole nation was still in the afterglow from the Moon landings of 1969. Hot Wheels was three years old. Major Matt Mason was one of the hottest toys going. Snoopy’s dog house was on the Moon. The spotting of new Mach 1’s and Superbirds was a fun game to play while riding in the car. The Archies had a hit song….”Ahhh Sugar, da Da dot dot dot Honey, Honey, da Da dot dot dot.” Everything was fun an exciting. to top it off, my sister got her first car a 1970 Mercury Cougar, base model with a 351 Cleveland. This car was my first car as well. It was a car that was not like the Buicks and Oldsmobiles that our parents drove. A fun car. Her boyfriend would come over to pick her up in a 1968 442 or his black 1968 Dodge Charger. It is no wonder that I am a hot rodder. 1970 was a cool year that will never come again, but I still have hope.
It is not an easy job to paint a chrome bumper. You have to take it to a bumper shop and have them strip the chrome off it and maybe even the nickle, I forget, it was a long time ago that I painted the bumpers on my 1972 Mercury Cougar. They were rust pitted and one had to have a rust hole welded shut. Removing the chrome is done to give the paint a better surface to coat. The owner of this Cuda was probably wanting to mimic the look of some of the other muscle cars that had either a painted bumper or a urethane coated bumper. I did not read the entire article, but five will get you ten that this bumper painting was done sometime in the 1980’s.
A factory option on the Cuda was elastomeric bumpers that was a plastic like coating that was the body color. That bumper is original not painted.
That’s an elastomeric bumper. And new rings doesn’t mean it was ” blowing oil” maybe some oil use, but likely a bit down on compression
All you have to do is let Deep Pockets Jay Leno see the ad and you will see it in his stable on his channel. Just win the Powerball Drawing tonight and you could own it too!!!!!! Two Dollars buys the winning ticket!!!!!!
i inspected this car a crunched all the numbers and paperwork and it’s a lovely car, highly unusual to see a broadcast sheet on a los angeles built car, and so many options.
I find it funny that the Seller (flipper) said in his video that he will be sure to find it a good home. How can that be if it sells to the highest offer? It sounds like the previous owner (Nephew to the original owner) got tired of all the tire kickers when he tried to sell it himself. I’m guessing he left a lot of $ on the table. Looks like a great Cuda however. I had a 1970 Cuda “U” code with a Hemi 4 speed “pistol grip”, with a Dana 60, all numbers matching. No AC, no power brakes, and no power steering. Sold it in 2004 when you could buy them for around 30k. Be interesting to see what it sells for assuming the Seller does not end the auction early to a must have $ Buyer.
Unfortunately in the world live in, the highest bidder is always “a good home”. I remember the day when a guy would sell a car at less than he could have gotten for it as someone who showed up loved the car for what it was.
Yes, flippers, flippers, flippers! There was some of that in the old days, but usually only after owning it for a year or two, and working on it (yourself) some to make it better. Now, people just come in, try to buy low and sell high next week. It does nothing for the hobby, just bumps up the price without adding anything. Like a hedge fund trader, creates nothing, adds no value, just pulls money out of the system and makes everyone else pay greater prices for similar things. Our hobby has been hijacked by the money men. Capitalism needs limiting, it is a good system, but it has run amok. We need to reign it in some.
I bought a new Plymouth Sport Satellite in 1970 and after about 20,000 miles
of pain in the ass problems I turned it into a Lincoln Continental and we have had no more association with Chrysler.The Plymouth had the 383 with 4 barrel
carburetor.
A/C only on the 440 auto cars.Very very nice car and lets see what it sells for. Not going to be cheap
I was the editor of Hemmings Muscle Machines in 2006, when our West Coast editor Jeff Koch found this original paint beauty. This was at a time when E body prices were reaching Pluto. I vividly recall selected a photo of some door dings and used it in the magazine. Jeff is a superb photographer and writer. I recall the orig owner died and his brother assumed ownership of the car. Why start with a rusted POS when you can have this?
Can anyone identify the car next to it, which appears to be a blue mid 70’s Camaro or Firebird! I’m trying to find a good 1976 Firebird formula, preferably in the original “Durango Bronze”, which was my 1st car when i graduated from high school in 1976. The engines were absolute dogs on account of the initial 1974 post oil embargo fuel efficiency requirements, but was still a looker!
