At first glance, you probably thought the same thing as I did when you saw the front of this 1970 Plymouth ‘Cuda- that it’s not a ’70. While the car is currently wearing a 1972-1974 grille and headlight bezels, the original pieces were replaced at some point in the car’s past and it is indeed a real 1970 model. It’s also a U-Code and left the factory with a 440 4-Barrel V8. If you’ve been in the market for an E-Body project, this 1970 Plymouth ‘Cuda would definitely be worth a look. The car is located in St. Louis, Missouri, and can be found here on eBay where the bidding is currently sitting at $17,500 with no reserve. If you want to get in on the action, you’d better get your ducks in a row quickly as the auction ends this Sunday evening at 20:00 hours.
The fender tag is still intact and the seller says that all of the body numbers match up. Both quarter panels have been replaced and the doors, fenders, hood, and trunk lid are said to be in good shape, as is the roof. The seller points out that the ’72-’74 grille is not being reproduced, and suggests that the next owner may consider removing and selling it, then purchasing a brand new 1970 repro grille so the ‘Cuda will have the correct front end. The seller also says that the wheels currently on the vehicle are not included in the sale, and instead the car will come with a set of rollers on it for transportation.
Under the hood, the original 440 is long gone, along with the transmission. The car is a 3.54 Trac Pack but the center section gears are missing from the Dana 60, as are the rear brakes. This ‘Cuda was equipped with a manual transmission when new, but somewhere along the way a previous owner swapped it out for an automatic, so the original 4-speed pedals are no longer in the car.
The car has rally gauges and buckets, but the dash and seats are looking toasted and in need of a lot of work. The ‘Cuda also originally came with an AM/8-Track and 3 speakers, but the radio is now gone, and while the door panels are still present it looks like they could use refreshing or better yet replacing. The glass is said to be in good shape all the way around except for the windshield, which has a crack. The trim is also missing from around the windshield and rear window.
The seller says the interior floor pans have been replaced with solid originals at some point, although they need to be finished up, and that the car now has an aftermarket trunk floor. Frame rails are said to be solid, with the rear rails having been replaced, and while the underside doesn’t exactly look great it doesn’t really look terrible either. What are your thoughts on this 1970 Plymouth ‘Cuda?
I can only assume it was a pig to drive. Manual steering, manual drum bakes.
Power brakes I like, but Chrysler power steering? A small block in front makes the very good manual steering okay. I would rather pull my toenails off with a plier than to drove the awful power steering again. What was Chrysler thinking? How stupid were we all to keep buying it for so many years?
good luck
I wouldn’t pay more than 10k for that.. It’s a roller… no more, the rear quarters are already rusting at the welds and the rear Tail light panel is rusted at the corners and should have been replaced or at least repaired prior to putting on the quarters. All of that work would need to be redone, I can only imagine how the replaced frame rails look and the floors and trunk that were supposedly replaced. Most of the time it is worse to fix someone else’s half-A$$ restoration.
What can I say that hasn’t been said before about over priced mopars ; destination Barrett Jackson.
Lots of suspect bids. Wheels not included for 17 large? Stuck the mags on there to make it look better. Rust bucket stuck together to look like a complete car. Better looker over good, I’m sure someone will take it on. will be interesting to see what it goes for. Good luck and happy motoring!
Cheers
GPC
It’s shocking. We bought a total of five of these in the early 80s, while working to create a street freak for street racing. We honestly didn’t pay more than a few hundred for any of them. After buying and selling, collecting parts, etc, the car we titled was a 73 ‘Cuda with a motor home 440 and a hemi 4 speed. Totally undeliverable car with header mufflers bolted on, no such thing as dynamat, sounded like a tin can inside.
Point is, really – what are kids today supposed to work on? Among these cars, we had a plum crazy 70 Challenger that probably went to the scrapyard. Our cuda was such a POS that when we finally got a couple tickets for the exhaust and sold it, the guy scrapped it and put the motor in a charger that ran at Atco for a couple years.
I’m guessing this is what the tuner guys do with late model Hondas and such. But back to this car, it’s no rougher or nicer than the ones we were trading in. It can be turned into a fun little driver but the price of entry is just so high.
Speak ill, not I’ll.
$17,900 now, ends today.
I believe This was bought cheap and the good parts where used or sold. Then the seller puts descent wheels on to shoe it off-but they don’t come with.All that’s left are the crusty, rusty parts.Thats lot of $ for crusty.
Sold, $21,601.