At the spectacular Rand/Workman auction in New York they called this 71 Hemi Cuda "the most valuable muscle car in the world." With a high bid of $4.1 million it would be hard to fault the claim though the auctioneers had anticipated a selling price of $5 million.
What on earth, you might ask, makes a mass-produced auto worth that much? Muscle cars are not exactly unusual; thousands still exist in restored and unrestored condition. Certainly the Plymouth Barracuda was a fast and handsome example but if we are to be faithful to the breed it wasn't a muscle car at all. Like the similar Dodge Challenger, which was a smaller companion to the Charger muscle car, the Barracuda was a pony car. Oh well, for four million bucks, who's going to argue?
Rarity is a key element in judging values of classic automobiles; so are style, performance, and desireability. This Cuda convertible has all those attributes. Only eleven were built in 1971, and of that number only seven were made for the U.S. domestic market. Two Cuda convertibles went to Europe, including our subject car, which is back in America. It gets even more exclusive now, for this Cuda is one of only eight built with automatic transmission and one of just two with factory billboard stripes. The speedometer is marked in kilometers for Europe, its export tag is still on the passenger side fender.