Owning an ultra-rare classic is something to which many enthusiasts aspire. However, if the vehicle in question happens to be the first such car to roll off the line, it usually sits in a league of its own. That is the claim to fame of this 1971 Plymouth Hemi ‘Cuda Convertible. It recently underwent a meticulous restoration, presenting in as-new condition. With the hard work completed, its owner feels it needs to go to a new home. They have listed it here on eBay in Rochester, New York. Potential buyers need to take a deep breath before submitting a bid, with the seller opening the auction at $2,750,000. Unsurprisingly, there have been no bids at the time of writing.
The seller purchased this ‘Cuda via a Mecum auction in 2016, paying $2,530,000 for the privilege of parking this classic in their garage. It had undergone a previous restoration in its original shade of Sno White, but the presentation didn’t meet their exacting standards. Therefore, they repeated the process, retaining original features like the color-matched grille, hood pins, and steel wheels with dog dish hubcaps. They added the correct “Billboard” stripes designed to return the car to a factory fresh state. The Convertible received new rear quarter panels and a trunk pan, but 90% of the remaining steel is untouched from the factory. The seller confirms that this is the first Hemi ‘Cuda to roll off the line in 1971, and that will increase its desirability among serious collectors. There is no disputing its condition, with the paint shining beautifully, the decals appearing crisp, and the underside shots confirming this gem is rust-free. The trim and glass are excellent, and the overall impression is that this classic would not look out of place parked on a showroom floor.
Cars of this caliber only achieve record sale prices if they are numbers-matching, and this car delivers. Its engine bay houses the original 426ci Hemi V8, sending its power to the 8¾” rear end via a three-speed TorqueFlite transmission. Performance figures are all you might expect from this package, with the Hemi’s 425hp and 490 ft/lbs of torque launching the car through the ¼-mile in 14.2 seconds on its way to 144mph. Its authenticity is verified and documented, confirming that it is 1-of-5 auto-equipped Hemi ‘Cuda Convertibles produced in 1971. We receive no information on how well this beauty runs or drives. However, the overall condition suggests it is a turnkey proposition ready to provide its new owner with immediate classic motoring pleasure.
This Plymouth’s interior is just as spotless as the rest of the vehicle, with no issues or problems. Its Black upholstered surfaces are perfect, as are the dash, pad, and carpet. Interestingly, the original owner chose to forego such features as a console, but the factory cassette/dictaphone unit mounted on the transmission hump is a welcome inclusion. They function as a regular cassette player and also allow for recording directly from the radio or via a hand-held microphone. These are relatively rare, made from pure unobtainium. If you can find one for sale, prices start at around $800 for one requiring total restoration. The microphone is prone to cord failure, and many found their way into the trash when that happened. That this one is intact is a positive point that shouldn’t be underrated.
It seems almost inevitable that every time a Plymouth Hemi ‘Cuda sells, it sets a new record in the process. Whether this trend continues is pure speculation but can never be ruled out. Will this owner achieve success via their eBay listing? That question is impossible to answer, but my instincts tell me it won’t happen. I suspect it will eventually find its way to an auction conducted by Barrett-Jackson or a similar organization. I may be proven wrong, especially if we have Barn Finds readers who find this classic irresistible. Could you be that person?
Driving down the road in my multi-Million dollar Cuda, left hand on the wheel, right hand, not on my pistol grip shifter, but instead on my trusty little plastic microphone connected directly to my handy transmission hump mounted Dictaphone, welll ummmmm, ummmm. No thanks.
my thought as well!!
OMG. You order a car like that and put a column shift on it? Like putting a terd on top of a three tier wedding cake!
Thats a lot of coke & hookers!
Obviously a hugely impressive car. Can you imagine taking what the seller describes as a “1.6 level” car worth more than $2 million and turning it into a car which might fetch $3 million?
I’ve had this conversation with myself, see if you can relate. I start to pucker when thinking about buying a collector car worth a few tens of thousands of dollars. I can’t even fathom what it would be like in this other monetary world. Frankly if I had a car like this, I would just worry about it…. hoping my triple-padlocked, fire-suppressed, dust-filtered, climate-controlled, security-monitored storage facility keeps it from being stolen or damaged. Let alone ever taking it out.
I imagine things like that all the time until my financial statements arrive in the mail. Then I’m slapped back into the reality of the look but please don’t touch crowd. Dreams are wonderful though.
Shift that column Torq-flite into D and mash it. 😎 🙌🏁💨
Would be best at another big name auction, where the drinks are flowing and made strong.
Calling Jay Leno, you ride is here !!!!
Lol
You beat me to it!!! Jay Leno car – Jay Leno money…
Put it on BAT and lets see what transpires.
Commas and decimal points sorted, I will demurr on bidding for this exquisite item.
No thanks i have four of the five built.
I only wish that had not converted them to hardtop’s.
Seriously a sweet car for a museum or billionaire to own. The look what I got in my Mansion game room in cased in glass with a fire prevention system and special environmental filtration system.
Good luck with sale as its what the market can bear 🐻 sets the price.
Well, what can one say but I feel very lucky. This thing can’t even be sat in much less driven. The only thing this is good for is a high falootten car show for the drool factor where on the other hand my 300.00 Challenger convertible from long ago with its wrong 440 in it and at least a console can be fired up, mashed to the floor, rained on, sat on, eat in it, s&^% in it and in general have a great time with. Cars like this are not of my world and never will be.
Some people wouldn’t think twice about driving this car around. In fact, we have a little car show once a month near my place and last month a guy, with the help of his friends, showed up with probably $10 million worth of Ferraris just to park them on the grass and hang out a while. All driven in and driven out.