Go to http://www.dennisbuyscars.com 70 Camaro, RS 4 speed, says Z28 but doubt that. Shows under 30K miles. Mid 20K price tag not bad for a RS 4 speed. Hate the big white stripe on it. Love the car though.
That Camaro is not a RS, it just has the RS bumpers on the front. The dash gauges are aftermarket, so the odometer has under 30k, not the car! And you are so correct about that stripe…
What’s it going to sell for? Not sure but definitely way more than I’d be willing to pay for it. I always thought the body style was a little plain and now I’m 100% tired of it. Like listening Stairway to Heaven, great song but after 1 million plays im sick of it. Once they made the new challenger which looks similar but better looking and performance in every way, why pay up for these now? You can probably get a Hellcat for what this will sell for.
Don’t you all complain too loudly. This is a real mopar, not like the wanna bees of today. Parts are still available, you can work on it yourself, and no smog headaches. A very nice example that has been well taken care of. I wouldn’t care if it was a slant six with a three speed. Put your thinking caps on, and get with the program.
Only cars with 14″ wheels had a full-size spare. Cars with the big 15″ Rally wheels came with the inflatable because a full-size wouldn’t fit the trunk opening unless it was flat. Try putting a big Rally wheel full of air into any E body trunk!
$66,500
I think the retail price on the car on the website is $89,500.
1970 was a great year for muscle cars. Some say it is the last year. Not me. I was ten years old and the future was now. The whole nation was still in the afterglow from the Moon landings of 1969. Hot Wheels was three years old. Major Matt Mason was one of the hottest toys going. Snoopy’s dog house was on the Moon. The spotting of new Mach 1’s and Superbirds was a fun game to play while riding in the car. The Archies had a hit song….”Ahhh Sugar, da Da dot dot dot Honey, Honey, da Da dot dot dot.” Everything was fun an exciting. to top it off, my sister got her first car a 1970 Mercury Cougar, base model with a 351 Cleveland. This car was my first car as well. It was a car that was not like the Buicks and Oldsmobiles that our parents drove. A fun car. Her boyfriend would come over to pick her up in a 1968 442 or his black 1968 Dodge Charger. It is no wonder that I am a hot rodder. 1970 was a cool year that will never come again, but I still have hope.
I don’t think hot rodding ever gets out of you… I graduated high school in 1970. I am still goofing with cars at 68, 4 older hot rods still occupy my garage!
Could get 70k, very nice!
I’m guessing 80,800
Go to http://www.dennisbuyscars.com 70 Camaro, RS 4 speed, says Z28 but doubt that. Shows under 30K miles. Mid 20K price tag not bad for a RS 4 speed. Hate the big white stripe on it. Love the car though.
Interesting to see the Rear Defog toggle switch on this one. My .73 Barracuda with a 318 auto on the column was pretty much devoid of options except for 3:
Rear Defog (a blower mounted in one of the 6×9 rear parcel shelf holes) I took it out and threw it away when I put in my Jensen Triaxials
Fender Mounted Turn Signal Indicators
Map Light
Weird.
What’s up with the tach being out of place and the fender tags? Also a bummer the transmission was swapped out.
Gorgeous example of a true survivor that will most definitely command a very high dollar. The previous comments of these cars (muscle cars) being astronomically out of reach for the average person has become a very sad reality as the result of a well known televised auction that has successfully destroyed the hobby for the overall majority of enthusiasts, turning it into a rich boy’s game of collecting for bragging rights, and typically by wealthy people who couldn’t tell you a hub cap from a horn ring. Suddenly, anyone owning an old rusted out 60’s car now views them as a lottery ticket to good fortune, trying to cash in on selling prices that typically exceed the cost of restoration, with many of them not even being well sought after brands and or models that will never ever be worth the amount of money spent on purchase and restoration. I’ve restored, modified and maintained many old cars for the wealthy types who in turn enter car shows and gloat about winning trophy’s, having done nothing on these cars themselves other then handing out money. Having no blood, sweat and tear connection to them they easily get bored, sell them for a profit and buy something else to start the process again. I.M.O. a very large part of this hobby is the stories that go hand in hand with the cars and their respective owners who are truly in it for the love and passion, the sentimental connections we have with our cars, the camaraderie and shared interests of fellow enthusiasts. When attending a car show/show and shine I always give my admiration and attention to those who are clearly breaking their own knuckles in building their cars out of love then those who are pro’s at handing out money.
