This 1970 Plymouth ‘Cuda is a real-deal barn find with desirable Plum Crazy paint and a numbers-matching 383 under the hood. The car was apparently discovered in Ohio where it shared barn space with a Trans Am of a similar vintage. The ‘Cuda is not perfect but still surprisingly complete for a vehicle apparently stored outdoors for many years. Find it here on eBay with bidding over $4K and no reserve.
The paint code alone should make Mopar fans salivate, but the fact that it retains its matching-numbers drivetrain and many correct date-coded parts is the proverbial cherry on top. The ‘Cuda rolls and steers with tires that hold air, making loading a breeze – again, not always possible with long-parked barn finds. The previous owner believes the car left the factory with Shaker hood, which has since gone missing.
The interior remains surprisingly complete with bucket seats in decent shape and a matching rear bench. The floors will obviously need some work which is as you’d expect for a car from the snow belt. The fact that the body isn’t rustier is a bit of a miracle, in my opinion, and replacement floor panels are widely available. Even better, this is an original four-speed car, making it a near-perfect combo.
The seller claims a local Mopar expert examined the car to determine this is the original engine. The seller believes the engine should run again with minimal effort but has not attempted to start it himself. If the ‘Cuda can be restored with bodywork largely contained to the floors and a Shaker hood can be found, this has the potential to be an awesome project. Plum Crazy fans – take note of this one.
Neat car but no cheap rebuild here.
Agreed, but it’s got all the good options. The Flintstone floors are an added bonus as I’m sure the frame rails are also soft. Quick check of the fender tag will confirm the original shaker option. I believe N96 was the code?
Frame rails???
Those are pretty thin …. That seat would not hold a dog in it…
LOL
Not to be an armchair quarterback, Jeff, but you make rust repair like a walk in the park, As if the floorpan rust isn’t bad enough, the roof is so rotten that I’m surprised the windshield hasn’t fallen out. The barn must have had a dirt floor and a leaky roof. Sorry to see a great car like this get into such bad shape. definitely not for the faint of heart. Good luck to anyone brave enough to take this on!
Cheers
GPC
But…but…but…it has the super-desirable Plum Crazy paint! Or do you think that won’t buff out?
Seriously: I can’t imagine this being restored, unless someone happens to have a solid body to swap the engine — whatever can be salvaged from it — and body tag/serial numbers onto. Yes, I know that’s illegal, but it won’t be the first (or hundredth) car to be brought back that way. One thing I’ve learned over the years is that if you can see significant rust, particularly on a unit-body car, there’s plenty more hidden away waiting to to show up later….
The barn it was in didn’t have to leak, in Ohio it’s not only salty roads, the humidity can be unbearable. Sitting in a barn for a bunch of years with all the moisture in the air will complete what the salted roads started. My Chevelle would have a wet haze every morning almost all summer long.
What’s up with the Firebird next to the Cuda? Please let me know.
This car has more rust than I have Dr. bills. If you buy this car forget about the hip or knee replacement…
Ray T- Amen on the hidden rust. And as Chris M said the frame rails are probably soft also. Its like Rats- for every one you see there are 10 that you don’t see. Fixable if you can take it on!
Cheers
GPC
The cost of VIN’s is skyrocketing!
Rode hard and put up wet..just check out the ” I’m a drag racer ” stickers under the hood, that usually is a bad sign..I mean it was put under a lean to for some reason..and yeah what’s the story on the Pontiac sitting next door?
Those stickers don’t mean the car has ever been to a track. The vast majority of muscle cars never never saw the business end of a Christmas tree. Stickers have been popular for a long time with street cars, now more than ever.
Steve R
I think stickers would be the last thing I would concern my self with, when I look at this car. RUST RUST RUST. I think would be first. What a bucket. But hey it’s a plum crazy cuda, whom ever buys it has to be plum crazy to pay abuch for this pile
Looks like it was a hopped up street ride, stickers shouldn’t alarm purists as much as the obvious engine mods….which I like. The way most of these engines looked after several years.
If your a poor working stiff with a mortgage and a family this might be your only shot at a car like this. If I was 20 years younger than I am I’d take on a car like this but I’m a dual licensed mechanic and welder. I’d pull this thing down to the shell and just keep plugging away at it until it was restored. All the sheet metal is available and when your fixing something like this you simply break it down into a list of small jobs and just keep ticking them off as they are completed. It could take you ten years but you’d have your car in the end. A numbers matching car at that. The thing about metal is that it is the most restorable material on the planet. I’m not a body repair man but I know metal thin and thick it is manageable it just takes time and patience. I’m restoring a 51 dodge two door hard top that now Is in primer and it’s looking really good so far. Body work can be learned just from watching others and practice, now with the internet that is getting easier all the time. Just go for it and learn as you go. Remember your not having to learn the whole trade you just have to learn your car.
Well said man! Most of us “real” car people don’t have $30,000 laying around to buy a nice “decent” 70 ‘Cuda or etc…. So many people always preach the same old song about buying a better car or project. Yeah sure, the ones with their $325,000 plus house with their cute checkered flag epoxy floored garage and $8,000 in cabinetry. Like you said, average working persons ONLY chance at a car like this… 30+ years of restorations up here in the rust belt, we aren’t intimidated by rusty frame rails and floors…
I live in Calgary Alberta home of the chinook. A unique weather pattern that can take you from -30c to +15 in a matter of hours. So all the salt and even worse now calcium chloride will react to the warming temperatures. These chinooks last anywhere from an hour or two to a couple of weeks. They end as quickly as they came in and can end in a matter of a half hour back down to -30c so rust is very prevalent here and its not uncommon to see 3 year old trucks with the rear fender wells rusted out. And once it’s there you never stop chasing it. Most people just let them go to crap then trade them in. I chase the rust and I’m getting pretty good at it so this car wouldn’t scare me off either.
Holy molly, salt sucks, then eats nice cars. I know, i know, we can not survive without salt.
Has anyone tried driving on stretch out solar battery heated/warmed chain link fence material ? Yeah without the poles, & salt?
The ebay seller was absent the days in grade school when punctuation and capitalization were taught.
Yeah, i had to come up for air while reading that on ebay.
The Cuda is at $7,400.00 now, wow. That’s gambling on thrust that the rust isn’t that bad.
Don’t they realize that EBay doesn’t charge extra for punctuation?
Longest run-on sentence I’ve ever seen.
it’s a Plymouth not a dodge the color is in violet not plum crazy
Pass…the dash pad is cracked.
Great car but that’s the scariest floor I’ve seen in a while!!! In my opinion this car needs to be put on a rotisserie to be restored if it doesn’t fall apart putting it on one!! You know it was driven in the Ohio winters!! I can’t imagine the trunk being in good shape if the floors are gone!! The car is hard to look at with the fact it is what it is and it was allowed to get this bad!!!
Can you imagine how beautiful this was when new? For $200K, it could look like that again.
Hope it’s salvaged
Hmmm, I’m brave but not that brave!! You could chase your tail for a long time on this one, burning money as you go!