As I kid I grew up in FL near the water and always marveled at the big yachts I’d see, and I’d ask my dad “How to people afford to put gas in those big yachts?” My dad would wisely reply “Son, if you can afford one of those yachts, you don’t worry about the cost of gas”. I think the same thing applies here – the few people that can afford a car like this buy it and put it somewhere they can look at it, and don’t worry about the price. To them it’s a drop in the bucket. It’s a shame this car will never be driven – personally, I’ll take a $10k beater that I can drive like it’s meant to be driven all day long over something like this.
So true. I enjoy my 69′ 340 Dart swinger, as a monthly driver.
My ex-brother in law claimed to have the first Yugo imported to the States. Man! If he’d only have known. He wouldn’t have sold it to the neighbor kid for $300…
This is a beautiful Cuda. But where is the fender tags and vin number? This information will tell a story how it was built. And should have a low vin number if this was first built. 71 Hemi Cuda is the Holy Grail of Mopars. Plain dash auto on the column and leather bucket seats. What a combination. I doubt anyone on eBay is going to jump on this. To me BJs auction would be the way to go. You get enough of mopar people bidding on this .. skies the limit!! Good luck to the seller. This should be in a museum in my opinion. 🇺🇸🐻
True, but at least it is not on Craig’s List.
Never saw a white one!
I still don’t understand the prices on these.
The billboard decal is a turnoff for me.
Indeed. Who made it that way?
Nobody going to pay 2.5 million for this car, the black ghost was a better deal at 1 mil with a four speed pistol grip and a car you can actually drive.
I agree…but then again…the article says the seller did…in 2016!
I like dog dish hubcaps and blackwall tires on sleepers.Looks out of place on this car to me imo. Nice car but what do you do with it brag about what you have and stare at it because your’re too afraid to possibly ruin or depreciate your multi million dollar car. Cars were meant to drive and serve a purpose whether it be fun and beat it up or a grocery getter otherwise what good is it? Yeah a car can be an investment but at this point price wise to me it’s no fun.imo.
I want to know what this car was doing that someone paid $2.5MM and then replaced the quarters and trunk floor. I agree with others – I have no interest in a car that I cannot drive.
It’s one of those “litmus test” cars in the collector market which, in aggregate, probably are indicative of the state of the wider economy, stuff like this being about as discretionary as expenditure gets. In 2014, one sold at auction for US$3.5 million and in 2021, another attracted a bit of US$4.8 million without reaching the reserve.
Cudas are awesome.
Hemis are awesome.
Convertibles are awesome.
I even like white cars.
But somehow, this car doesn’t do a thing for me.
The only way that car could be actually worth anything over 6 figures, other than some foolish buyer who has more dollars than sense who will pay anything. Is IF the car looked like it does, without any work ever being done other than a cleaning detail! But once a restoration has been done? Even one as good as this? Sorry only totally original cars are worth 7 figures! By the way an older cousin of mine bought a 1971 Challenger Convertible brand new, with a 318 auto, but in SE trim, with beautiful wood grain highlights, console with pistol grip shifter, AM/FM Cassette, with a reverb amp with 4 speakers, plus that unit with the microphone! That we would use to play and sing along to The Beach Boys! She finally traded it at the same dealership she bought it at. They gave her a new 2010 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited V8, 4×4! Outright with paid sales tax! The Challenger had just over 140,000 miles! But everything still worked!
318 auto with a Pistol-Grip is even rarer than this ’71 Hemi ‘Cuda convertible.
2.5 million, on the column, HAH, Hah Ha Ha! More money than brains and that goes for anyone out there that would even consider spending a quarter of that on a car for bragging rights. The hobby is not a hobby any longer. It is just stupidity at a whole new level. That goes for anything that was built in the Good old USA and is over $$250,000. We have become numb to the numbers like we have been drugged!
Thanks to auctions like Barrett Jackson & Mecum,they’ve screwed it up for the average working man
I used to see a ’71 Hemi ‘Cuda convertible (dunno if auto or stick) on the 405 and 91 freeways in SoCal in the late 1980s.
The car was incredible beat up, dents everywhere, and the guy driving it looked like a laborer type of some kind with his dirty mechanics clothes.
I knew what it was, and thought that that guy could see the car for some thing more than pocket change, even in that condition.
I saw another one at a high end resto shop in Tempe, AZ about 2007. The shop owner said the resto was costing around $100-125K, which i thought was outrageous.
That one in SoCal was Nash Bridges, it was confiscated in drug raid and Nash had it painted yellow. Sounds like Miami Vice anyway
More info please?
I have read that the one That Nash Bridges had was not a real hemi car. Wasn’t it treated pretty rough in that show?
What would you rather have a mansion or this car $$$
Are those the ONLY two choices 🤷🏻♂️🤣
The rarity of the vehicle is impressive. But there is not one muscle car I would want without a manual tranny. But that’s me. You can’t replace the original so…
So what if it’s the first car off the line. Seriously, who cares. It’s a car. Drive the damn thing. What’s the point of owning these classics and just letting them sit there. None of us are going to live forever. Take the damn car out on the weekends and enjoy it.
I guess it’s nice, but it reminds me too much of a BIG old glass of milk with chunks of Oreo floating in it.
It’s beautiful, but the money is ridiculous.
You guys have to remember that people who can buy this car don’t think like we do. It’s not any more ridiculous or crazy for some very rich person to buy this car for three or four million than it is for the average family man to pay $110K for a new Escalade. To me, that’s crazy, but you see them on the streets every day.
Beautiful car, but please; a column shift with a Hemi?
The last one built is probably worth twice.