A genuine, all-original survivor in showroom-worthy condition is one of the rarest things in the classic car world, simply because keeping any vehicle intact for half a century is incredibly difficult. This 1971 Plymouth Cuda comes close. It wears a fresh coat of paint applied in 2014, but everything underneath tells the story of a car that was carefully preserved rather than restored.
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For purists, a respray can be a deal-breaker. But when the rest of the car remains untouched, a new finish is easy to forgive. This Mopar fits that description perfectly, having passed through just three owners with only about 79,000 miles on the odometer. That low figure points to plenty of time spent in storage, and clearly it was the right kind of storage, because the sheet metal avoided rust and the cabin escaped the wear that so many survivors suffer.
Every panel is said to be the original steel, and the interior was never redone. Even so, it presents beautifully. Look closely and you will spot a few scratches and the gentle patina of age, but for a cabin that has weathered more than five decades, it looks remarkably fresh.
Under the hood sits the drivetrain the car left the factory with. This hardtop was ordered with the 340-cubic-inch (5.6-liter) V8 backed by a three-speed TorqueFlite automatic. That 340 was the smallest engine offered in the Cuda, the performance-focused version of the Barracuda, though it was not the base mill. Entry-level Cudas actually came with the larger 383-cubic-inch (6.3-liter) V8 rated at 330 horsepower, a full 55 more than the 340. The smaller engine was instead pitched as the more efficient performance choice.
Buyers chasing more muscle in 1971 could step up to the 440-cubic-inch (7.2-liter) RB in six-barrel trim, good for 385 horsepower, or the legendary 426-cubic-inch (7.0-liter) Hemi with 425 horsepower. Those big-block cars are the ones that command the wildest prices today, but the small-block versions have their own appeal.
The numbers help explain why. Barracuda sales collapsed in 1971, falling from nearly 49,000 cars in 1970 to just 16,492. Roughly a third of those, 5,675 units, were Cuda models. Of those, records show 3,440 came with the 340 V8, including 3,300 hardtops and 140 convertibles. This particular hardtop is one of 2,008 fitted with the three-speed automatic. It is not a unicorn, but finding one this well kept certainly is.
What really makes this car pop is the color. The eye-catching In-Violet paint, known as Plum Crazy on the Dodge side, was one of Chrysler's famous High Impact hues from the muscle era. In-Violet was only offered in 1970 and 1971, and it proved a popular pick during its short run.
The Cuda is currently listed at the Cherokee Auto Group dealership in Canton, Georgia, with a special asking price of $158,890. That is serious money for a small-block car, but values for these high-performance early-70s Mopars have been climbing steadily for years.
