One of the most iconic vehicles of the muscle car era has to be the 1970 Plymouth Barracuda. The introduction of the Barracuda E-Body was something special. Based on the popular mid-sized B-Body platform, the E-Body was wider and shorter, giving the Barracuda and its corporate cousin Challenger some of the most identifiable muscle cars of the era.
Thanks to its increased size over the second-generation Barracuda, the E-Body cars had the ability to horseshoe in the entire lineup of Chrysler performance engines. Giving the performance models the ‘Cuda name, it didn’t take long for the Plymouth brand to install the massive 7.0-liter (426 cubic-inch) HEMI V8. The HEMI delivered an underrated 425 horsepower and 490 ft.-lb. of torque.
Not many people opted for the massive HEMI, due to its $871.45 price tag. That might not seem like much by today’s standards, but in 1970 it was quite a bit considering a Plymouth ‘Cuda hardtop had a starting price of $3,164 and came equipped with the 383 cubic-inch V8. In comparison, the 440 cubic-inch 6-barrel V8 only would set you back $250.
This particular car is a matching “R-Code” (the original code for the HEMI engine) 1970 Plymouth HEMI ‘Cuda, is equipped with a 3-speed TorqueFlite automatic transmission. It makes this car 1 of 368 automatic HEMI ‘Cuda hardtops produced for the 1970 model year. The drivetrain features the A34 Super Performance Axle Package, which gave the car a 4.10 Dana 60 Sure Grip differential, power front disc brakes, and extreme-duty cooling components.
The car is equipped with its original color combination of (B5) Blue Fire Metallic exterior paint and Black “HEMI” hockey stripe graphics.
Inside, there is a Black vinyl upholstery with bucket seats, the classic ‘Cuda center console with wood-grain trim, a Slap-Stik floor shifter, a wood-grain steering wheel, a solid-state AM radio, and a driver-side body-colored sports mirror.
Bring a ‘Cuda, it meant the car received front road fog lamps and hood pins, but the special exterior moldings package with ribbed rocker covers on this car. Setting off the look is a set of 15-inch “Rallye” wheels wrapped in G60-15 Goodyear Polygas GT rubber. To make sure to give that authentic HEMI ‘Cuda look, there is a factory “Shaker” hood as well. The car comes with a Chrysler Registry report detailing the original fender tag verification and decoding.
The car is scheduled to cross the auction block at the Mecum Monterey event on Friday, August 19th, 2022. To see more pictures or to bid on this amazing Mopar machine, you can visit the Mecum website. Mecum expects the car to take in $250,000 to $300,000.
1970 Plymouth HEMI ‘Cuda in B5 Image Gallery:
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