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A modified 1970 Plymouth Hemi 'Cuda that has stayed in one family's garage for three decades is now chasing bids on Hagerty Marketplace, where twelve offers have already pushed the price to $40,250 with more than a week left on the clock. The seller says the car was bought from its original owner three decades ago, and it now carries a clean Arizona title in the current owner's name.
Chrysler built only 666 Hemi 'Cudas for the 1970 model year, and just 284 of those left the factory with the A833 four-speed manual, pistol-grip shifter, and Dana 60 rear axle that this Rally Red example wears. That combination of the 426ci Hemi and a stick shift is the single most sought-after recipe in the E-body lineup, which is why even a well-worn or modified example still draws a crowd of bidders.
This particular car isn't a numbers-matching survivor, though. Its listing describes a non-original 426-based Hemi V8 that was bored and stroked to roughly 472ci by Larry Shepard of Hemis Only, backed by an explosion-proof bellhousing, Hooker headers, and a Strange Engineering driveshaft feeding a Super Track Pak axle geared at 4.10:1. The car also wears a Shaker-style hood, Rallye instrument cluster, a six-way driver's seat, and power brakes, and the seller says it was recently refinished in its original color with a freshly rebuilt engine and transmission. Buyers in the comments have already pressed the seller on whether the block is original and whether a broadcast sheet survives, and the seller has confirmed there is no broadcast sheet but does have the original title from the first owner.
Those details matter to the bottom line. Genuine, numbers-matching Hemi 'Cudas are among the most valuable muscle cars Chrysler ever built, but a stroked, non-original engine and an unverifiable broadcast sheet typically place a car in a different bracket than a documented survivor. Shoppers who want to see how big that gap can be should look at Hagerty's Valuation Tools, which track price guide data across dozens of Barracuda and 'Cuda configurations, from six-cylinder ragtops up through big-block and Hemi hardtops. Running a side-by-side comparison there is a good way to gauge whether the current $40,250 high bid looks like a bargain or a fair price for a modified, non-numbers-matching Hemi car.
This isn't the only Mopar E-body making noise on the auction circuit lately. Motorious recently covered a numbers-matching 1971 Plymouth 'Cuda 440 Six-Barrel with a military export history stretching to Spain, and the broader Hagerty Marketplace roundup of auctions worth watching shows just how wide the price spread can be across different collector cars in a single week. First-generation pony and muscle cars generally have been climbing too, as this no-reserve 1968 Firebird recently demonstrated.
Bidding on this 'Cuda remains open through Monday, September 14, and as with any auction vehicle, interested buyers should treat the seller's description as a starting point rather than the final word. Hagerty Marketplace notes that all listing details come from the seller, and it encourages bidders to do their own due diligence, verify the car's history, and ask questions directly before committing real money to a modified Hemi car with an incomplete paper trail.
