Auto blog

'71 Plymouth Hemi Cuda Convertible sells for $3.5M [w/video]

We're plenty used to seeing classic cars selling for millions of dollars. It's just that they're usually European: Ferraris, Bugattis, Mercedes and the like. There are some rare American exceptions, usually wearing the names Duesenberg or Shelby. But what we have here is the most expensive Chrysler product ever sold at auction.
The vehicle in question is a Plymouth Barracuda - specifically a 1971 Hemi Cuda Convertible, chassis #BS27R1B315367 - that Mecum Auctions just sold after eight solid minutes of feverish bidding for a high bid of $3.5 million at its auction in Seattle, Washington. That figure positively eclipses the $2.2 million paid for a strikingly similar Hemi Cuda (chassis #BS27R1B269588) fetched nearly seven years ago in Scottsdale and another that was the first muscle car to break the million-dollar mark in 2002.

US Marshal's classic muscle car auction officially in the books

The US Marshal's so-called Blood Muscle Auction was completed earlier this month, with the prestigious nine-car field (two cars were added following Autoblog's initial story, a 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS 454 and a rare, mid-restoration 1971 Plymouth Hemi 'Cuda) finding new and hopefully law-abiding owners.
While we'd normally recap the stars of the show, in this particular auction, every car's sale was newsworthy. The full list of sale prices doesn't seem to be published, but according to The New York Times, the auction brought in a total of $2.5 million, or an average of about $277,000 per car.
The king of the contest seems to be a 1970 Plymouth Superbird (above, right), complete with a 426-cubic-inch Hemi V8, which brought home $575,000. The trio of Yenko Chevys, meanwhile, all easily cleared the six-figure mark, with the Yenko Camaro (above, far right) clearing $315,000, the Chevelle crossing the block for $237,500 and the supremely rare - one of just 37 - Yenko Nova (shown above, left) selling for an even $400,000.

SRT belatedly claims Plymouth Prowler as one of its own

Before Chrysler had Street and Racing Technology, it had Performance Vehicle Operations. What the two entities have in common, before SRT became its own brand, of course, is that each was created to take Chrysler and Dodge (and Plymouth, before it was unceremoniously killed off) vehicles to the next level of style and performance.
We'll leave the question of whether or not the old Plymouth (and later Chrysler) Prowler was ultimately a stylish, performance-oriented car to you, but the boys and girls currently leading the SRT charge at the Pentastar headquarters are keen to accept the retro-rod into the fold.
According to the automaker, all of SRT's current high-performance models owe a debt of gratitude to the old Prowler, due mostly to that car's use of lightweight bits and pieces and innovative construction techniques. If nothing else, the fact that the Prowler's frame is "the largest machined automotive part in history" is pretty cool. Read all the details here.