Posted on 05/18/2019 7:52:55 PM PDT by ETL
Just 14 Hemi Cuda convertibles were built in 1970, and the Lemon Twist yellow example is one of three that were delivered to our northern neighbor.
The fully restored car is powered by a 426/425 V8 that breathes through an iconic Shaker hood scoop and sends its power to the rear wheels through a 4-speed TorqueFlite automatic transmission.
Those wheels are steel and painted yellow for added visual impact, while the interior is a subdued saddle tan, but the high bid was an eye-popper at $1,980,000 (which is $2,700,000 Canadian, if you must know.)
That makes it among the most expensive Hemi Cudas to ever cross an auction block, but still far short of the record $3.5 million paid in 2014 for the only numbers-matching 1971 Hemi Cuda Convertible with a manual transmission.
Compared to those figures, the other Cuda convertible sold in Indy almost seems like a bargain at $1,115,000.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Naw, they couldn’t beat the 427 Fords.
I know the Hemi has the cachet, but never knew how different the engines were in performance.
Imagine getting the engine to run decently on the swill they call gasoline these days.
I had trouble in 1969 getting high enough octane for a 427/435hp engine.
I worked with a guy in the early 80s who owned a 1965 Barracuda and a yellow 1970 like the one you posted. He was an honest guy and you. KNEW he loved his cars and wouldn’t lie about them. He told me the 70 was a hemi. Someone was always trying to buy them. Wonder if he still has them?
Were you a hippy back then? :)
Were you a hippy back then? :)
Lol! You're asking the wrong guy on something like that. I've never been very knowledgeable in car mechanics. I've done some things on my own cars over the years but usually had a few parts left over after I was done. If you know what I mean. :)
That’s a little hard on the eyes.
I was going to post the same, 3 not 4 speed. I guess it helps if you lived back then.
440 magnum OR 440 Super Commando
was 375 hp. 440 6 pack was 390. 426 hemi was 425.
Hemis typically though were not all that much quicker, but with some work they would skin anything, ‘course with work anything could do the same......
When I was in college, I had to make a commercial for an advertising class.
I decided to make a car as for my VW Scirocco (I know, not a muscle car but it was pretty spry)
It started on a road course and I climbed out the window in a racing suit and helmet. The tag line was “Scirocco, fun, powerful and fast...The next scene showed the car on the side of the road with a police car behind it and the officer stepping out. “maybe too fast.”
The factory engines weren't all that different in torque, though the power curves were a bit diffenent. The hemi cars were usually heavier, but the engine weight was not responsible for all of the difference (IIRC). Based on my limited experience driving other peoples' Mopars back when those cars were only a couple of years old and not collector's items, the street hemis needed more rpms to make the power, and weren't the greatest daily drivers. The 440 Magnum cars on the other hand, were pretty forgiving and versatile but definitely not going to match the hemis when both were wound-up. Locally, there were not that many hemi cars percentage-wise, so all of us Mopar nuts were sort of starstruck by the hemis... but I didn't find them any more fun to drive around in than wedge-head cars.
Basically, a GTX with a 440 six-pack could get ticketed for doing just as many miles over the speed limit on I-80 as a hemi Challenger.
That was 10 years later and it was in the 1/4 mile. Granted, the 427 Ford had a great run at the drags between 1965-66 and 1970 especially with the Holman Moody prepped 427 engines.
MoPar had a 426 Hemi with double overhead cams in development but never got serious about getting it out because of costs and weight restrictions. That engine would have eaten the Cammers lunch all day
In 1969 I was street racing my Camaro 350 that had been tricked out with 12.5:1 pistons, Sig Erson cam, headers, tunnel ram with 2 680 Holleys, vs. a 440 Six Pack Cuda.
I let my friend drive that night-—usually he was a little faster than me.
It was a street race up a very slight hill that had a tiny curve. My friend hit the curb at 112, flipped OVER the top of the Cuda, rolled, flipped, and the car destroyed. He crawled out without a scratch.
The other guy went under the Camaro, up over the median, across two lanes of (empty) traffic, down a hill, and into a brick wall. He got out without a scratch.
Should be in the ondemand stuff.
All they do is old mopars. Mark is kind of a odd ball but they turn out some nice cars.
What is? You replied to my post #2, which was a link to a Mopar thread I put up some time ago. And my next post, #3, had several cars in it.
BFLR
Anyone know if these below were optional rims from Plymouth, or Mopar in general?
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