Well said, indeed. It may turn around someday, but I am afraid that those of us who had these in our youth will not live long enough to see the market correct itself for the better, and the younger generations of today really do not understand our primal lust for them. It is like me when my Dad was alive. He would go crazy over prewar cars because that was his youth. I appreciated them, still do, but I can never have that emotional connection to them like I have with the 50/60s cars.
Ken I respectfully disagree. I respond to the quote you wrote. This is not trolling by any means. I’m just giving some respectful insight.
But that rings hollow, as most of us Baby Boomers were raising a family at the time, not practical, now we are retired, people with so much more money then us have taken our youth away from us.
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1. The Boomers made all the rules as far as capitalism in the USA. Inflation is out of control, houses on the coastline are insane crazy expensive and jobs have been outsourced to China and other places. There is a ton of boomers who did really well and everybody has their prime as far as working for money and making good choices in life. Kids were cheaper to raise in the 70s too school ect… Everything is expensive today due to the rules set by previous generations. The new young generation was born into it so they have no part. In the B Jackson auctions, I see boomers buying up everything and paying huge money. I don’t think the youth killed the car market or was responsible for it.
We, the people who rightfully should be allowed to own them,
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2. Sounds a bit entitled. Free open market. Thats what makes the USA so great. If you don’t like the price then don’t pay for it.
we who could appreciate them more as we have the connection through time with them. Who should truly own this more? A 65 year old newly retired worker, or a 25 year old high tech millionaire? The 25 year old could pay for this out of pocket change, but will he appreciate and cherish it nearly as much as the older guy?
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3. Love and lust for something can be at any age.
Brian, you are right. The Boomers did screw up the world for (I assume) you young people. No doubt about it. (Look who is in charge now), but please note, not all of us did that, just some. Most of us are just trying to get by, esp the tail end of the Baby Boom. The Boomers buying at goofy prices at BJ, are a small percentage, not your average guy next door. It is a rich man vs poor man scenario, as it has been since the dawn of mankind itself.
Nothing to do but get in and drive!! It’s really clean and well cared for!! At least when you sit in the drivers seat you won’t be uncomfortable with the bulging wallet in your back pocket!! It will be a lot smaller!! Worth every penny not to have to spend 2-3 years putting a rust bucket back together!!!!
Jeez guys, let’s just keep the discussions about the cars and trucks featured here. Politics has plenty of places where you can go and discuss who did what to whom, and the republicans did this, the democrats did that… go to Facebook, it has been ruined by politics and every other post is political. Let’s just talk cars here!
I love the car! If I won the lottery, I would buy it. Since I haven’t bought a ticket in a few weeks (and that one was the first one I ever bought), I probably won’t win.
I really need to make a statement regarding the cost of these toys though.
I am a lower middle class guy. In 2018, I bought a new car (Hyundai Elantra) and a new motorcycle. Frankly, I kinda went nuts on the motorcycle. It cost me almost $50,000 between the bike & the modifications. And that was with my employee discounts.
Once the bike and car are paid off in about 4 or 5 years, I could afford to do it all over again. But I won’t. Instead I will work on rebuilding my car collection that I have been selling off recently.
For those of you unaware, I am being sentenced on September 3rd for an owi charge, and I have been selling my toys to pay credit card debt off, along with cover payments for the car & bike, and my mortgage while I am away “on vacation”.
These cars are not out of reach to the average guy, as long as the average guy can live within a budget and as long as the average guy is willing to work.
Someone commented earlier that it is ALWAYS better to be handed money than to work for it. I disagree. You appreciate what you have WAY more if you work for it.
We all make our own destiny. I made mine, that is why I am in the position I am in.
I am going to step off my soap box now. I wish peace to each and every one of you.